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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga remains No. 3 behind Duke, Kansas in latest AP Top 25 poll

Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr., is all smiles after Thursday’s rout of Texas A&M in the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Zags, who open the Maui Classic tonight against Illinois, remain No. 3 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)
Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr., is all smiles after Thursday’s rout of Texas A&M in the McCarthey Athletic Center. The Zags, who open the Maui Classic tonight against Illinois, remain No. 3 in the latest AP Top 25 poll. (Dan Pelle / The Spokesman-Review)Buy a print of this photo
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

Gonzaga isn’t going up or down, and that’s pretty much the same story for everybody in the AP top 10.

The Zags were No. 3 in the preseason poll, the first regular-season poll and the latest top 25 released Monday morning.

Gonzaga, which thumped Texas A&M 94-71 last Thursday, is firmly in third, despite losing 41 points from last week.

The top seven teams remain unchanged: Duke, Kansas, GU, Virginia, Tennessee, Nevada and North Carolina. Auburn climbed one spot to No. 8, giving the Maui Invitational three of the top eight teams.

Gonzaga opens the tournament against Illinois at 8:30 p.m. Monday night.

Michigan’s impressive road win over defending national champion Villanova vaulted the Wolverines from 18th to ninth. Kentucky rounded out the top 10.

Villanova plummeted from No. 8 to fourth in receiving votes. The Wildcats lost consecutive games for the first time in five seasons.

The Zags have a 138-point cushion over Virginia, which lost 27 votes in the last week. GU trails Kansas by 73 points.

Duke garnered 53 of 63 possible first-place votes. Kansas earned seven, Virginia two and Tennessee one. The Zags and Volunteers meet Dec. 9 in Phoenix.

Loyola Marymount, which improved to 5-0 after winning the Jamaica Classic Montego Bay Division, received two votes.

Gonzaga moved up one spot to No. 3 in the first USA Today poll of the regular season. GU, fourth in the preseason rankings, climbed past Kentucky, which slid from second to 10th.

The coaches’ top five is the same as the AP’s: Duke, Kansas, GU, Virginia, and Tennessee. North Carolina, Nevada, Michigan, Auburn and Kentucky complete the top 10.

Duke received all 32 first-place votes.

Saint Mary’s received three votes.