West Virginia Falls out of the AP Top 25

The West Virginia Mountaineers (12-3) dropped out of the AP Top 25 Monday afternoon after only receiving 61 votes, sliding from No. 21 to 28th.

The Mountaineers fell at home to a surging Arizona Wildcats squad last Tuesday 75-56. It marked the fourth time this season the Mountaineers shot under 40% from the field, which they are 2-2 in those games and twice Arizona held WVU under the mark and the two have split have split the season series 1-1.

The loss was the first blemish since losing the team’s second leading scorer, forward Tucker DeVries, to an injury and ended a seven-game winning streak. The Mountaineers have also been without freshman guard KJ Tenner the last two games.

West Virginia bounced back on the road against the Colorado Buffaloes Sunday afternoon. The Mountaineers led throughout most of the contest and the league’s leading scorer, senior guard Javon Small, put up 26 points while senior guard Joseph Yesufu checked in off the bench and came through with some late game heroics and scored 13 of his Mountaineer career-high 18 points in the second half to secure the victory.

West Virginia has relied on their stingy defense and ranked 12th nationally, sixth among Power Four schools, and third in the Big 12 Conference in defense field goal percentage, holding opponents to 38.4% from the floor. Additionally, WVU is seventh among Power Four schools in defensive three-point field goal percentage at 28.1%.

The Mountaineers wrap up a two-game road trip at No. 10 Houston on Wednesday. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m. EST and the action will stream on ESPN+.

AP Poll Top 25

1. Auburn

2. Iowa State

3. Duke

4. Alabama

5. Florida

6. Tennessee

7. Marquette

8. Kentucky

9. Kansas

10. Houston

11. Texas A&M (-1)

12. Michigan State (+4)

13. Oregon (+2)

14. UConn (-5)

15. Mississippi State (-1)

16. Gonzaga (+2)

17. Purdue (+3)

18. Memphis (+1)

19. Illinois (-6)

20. Michigan (+4)

21. Ole Miss (+2)

22. Utah State (+3)

23. Georgia

24. Wisconsin

25. Baylor

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.

AP Poll Top 25

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