Kentucky, Virginia, Gonzaga again top AP Poll

The Associated Press top 25 poll remains unchanged at the top this week, as Kentucky, Virginia, Gonzaga, Duke and Wisconsin once again hold the top five spots. The first sign of movement in the poll comes at No. 9, where Utah jumped two spots to leapfrog Notre Dame and Louisville.

Author:
SI Wire
Publish date:
Feb 16, 2015

The Wildcats remained No. 1, holding on for a 71-69 road win over LSU before a 77-43 win over South Carolina. Getting freshman forward Trey Lyles back from a three-game absence due to an illness helped Kentucky move to 25-0, matching the program's best start.

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Virginia (23-1) has won four straight since losing to Duke on Jan. 31. The Cavaliers' two wins last week came by a combined five points; a 51-47 road win over N.C. State opened the week before a 61-60 win over Wake Forest. Both wins came without junior guard Justin Anderson, who was Virginia's leading scorer before he was ruled out for 4-to-6 weeks with a fractured finger suffered on Feb. 7.

At No. 3, Gonzaga defeated Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine to move to 26-1. Duke stayed at No. 4 with wins over Florida State and Syracuse, while Wisconsin again rounded out the top five by defeating Nebraska and Illinois.

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Northern Iowa (24-2) jumped two spots to No. 11, while Wichita State (23-3) also jumped two to No. 13. Louisville (20-5) fell three spots to No. 12 after losing to N.C. State.

Other big movers included Arkansas (20-5), which jumped six spots to No. 18, Baylor (18-7) which fell four spots to No. 20 and Virginia Commonwealth (19-6), which dropped five spots to No. 25. No teams fell out of the top 25.

The complete top 25 is below:

1. Kentucky

2. Virginia

3. Gonzaga

4. Duke

5. Wisconsin

6. Villanova

7. Arizona

8. Kansas

9. Utah

10. Notre Dame

11. UNI