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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga drops to No. 16 in latest Associated Press poll, one spot behind Saint Mary’s

Gonzaga forward Ben Gregg (33) reacts after hitting a 3-pointer against Saint Mary’s Gaels during the first half of Saturday’s game in Moraga.  (Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)

Gonzaga’s up-and-down tour of the Associated Press rankings resumed with the release of the latest men’s poll Monday.

The Zags slid four spots to No. 16 after falling to Saint Mary’s 78-70 in overtime Saturday night in Moraga. Gonzaga handled Santa Clara 88-70 last Thursday.

The Gaels gained three spots to No. 15.

Gonzaga has been on the move, in both directions, since opening the season at No. 2. Here’s a recap of GU’s ranking week by week in order: 2, 6, 14, 18, 15, 11, 10, 9, 8, 6, 14, 12 and 16.

Purdue, despite a loss to Indiana, held on to the No. 1 spot with 38 first-place votes. Houston, with 22 first-place votes is No. 2, 25 points behind the Boilermakers.

Alabama moved up to No. 3, followed by Arizona, Texas, Tennessee, UCLA, Virginia, Kansas and Marquette.

Fifteen teams in last week’s top 25 dropped at least one game.

Gonzaga is 1-2 against top five teams with a win over Alabama and losses to Purdue and Texas. The Zags defeated No. 13 Xavier and lost to No. 14 Baylor and No. 15 Saint Mary’s.

Gonzaga (19-5, 8-2 West Coast Conference) also dropped an exhibition game to No. 6 Tennessee.

Saturday’s result didn’t change the Zags’ and Gaels’ positions in the NET rankings. Gonzaga remained No. 11 and Saint Mary’s stayed at No. 6.

The Zags are 3-4 in Quad 1 games after falling to the Gaels, who are 2-1 in that category. GU is 5-0 in Quad 2, 4-1 in Quad 3 and 6-0 in Quad 4.

Gonzaga entertains No. 118 NET San Francisco on Thursday and No. 86 BYU on Saturday.

The Big 12 leads all conferences with six teams ranked in the top 25, followed by the Big East (five) and the Big Ten and ACC each with three.

Gonzaga, widely projected as a No. 3 seed last Monday, is seeded fourth in CBS Sports’ Jerry Palm’s latest bracket. Palm projects Gonzaga facing No. 13 UC Santa Barbara in the West Region opening round in Sacramento.

In Palm’s latest bracket, the fourth-seeded Gaels take on No. 13 Liberty in the East Region. Eastern Washington is projected as a 15 seed, lining up against No. 2 Arizona.

The No. 1 seeds are Purdue, Alabama, Kansas and Texas.

The Zags fell two spots to 16th in the USA Today coaches poll. Saint Mary’s moved up to 14. Purdue stayed at No. 1 with a 15-point edge over No. 2 Houston