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Tag: Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball

  • Arizona jumps to No. 2 behind Purdue in AP Top 25, Alabama into top 10; Kansas falls out of rankings

    Purdue remained at No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, while Arizona jumped to No. 2 to continue its opening-month rise after another impressive win against a ranked opponent.

    The Boilermakers (6-0) earned 46 of 61 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to remain at the top after beating then-No. 15 Texas Tech by 30 to win the Baha Mar Championship in the Bahamas.

    The Wildcats (5-0) earned 11 first-place votes to jump two spots. That came after last week’s win at then-No. 3 UConn, part of run that began with a victory over reigning NCAA champion Florida in Las Vegas and a win against a ranked UCLA team in Los Angeles.

    Arizona was ranked No. 13 in the preseason AP Top 25, but jumped to No. 5 after the Florida win before inching up to No. 4 last week.

    The top tier

    Houston, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this month, slid a spot to No. 3 to make room for the Wildcats, while Duke and UConn rounded out the top five.

    Louisville, Michigan, Alabama, BYU and Florida rounded out the top 10, with the Crimson Tide rising from No. 11 after its win against then-No. 8 Illinois in Chicago.

    Rising

    No. 11 Michigan State had the week’s biggest jump, climbing six spots after beating Kentucky in the Champions Classic.

    No. 17 Tennessee climbed three spots, while No. 16 North Carolina and No. 23 N.C. State each rose two spots.

    In all, 11 teams moved up from last week’s poll.

    Sliding

    Kentucky’s 17-point loss to the Spartans triggered the week’s biggest fall of seven spots to No. 19, while the 13th-ranked Illini and 20th-ranked Red Raiders each tumbled five spots.

    In all, six teams fell from last week’s poll.

    Status quo

    Six teams stayed locked in last week’s position, including five of the top 10 teams and No. 14 St. John’s.

    Comings and goings

    No. 24 Vanderbilt and No. 25 Indiana were the new additions to the poll, replacing Wisconsin (No. 23 last week) and Kansas (24th).

    The Commodores spent one week at No. 24 last season, which before Monday stood as the only AP Top 25 ranking for the program since December 2015.

    It is the second straight year the Jayhawks, who lost to Duke in the Champions Classic last week, have fallen out of the poll at least once. Before last season, Kansas had been ranked in every poll but one — missing one week during the 2020-21 season played amid the COVID-19 pandemic — dating to the 2009-10 season.

    Conference watch

    The Southeastern Conference didn’t have a team ranked higher than eighth, yet posted the biggest overall haul of any conference with seven ranked teams, including No. 21 Auburn and No. 22 Arkansas.

    The Big Ten was next with six AP Top 25 teams, followed by the Big 12 with five, the Atlantic Coast Conference with four, the Big East with two and the West Coast Conference with one.

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  • Kansas’ Self to miss Big 12 tourney after medical procedure

    Kansas’ Self to miss Big 12 tourney after medical procedure

    KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas coach Bill Self will miss the Big 12 Tournament after going to the emergency room Wednesday night for what doctors called “a standard procedure,” and it’s uncertain whether he will be back for the NCAA Tournament.

    Dr. Steve Stites, the chief medical officer at the University of Kansas Health System, said Self did not have a heart attack, which some outlets had reported, but that he remained a patient Thursday. Stites also did not describe the nature or extent of the procedure, though Self is expected to make a full recovery.

    “We didn’t really let the guys know until this morning because nothing was concrete what was going on,” said Kansas assistant Norm Roberts, who led the No. 3 Jayhawks to a 78-61 win over West Virginia in the quarterfinal round.

    “Coach is doing good,” Roberts added. “I talked to him on the phone (after the game). He’s doing well. He already wants to watch film and all of that. He’s doing well. He’s doing better.”

    Kansas officials announced that Self was ill about five hours before tipoff Thursday and that Roberts would be the acting coach. It’s a role he filled earlier in the season when Self served a school-imposed four-game suspension.

    The Jayhawks are the defending Big 12 Tournament champions and are trying to secure a No. 1 seed for the NCAA Tournament, where they will attempt to defend the national championship they won last April.

    “Just come together through it all. Coach Self obviously would want that,” Kansas guard Gradey Dick said. “A lot of what he preaches with us is next man up, and in this case it was coach. And it’s kind of a little similar to the start of the season. Obviously a little more serious now with Coach Self but we’re hearing it’s all good.”

    The 60-year-old Hall of Fame coach led Kansas to the regular-season championship in the toughest conference in the nation this season, despite losing several key players from the team that beat North Carolina for the national title last April.

    He was present Wednesday for a shootaround at T-Mobile Center and appeared healthy. He met with reporters for about 20 minutes outside the locker room and said his team was ready for another March run.

    “We’ve talked about we’re going to Kansas City to try to put ourselves in position to win this thing, but knowing we better take one game at a time,” Self said Wednesday. “I’ve put the emphasis on, ‘Let’s go play our best.’ What the (Big 12) tournament does, it can validate what your regular season’s been. And this is an opportunity to validate it.”

    Self is 581-130 during his two decades with Kansas, and is 788-235 in his 30 seasons as a head coach, including stops at Oral Roberts, Tulsa and Illinois. He’s led the Jayhawks to a pair of national championships, beating Memphis for the title in 2008, and the regular-season Big 12 title was his 17th in 20 seasons in Lawrence.

    With the retirement of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim on Wednesday, Self climbed up the list of the winningest active coaches in men’s college basketball behind Bob Huggins, John Calipari and Rick Pitino.

    “Coach Self has always treated me very well. Really respect him and respect their program,” said Iowa State coach TJ Otzelberger, whose team will face the Jayhawks in Friday night’s Big 12 Tournament semifinals. “Certainly want to wish him the best. I texted him earlier today and let him know we’re keeping him in our thoughts.”

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    AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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  • Scheyer hopes No. 7 Duke’s defense ready for No. 6 Kansas

    Scheyer hopes No. 7 Duke’s defense ready for No. 6 Kansas

    Jon Scheyer pushed defense from the first workouts after taking over at Duke. A week after his debut, he’ll get a look at how that unit performs against a top opponent.

    The seventh-ranked Blue Devils face sixth-ranked and reigning national champion Kansas on Tuesday night in Indianapolis for the Champions Classic, a fixture of college basketball’s early season schedule for more than a decade.

    That game is one of seven matchups this week with both teams ranked in the first regular-season AP Top 25 poll. It also marks the first marquee game for the 35-year-old Scheyer in charge of the program where he won a national championship as a player and as an assistant coach – and now works in the spotlight as the successor to retired Hall of Famer Mike Krzyzewski.

    Duke (2-0) held Jacksonville and USC Upstate to a combined 82 points on 30.8% shooting, including 21.7% from 3-point range. The Blue Devils got a boost in the second game as 7-foot-1 Dereck Lively II – the nation’s No. 1 recruit – made his debut after a preseason injury to bring mobility and rim protection.

    “They’ve embraced the commitment on the defensive end,” Scheyer said. “I still think we have a long way to go. But you have to take it step by step. … They want to get better at it. That’s been the fun thing.

    “I think if you saw us July 1 to right now, it’s been a big improvement. Hopefully you say the same thing from where we are now versus a month or two from here.”

    Acting Kansas coach Norm Roberts, who is leading the Jayhawks during Bill Self’s four-game suspension, said it’s difficult to tell just yet about how much Scheyer will use straight from his time under Krzyzewski and how much he’s adjusting Duke’s approach.

    “I don’t know if you can tell that so early in the year,” Roberts said, adding: “I’m sure when you’re following a Hall of Fame coach, someone that’s done it so well for so long, you’re going to take a lot of things that person did.”

    GONZAGA’S TOUGH WEEK

    Mark Few certainly didn’t make things easy for No. 2 Gonzaga to start the schedule.

    The Bulldogs beat Michigan State last week on an aircraft carrier, and this week will have two games against highly ranked opponents. The first comes Wednesday with a trip to No. 11 Texas, followed by a date with No. 4 Kentucky in its home city of Spokane, Washington — though not in its home arena.

    The Zags also have nonconference dates ahead with No. 5 Baylor (Dec. 2) and No. 18 Alabama (Dec. 17).

    (EARLY) TOURNEY TIME

    The Continental Tire Main Event in Las Vegas pulled in four ranked teams for this week’s two-day tournament. The first round pairs Baylor against No. 16 Virginia while No. 8 UCLA meets No. 19 Illinois on Friday.

    The championship and consolation games are Sunday.

    UNC STAYING HOME

    Top-ranked North Carolina, which earned 44 off 63 first-place votes in Monday’s latest poll to remain on top, gets two home games this week against unranked opponents before a long stretch away from Chapel Hill.

    The Tar Heels host Gardner-Webb on Tuesday then James Madison on Sunday. From there, they head west for the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland for the Thanksgiving week, then visit No. 12 Indiana in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Nov. 30) followed by Virginia Tech (Dec. 4) to open Atlantic Coast Conference play.

    The Tar Heels won’t play at home again until hosting Georgia Tech in ACC play on Dec. 10.

    WATCH LIST

    Two Big Ten teams are on deck for next week’s AP Top 25.

    Michigan State, the leading vote-getter among unranked teams, will have a pair of big-name opponents this week by facing Kentucky in Tuesday’s other Champions Classic game. The Spartans also host Villanova — which fell out of the poll from No. 16 after a Week 1 loss to Temple under new coach Kyle Neptune — on Friday.

    Purdue was next up among unranked teams and has a matchup with Marquette at home Tuesday.

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    Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap

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    AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

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