There hasn’t been much movement at the top of the college basketball world during a rather slow holiday week.
There was still plenty of action to follow – including a big surge for Miami after a win over Virginia, and a few undefeated teams recording their first losses of the season.
Here’s everything you missed in Week 7 of the season and the latest Associated Press men’s college basketball poll.
Drake stuns Mississippi State for first loss of season
Mississippi State’s undefeated run and impressive rise in the rankings is over.
Drake knocked out Mississippi State last week at Nebraska 58-52 in one of the Bulldogs’ biggest regular-season wins in recent years. The loss sent Mississippi State, which was unranked and received no votes in the year’s first preseason poll, down six spots to No. 21 in this year’s poll. week.
Mississippi State has looked solid this season and survived when needed. The Bulldogs’ 11-0 start included wins over Marquette and Utah early on, then another over Minnesota earlier this month. Still, their final games before the SEC game starting this week were tough — which makes the loss to Drake a little less surprising.
Mississippi State took a late lead to a 10-point win over a struggling Jackson State team, then edged Nicholls by just two points days later. The Bulldogs shot just 2 of 14 from behind the arc against the Colonels as well.
It’s not going to get any easier for Chris Jans either. The Bulldogs will kick off the SEC game this week against No. 8 Alabama, who has only lost games this season to No. 2 UConn and No. 10 Gonzaga. Mississippi State will then turn around immediately and face No. 7 Tennessee next week.
If the Bulldogs are a legitimate SEC contender, we’ll find out soon. If the losing skid that Drake started continues, however, Mississippi State’s hot start will be just that, and nothing more.
Illinois stumbles again in searing loss to Missouri
Illinois’ stretch to close out the year didn’t go well.
The Illini, after losing a tough game at home to Penn State earlier this month, struggled most of a game against Missouri on Thursday. The Tigers, after a long 20-4 streak early in the first half, soared to a dominating 93-71 win over Illinois in St. Louis – which handed the Illini their second loss in three games .
Illinois is now 8-4 this season and Big Ten is playing around the corner. He dropped out of the poll completely this week and received 65 votes in total – making him unofficially No. 29
The loss could be worse after listening to Missouri coach Dennis Gates’ assessment afterwards.
“We didn’t play well,” he said. “I’m very serious…I don’t think we played well and I will continue to challenge my guys to execute the things we didn’t execute. For 40 minutes we didn’t play well. I will continue to say it.
He’s almost certainly too tough, especially looking at the 11-1 start Missouri has opened up this season. The Tigers’ lone loss came in the form of a blowout against No. 4 Kansas earlier this month. They received 57 votes this week, which unofficially puts them 31st – the closest to being ranked this season.
Although Illinois is by far the best team they’ve played, outside of the Jayhawks, a huge win like this is definitely a reason to start paying attention to the Tigers ahead of the conference game – which won’t be. not easy right away. The Tigers face No. 19 Kentucky this week before a battle with No. 9 Arkansas next week.
Like the state of Mississippi, it’s time for Missouri to prove itself.
Top 25 Full AP
The full AP Top 25 poll for Monday, Dec. 26:
1.Purdue (12-0)
2.UConn (13-0)
3. Houston (12-1)
4. Kansas (11-1)
5.Arizona (12-1)
6.Texas (10-1)
7. Tennessee (10-2)
8. Alabama (10-2)
9. Arkansas (11-1)
10. Gonzaga (10-3)
11. UCLA (11-2)
12. Baylor (9-2)
13. Virginia (8-2)
14. Miami (12-1)
15. Wisconsin (9-2)
16. Indiana (10-3)
17. Duke (10-3)
18. TCU (10-1)
19. Kentucky (8-3)
20. Auburn (10-2)
21. Mississippi State (11-1)
22. New Mexico (12-0)
23. Xavier (10-3)
24. West Virginia (10-2)
25. North Carolina (9-4)
Others receiving votes: Charleston 102, Maryland 87, Memphis 74, Illinois 65, Ohio State 59, Virginia Tech 57, Missouri 57, San Diego State 39, Iowa State 19, Marquette 12, Texas Tech 10, Michigan State 7, Providence 6, Kansas State 5, USC 4, San Francisco 1
#basketball #Top #Time #Mississippi #State #Missouri #prove #worth
