Men's college basketball rankings: Gonzaga trending upward in AP Top 25 poll

The Gonzaga men's basketball team continues to inch its way up the Associated Press Top 25 poll amid an undefeated start to West Coast Conference play.

After taking down in-state rival Washington State on Saturday, the Bulldogs (14-4, 5-0 WCC) moved up two spots to No. 16 in the latest media poll released Monday. It's the second week in a row the Zags moved up the poll following a five-week skid that saw them drop as low as No. 19. Gonzaga received 569 votes in the latest poll, which was behind No. 15 Mississippi State (624) and ahead of No. 17 Purdue (553).

Graham Ike led the way with 21 points while Nolan Hickman chipped in 19 points and seven rebounds in the 88-75 victory over the Cougars at the McCarthey Athletic Center. Gonzaga led by three points at halftime before putting WSU away with a 15-5 scoring run to open the second half. The Bulldogs created extra opportunities for themselves by grabbing 11 offensive rebounds and forcing 16 turnovers, which led to 20 points the other way for the home team.

"I thought we really went out and turned defense into offense, and we knew that was going to be a big key for us," Gonzaga head coach Mark Few said after the game. "[The Cougars] are hard to guard, they're big and they're physical, and [WSU coach David Riley] does a really lot of nice stuff on offense that exploits mismatches. But our guys battled tonight, so I was really proud of them."

Auburn took the top spot in the poll as the entire top five was reshuffled after then-unbeaten Tennessee was handed a 30-point loss at Florida last week. The Tigers, who are No. 1 at KenPom and the NET as well, earned two road wins over Texas and South Carolina last week. However, Bruce Pearl and company will have to navigate at least a few SEC games without National Player of the Year candidate, Johni Broome.

AP Top 25 poll (Week 11):

1. Auburn (15-1, 3-0 SEC)
2. Iowa State (14-1, 4-0 Big 12)
3. Duke (14-2, 6-0 ACC)
4. Alabama (14-2, 3-0 SEC)
5. Florida (15-1, 2-1 SEC)
6. Tennessee (15-1, 2-1 SEC)
7. Marquette (14-2, 5-0 Big East)
8. Kentucky (13-3, 2-1 SEC)
9. Kansas (12-3, 3-1 Big 12)
10. Houston (12-3, 4-0 Big 12)
11. Texas A&M (13-3, 2-1 SEC)
12. Michigan State (14-2, 5-0 Big Ten)
13. Oregon (15-2, 4-2 Big Ten)
14. UConn (13-4, 5-1 Big East)
15. Mississippi State (14-2, 2-1 SEC)
16. Gonzaga (14-4, 5-0 WCC)
17. Purdue (13-4, 5-1 Big Ten)
18. Memphis (13-3, 3-0 AAC)
19. Illinois (12-4, 4-2 Big Ten)
20. Michigan (13-3, 5-0 Big Ten)
21. Ole Miss (14-2, 3-0 SEC)
22. Utah State (16-1, 6-0 Mountain West)
23. Georgia (14-2, 2-1 SEC)
24. Wisconsin (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten)
25. Baylor (11-4, 3-1 Big 12)

Others receiving votes:

St. John's 83, Oklahoma 63, West Virginia 61, Arizona 26, Louisville 17, Texas Tech 12, Maryland 11, Clemson 8, Missouri 8, Cincinnati 4, San Diego St. 4, Saint Mary's 3, UC Irvine 2, New Mexico 2.

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