ARIZONA WILDCATS BASKETBALL

Arizona falls 4 spots in latest men’s college basketball AP rankings

Jan 15, 2024, 2:38 PM

Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd directs his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball...

Arizona head coach Tommy Lloyd directs his team during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against Washington State, Saturday, Jan. 13, 2024, in Pullman, Wash. (AP Photo/Young Kwak)

(AP Photo/Young Kwak)

After their fourth loss in their last eight games, the Arizona Wildcats fell four spots to No. 12 in the latest men’s college basketball rankings from the Associated Press.

The Wildcats (12-4, 3-2) were eighth heading into the weekend before shooting a season-low 34.7% from the field in a 73-70 loss at Washington State on Saturday.

Tommy Lloyd’s team sits fourth in Pac-12 play with the Wildcats hosting USC on Wednesday and UCLA on Saturday at McKale Center.

‘LOPES ON THE RISE

Elsewhere in Arizona, Grand Canyon is five spots out of the AP’s top 25 with 49 votes in the polling.

The Antelopes beat Abilene Christian and Tarleton State to improve to 16-1 on the season and 6-0 in WAC league play.

RISING AND FALLING

UConn rose three places to the top spot in the poll. Thirty-nine of the possible 63 first-place votes went to the Huskies who were the only top-five team that did not lose to an unranked opponent.

This is the first time since 2009 the Huskies are ranked No. 1.

Purdue fell to No. 2 after a loss at Nebraska last Tuesday. The Boilermakers had been No. 1 in the poll for the past four weeks and received 20 first-place votes this week. No. 3 Kansas was the only team to hold its place from last week’s poll after 15 ranked teams lost.

Gonzaga’s streak of 143 consecutive AP Top 25 appearances ended Monday after the Bulldogs lost at Santa Clara last Thursday. This is the first time since the 2015-16 season the Bulldogs are unranked.

CONFERENCE WATCH
The Big 12 again had the most ranked teams with eight. It’s the first time the Big 12 has had eight ranked teams.

Men’s college basketball rankings – Jan. 15 AP Poll

RANKING
TEAM
RECORD
POINTS
PREVIOUS
1 UConn (39) 15-2 1,542 4
2 Purdue (20) 15-2 1,506 1
3 Kansas (3) 14-2 1,426 3
4 North Carolina (1) 13-3 1,407 7
5 Houston 14-2 1,236 2
6 Tennessee 12-4 1,147 5
7 Duke 13-3 1,130 11
8 Kentucky 12-3 1,123 6
9 Baylor 14-2 1,055 14
10 Memphis 15-2 987 13
11 Wisconsin 13-3 948 15
12 Arizona 12-4 918 8
13 Auburn 14-2 905 16
14 Illinois 12-4 660 10
15 Oklahoma 13-3 633 9
16 Utah State 16-1 538 20
17 Marquette 11-5 516 11
18 Creighton 13-4 433 22
19 TCU 13-3 293 NR
20 BYU 13-3 270 18
21 Dayton 13-2 261 NR
22 Ole Miss 15-1 236 NR
23 FAU 13-4 221 24
24 Iowa State 13-3 195 NR
25 Texas Tech 14-2 191 NR

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