College Hoops Top 25: Gonzaga men jump; UW women hang on

The Gonzaga Bulldogs’ performance without their two leading scorers has apparently made an impression on the voters for the weekly Associated Press Top 25 men’s basketball poll.

The Zags rose two spots to No. 6 in the new rankings released Monday morning after they improved to 21-1 overall and 9-0 in West Coast Conference play with wins over Pepperdine and San Francisco in the last week.

See the full AP Top 25 men’s basketball rankings

Gonzaga has played its last four games without 6-foot-10 forward Braden Huff, who was the team’s leading scorer when it was announced on Jan. 15 that he would miss 4-8 weeks with a knee injury. The Zags have also played their last three games without current leading scorer Graham Ike, a 6-foot-9 forward, who is nursing an ankle injury.

Gonzaga has had to lean increasingly on its depth at guard in the past two weeks, most notably 6-7 freshman and Anacortes native Davis Fogle, who has averaged 15 points per game off the bench in the three contests that Ike has missed.

The Zags are off until they have their biggest test in conference play yet at 7:30 p.m. Saturday when they host rival Saint Mary’s (19-3 overall, 8-1 WCC).

The top three teams – Arizona, UConn and Michigan – remained the same in the new AP rankings, while Duke moved up a spot to No. 4 and Nebraska jumped two spots to No. 5.

Women’s AP Top 25

The UW Huskies stood pat at No. 25 in Monday’s women’s hoops AP rankings.

UW played just once in the last week, beating Penn State 81-65 to improve to 15-4 overall and 5-3 in Big Ten play.

See the full AP Top 25 men’s basketball rankings

The Huskies have a tough upcoming slate. They’re on the road to take on Rutgers (9-10, 1-7) at noon Monday and No. 16 Maryland (17-4, 5-4) on Wednesday, then return home to play Illinois (15-5, 5-4) on Sunday and No. 11 Ohio State (18-3, 7-2) on Thursday, Feb. 5.

The undefeated UConn women remained No. 1 on Monday, followed by No. 2 UCLA and No. 3 South Carolina, who switched spots after South Carolina lost last week in overtime to No. 10 Oklahoma.

UW is one of seven Big Ten teams in the women’s Top 25, which is second to the SEC’s 10.

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