Villanova’s unbeaten start now includes a No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25, and Arizona State is making a rapid rise into the top 10 under third-year head coach Bobby Hurley.
After a tumultuous week in which unanimous No. 1 Duke and No. 2 Kansas lost, the Wildcats (10-0) earned 41 of 65 first-place votes to hop over Michigan State and reach the top for the third straight season.
Villanova and Michigan State were the favorites to take over the top spot after the Blue Devils’ Saturday loss at Boston College, though there was far less certainty for voters about who was now the nation’s top team. The Spartans (9-1) earned 19 first-place votes to climb from third to second, and the other five first-place votes went to the Sun Devils — who jumped 11 spots to No. 5 after Sunday’s win at Kansas.
Arizona State (9-0) is off to its best start since the 1974-75 season. Now, the Sun Devils — who also have a win against Xavier this season — have their highest ranking since reaching third during the 1980-81 season.
Wichita State climbed three spots to No. 3, followed by Duke and Arizona State. Unbeaten Miami climbed four spots to No. 6, followed by North Carolina, Kentucky, Texas A&M and Xavier to round out the top 10.
Monday’s games: Payton Pritchard scored 16 points to lead six Oregon players in double figures as the host Ducks (7-3) won 74-68 over Texas Southern (0-9). ... Vic Law scored 18 points to lead Northwestern past visiting Chicago State 96-31, the Wildcats’ most lopsided win ever.
WCC honor for Landale: St. Mary’s center Jock Landale was named the WCC Player of the Week. The senior from Australia scored 37 points and pulled down 18 rebounds in a win over Sacramento State and followed that with a 20-and-10 performance in a win over Seattle. He shot a combined 22-for-33 in the two games. The Gaels (8-2) host UC Irvine on Saturday.
— Steve Kroner
Briefly: Texas will be without leading scorer Andrew Jones for several games because of a fracture in his right wrist. Jones is averaging 15.3 points this season for the Longhorns (6-2). ... Wisconsin freshman guard Kobe King (5.2 points in his first 10 games) is having season-ending surgery on his injured left knee.
Women
Lady Vols in top 10
Tennessee moved back into the top 10 after a big win. UConn continues to be No. 1.
The Lady Vols (10-0) knocked off then-No. 2 Texas on Sunday and climbed four spots to seventh. Tennessee, which was a perennial top team in the sport, hasn’t been among the first 10 teams in the poll since Nov. 30, 2015. The Longhorns dropped six spots to eighth.
Stanford (5-4) remained at No. 18 despite being the only four-loss team in the Top 25. Cal (7-2) moved up one spot to No. 24.
Monday’s games: Cy Lippold scored 24 points as visiting Dartmouth (7-2) defeated Colorado 81-75. Annika Jank scored 26 points for the Buffaloes (7-2).... Blair Watson scored 24 points as No. 15 Maryland (10-3) beat visiting Loyola (Md.) 114-45.
Pac-12 honor for Anigwe: Cal junior Kristine Anigwe was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week after she averaged 27 points and 10.5 rebounds in two victories. It was the second Player of the Week honor for Anigwe, who was the conference Freshman of the Year in 2016.