Category: NCAA Basketball

The Associated Press national player of the week in men's college basketball for Week 7 of the season: Anderson scored 23 of his 27 points in the second half and hit two free throws with 3.4 seconds left to cap Texas Tech's rally from a 17-point deficit to beat No. Duke 82-81 Saturday at Madison Square Garden. The 6-foot-3 sophomore guard also converted a three-point play with 1:14 left to give the Red Raiders an 81-77 lead against the previously-undefeated Blue Devils.

Could this be the year Nebraska finally wins its first ever NCAA tournament game?

The week of Christmas is typically a slow time on the college basketball, with a handful of games before and after the holiday. This week is no different with nine ranked teams playing, most against lower-tier programs. The marquee game over the next two weeks will come on Jan. 2, when No. 2 Michigan hosts No. 24 Southern California.

The largest previous margin of victory in the series, which has been played 45 times since 1980, was Illinois’ 82-50 blowout in 2005.

The Wildcats scored 50 points in the paint, grabbed 20 more rebounds and converted 36 points off Bethune-Cookman's 22 turnovers. Arizona point guard Jaden Bradley had 11 points, five rebounds, five assists and four steals. Arizona is one of six remaining undefeated teams in Division I and has seven straight wins by at least 20 points, its longest streak since eight straight 20-point wins in 1929, according to Sportradar.

AJ Dybantsa had 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead No. 10 BYU to a 109-81 victory over Eastern Washington on Monday night. Dybantsa became the first player with a triple-double for the Cougars since Kyle Collinsworth against UAB on March 16, 2016. Richie Saunders had 22 points to help BYU (12-1) go unbeaten through a four-game homestand.

Brayden Burries scored 20 points, Ivan Kharchenkov added 14 and top-ranked Arizona overcame a sluggish start to rout Bethune-Cookman 107-71 on Monday night. The Wildcats (12-0) remained No. in this week's AP Top 25 after shutting down San Diego State on Saturday, but labored early on offense in the final game before their holiday break.

Freshman guard Keaton Wagler made a career-best five 3-pointers and scored 22 points to lead No. 20 Illinois to a 91-48 rout of Missouri on Monday night. Sebastian Mack had 17 points off the bench to lead Missouri (10-3) as coach Dennis Gates left his reserves in for much of the second half with the game out of hand. After building a 16-point lead at halftime, the Illini poured it on with two 3-pointers from Ivisic in the opening minutes of the second half and finally pulled their starters with 2 1/2 minutes left.

Caleb Wilson had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and No. North Carolina had its highest point total of the season in a 99-51 victory over East Carolina on Monday night. Wilson also had four blocks and three steals, while Henri Veesaar finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

Tre White and Flory Bidunga each had 18 points and eight rebounds as No. 17 Kansas used balanced scoring to beat Davidson 90-61 on Monday night. Bryson Tiller added 11 points and Jamari McDowell scored 10. Melvin Council Jr. had 10 points, nine assists and seven rebounds.

Arizona is still No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll, but No. 2 Michigan is closing the gap.

Duke was the only team inside the top 10 to drop a game last week.

Here's an updated look at the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 after Week 7 of the men's college basketball season:

Michigan remains No.1 and Duke tumbles in the latest USA TODAY Sports men's college basketball coaches poll ahead of Christmas.

The Pirates will welcome the visiting Wildcats, who are opening their Big East schedule.