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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Gonzaga men hold firm in AP, USA Today polls; Zags’ Wiltjer honored

Kyle Wiltjer is the WCC Player of the Week a second time. (Tyler Tjomsland)

The Gonzaga Bulldogs stayed put in the college basketball polls and so did the teams around them.

The Zags (26-1) held down the third spot in the Associated Press poll and second in USA Today. Kentucky remains No. 1, followed by Virginia in the AP poll. Gonzaga received one first-place vote for the third consecutive week to prevent Kentucky from being a unanimous No. 1 in the USA Today rankings.

The polls remain split with Duke fourth in AP and Wisconsin occupying that spot in the coaches poll.

Gonzaga’s Kyle Wiltjer, who had a pair of double-doubles last week, is the West Coast Conference Player of the Week for the second time this season.

The junior averaged 17.0 points and 8.0 rebounds in WCC home victories over Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount as the Bulldogs extended their nation-leading home winning streak to 40 games.

Wiltjer’s second award gives GU a league-high five POW honors this season.

Gonzaga plays at Pacific on Thursday and at Saint Mary’s on Saturday on its final regular-season WCC road trip.