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AP College Basketball Poll 2023: Complete Week 7 Men's Rankings Released – Bleacher Report
Purdue handed Arizona its first loss Saturday and claimed the top spot in the Associated Press Top 25 poll Monday.
The Boilermakers’ 92-84 victory was enough to catapult them from third to first, ahead of Kansas at No. 2.
Associated Press Top 25
Zach Edey continued to look like perhaps the top national player of the year candidate in the country over the weekend, as he dropped 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists on the Wildcats.
But the backcourt tandem of Braden Smith and Fletcher Loyer propelled Purdue to its biggest win of the season. They combined for 53 points and accounted for nine of their team’s 10 three-pointers.
“I think just both our desires to win has just really sparked [the team],” Loyer told reporters after the game. “That’s all we want to do when we go out there. Whether Braden has 26 points, whether he has 10, whether he has two. He just wants to win the game. Same with me. Same with the other guys.”
College basketball fans had a busy weekend tracking all of the games that carried Top 25 implications.
UConn traveled to Seattle on Friday and beat Gonzaga 76-63, handing the Zags their third loss already. Saturday saw Kansas turn things around in the second half to avoid an upset to Indiana. Reed Sheppard and Rob Dillingham’s 28 combined points off the bench propelled Kentucky to an 87-83 win over North Carolina. Clemson is unbeaten no longer after it couldn’t muster a late comeback against Memphis.
Perhaps the most shocking result came in Detroit as Michigan State comprehensively outclassed Baylor 88-64. The Spartans were up 45-17 at halftime, with Coen Carr’s left-handed windmill capping off their scoring.
Michigan State held A DUNK FEST today! 💪 <a href="https://twitter.com/MSU_Basketball?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MSU_Basketball</a> <a href="https://t.co/IePWxXfn5s">pic.twitter.com/IePWxXfn5s</a>
“I mean (us having) 21 turnovers for the game, they deserve a lot of that credit,” Bears head coach Scott Drew said after the game. “Because our offense was the second-best offense in the country coming in, so it wasn’t like we didn’t know what we’re doing. But they made us look really bad.”
Perhaps the performance was a total anomaly, but this was the first time Michigan State looked like a team that warranted a No. 4 preseason ranking.
For Baylor, a matchup with Duke on Wednesday provides an opportunity to rebound in a big way. That’s the Bears’ last major non-conference test before they shift to Big 12 play.
North Carolina will likewise have a big chip on its shoulder when it crosses paths with Oklahoma on Wednesday inside Spectrum Center. The Tar Heels should have a nice home-court advantage in what’s technically a neutral-site event.
Carrying on the theme, Arizona takes on Alabama and Florida Atlantic this week, so the Wildcats can reassert their case for being considered the top team in the country even if they no longer have the No. 1 ranking.