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Gonzaga Basketball

Flurry of movement in AP poll, but Gonzaga stays steady at No. 12

Gonzaga’s Tyon Grant-Foster heads to the basket against Santa Clara during the second half of GU’s 79-68 win in the WCC Tournament championship last Tuesday in Las Vegas. (TYLER TJOMSLAND/THE SPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

Teams climbed and dropped immediately above and below Gonzaga in the latest Associated Press college basketball poll, but the Zags didn’t move.

GU stayed at No. 12 following its march to the West Coast Conference Tournament title with victories over Oregon State and Santa Clara.

The Zags (30-3) moved above Illinois and Nebraska but were surpassed by St. John’s and Purdue. Gonzaga received 829 points, down from 846 in last Monday’s poll, and sits four points behind No. 11 Michigan State.

St. John’s, which rolled to the Big East Tournament title, improved from 13th to 10th. Purdue, which knocked off Michigan to win the Big Ten Tournament, soared 10 spots to No. 8.

Meanwhile, Illinois plunged four spots to No. 13 after losing to Wisconsin in overtime in its first Big Ten Tournament game. Nebraska slid from No. 11 to No. 15 after a 16-point loss to Purdue in its first Big Ten Tournament contest.

Saint Mary’s dropped one spot to No. 22 after losing to Santa Clara in the WCC Tournament semifinals at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Broncos received two points from the media panel.

All three WCC teams made the NCAA Tournament field of 68, giving the conference three selections for the first time since 2022.

Gonzaga, seeded No. 3 in the West Region, faces No. 14 Kennesaw State at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Moda Center in Portland. If the higher seeds prevail in the opening round, GU would face former WCC rival BYU on Saturday in the round of 32.

Saint Mary’s, dancing for the fifth straight season, drew a seven seed in the South Region and takes on No. 10 Texas A&M. The Zags and Gaels were co-WCC regular-season champions after splitting two meetings.

Tenth-seeded Santa Clara, which is in March Madness for the first time since the Steve Nash-led Broncos in 1996, meets No. 7 Kentucky, which lost 94-59 to GU in early December in Nashville. Gonzaga went 3-0 against the Broncos.

There was no movement in the AP top five. Duke, 32-2 after winning the ACC Tournament championship, remained at No. 1. The Blue Devils are the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Arizona, guided by former longtime Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, is second in the poll and the West’s top seed. The Wildcats and Zags could potentially collide in the Elite Eight.

No. 3 Michigan is the top seed in the Midwest and No. 4 Florida is No. 1 in the South. No. 5 Houston, which opens against Big Sky Conference champion Idaho, is the second seed in South.

Iowa State, UConn, Purdue, Virginia and St. John’s round out the bottom half of the top 10.

Gonzaga’s best win by ranking (14) and seeding (four) came against Alabama, 95-85, in November in Las Vegas. GU is 7-2 against teams in the March Madness field.

The Zags slipped one spot to No. 7 in the NET rankings, but the win over Santa Clara bumped GU to 7-2 in Quad 1 games. Saint Mary’s is No. 22 and Santa Clara is No. 40.

Kennesaw State, champions of the Conference USA Tournament, is No. 155 with an 0-1 Quad 1 record and 0-3 in Quad 2.

GU opened at No. 21 in the AP preseason poll and reached a season-best No. 6 before losing at Portland 87-80 on Feb. 4, dropping GU to No. 12. The Zags climbed to No. 9 before a road loss to Saint Mary’s in the regular-season finale sent them out of the top 10.

Gonzaga jumped up two positions to No. 10 in the USA Today coaches’ poll.