ASU out of AP Poll top-25 after rivalry loss; Arizona up to 14th
Feb 19, 2018, 10:11 AM
(AP Photo/Rick Scuteri)
Arizona State fell out of the Associated Press Poll’s top-25 following Thursday’s loss to rival Arizona.
The Sun Devils had just returned to the college basketball rankings at No. 25 before they hosted the Wildcats and suffered a 77-70 defeat at Wells Fargo Arena.
The win for Arizona moved it from 17th in last week’s AP Poll to 14th with a visit to the Oregon schools on deck.
Freshman center Deandre Ayton led the Wildcats with 25 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocks in the win over ASU. Arizona State got 20 points from Tra Holder and 19 more from Kodi Justice, but got outrebounded 44-28 and was a minus-14 points from the foul line in the loss.
Arizona faces the Oregon State Beavers on Thursday before playing the Oregon Ducks on Saturday.
ASU visits Oregon Thursday and Oregon on Saturday.
Virginia remained atop the AP Poll, and the top-four remained the same as last week’s rankings with Michigan State, Villanova and Xavier following the Cavaliers. Duke made a leap from 12th to fifth after wins over Virginia Tech and No. 11 Clemson despite playing without potential NBA lottery pick Marvin Bagley Jr., who suffered a sprained knee on Feb. 8.
Previous No. 5 Cincinnati tumbled to 11th after losses to Houston and No. 19 Wichita State.