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Gonzaga Basketball

Gonzaga holds steady at No. 11, Purdue takes top spot in AP poll

Gonzaga forward Ben Gregg blocks a shot attempt by UCLA guard Dylan Andrews on Wednesday at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu. (By Tyler Tjomsland/The Spokesman-Review)
By Jim Meehan jimm@spokesman.com(509) 459-5585

There was movement throughout the latest Associated Press college basketball poll, but Gonzaga remains in a holding pattern.

The Zags were No. 11 in the preseason rankings and haven’t budged in the three regular-season polls that followed.

Gonzaga (4-1) stayed put after going 2-1 at the Maui Invitational in Honolulu. The Zags had 964 points, three behind No. 10 Tennessee and 237 in front of No. 12 Kentucky. The Zags visit the Wildcats on Feb. 10 in Lexington.

Purdue took over the top spot after capturing the Maui Invitational championship with victories over Gonzaga (73-63), Tennessee (71-67) and Marquette (78-75). Marquette climbed from No. 4 to No. 3.

The Boilermakers (6-0) replaced Kansas, which lost to Marquette in the Maui semifinals before rebounding with a 69-60 win over Tennessee.

Arizona, led by former Gonzaga assistant coach Tommy Lloyd, moved up one spot to No. 2. The Wildcats (6-0), who edged Michigan State 74-68, will face Purdue on Dec. 16 in Indianapolis.

Purdue received 60 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel. Arizona had one first-place vote and No. 4 UConn, which visits Kansas on Friday, picked up two.

Gonzaga faces UConn on Dec. 15 in Seattle.

Kansas slipped to fifth, followed by Houston, Duke, Miami, Baylor and Tennessee.

BYU, which exited the West Coast Conference after last season for the Big 12, debuted at No. 19 following its 6-0 start. The Big 12 leads all conferences with six ranked teams. The SEC is next with five.

Gonzaga entertains Cal State Bakersfield on Tuesday before facing USC on Saturday in Las Vegas. The Trojans (4-2) were No. 23 last week, but dropped into the receiving votes category after falling to Oklahoma 72-70.

San Diego State, which visits Gonzaga on Dec. 29, barely missed the top 25 with 102 points, 18 behind No. 25 Oklahoma. UCLA, which fell to GU 69-65 in Maui, received 24 points.

Gonzaga remained at No. 10 in the USA Today poll. Purdue moved up to No. 1 and received all 32 first-place votes in the coaches’ poll.

Arizona, Marquette, UConn, Houston, Kansas, Duke, Miami, Baylor and GU rounded out the top 10.