Gonzaga moves up in AP Poll despite Braden Huff injury news

Mark Few and the Gonzaga Bulldogs currently boast the fifth longest winning streak in college basketball, with two of those 12 wins coming without star forward Braden Huff.

Huff suffered a left knee injury during practice last week and will be out 4-8 weeks, which puts his return this season in jeopardy. Gonzaga managed a 21 point win over Washington State in Pullman without Huff, thanks to a strong performance from Graham Ike.

However, Ike tweaked his ankle in the closing minutes, and was held out of Gonzaga's game against Seattle U on Saturday at Climate Pledge Arena due to ankle soreness. He is currently considered day-to-day. Even without both starting big men, Gonzaga rolled to a 71-50 victory by outrebounding the Redhawks by 20, with a 20 point night from Mario Saint-Supery and a well-rounded performance from Jalen Warley, who had 14 points, six rebounds, and four steals.

Gonzaga's depth is a massive strength this season, and has been on full display the past few games. Many other teams would see a dip in performance - and in the polls - after losing their leading scorer, but the Zags moved up one spot in the updated AP Poll on Monday morning, going from No. 9 back up to No. 8.

The climb is really a response to Iowa State's bad week after the Cyclones took their first two losses of the season, on the road at Kansas and at Cincinnati. Iowa State fell seven spots from No. 2 to No. 9, while UConn, Michigan, Purdue, Duke, Houston, Nebraska, and Gonzaga each moved up exactly one spot.

This is the sixth week in a row Gonzaga places in the top ten of the AP Poll, and the computer metrics continue to back up the Zags as a top ten team in the country. KenPom currently has Gonzaga ranked No. 6, and just one of four teams inside the top ten in both adjusted offensive and adjusted defensive efficiency, coming in at No. 8 and No. 9, respectively. Michigan (5, 2), Arizona (6, 3), and Duke (9, 5) are the others.

Meanwhile, Torvik has Gonzaga at No. 10 while EvanMiya has the Zags at No. 9 in college hoops.

Gonzaga's lone loss of the season came on a neutral site against No. 3 Michigan, although they only have one win over a team currently ranked in the top 25 in No. 17 Alabama, who moved up one spot after a very narrow win over Oklahoma on Saturday, 83-81.

Kentucky (27 votes) comes in 29th among AP voters, coming off a wild week where they came back from an 18 point deficit against LSU followed by a 17 point comeback against then No. 24 Tennessee.

Saint Mary's managed five votes despite a road loss at Santa Clara on Saturday, dropping them to 17-3 overall and 0-2 in Quad 1 games.

Next up for Gonzaga is a home matchup against Pepperdine on Wednesday, with tip slated for 6:00 PM PT on ESPN+. It's unclear as of this writing if Ike will suit up or continue to rest his ankle ahead of Saturday's home game against the San Francisco Dons.