SPOKANE – The Gonzaga Bulldogs (14-3) continue to win, and thus continue to slowly climb their way back up the Associated Press (AP) College Basketball Rankings. Following a pair of conference victories last week, the Bulldogs moved up to #8 in the latest AP Poll, improving one spot from the week prior.
In the latest AP College Basketball Rankings released on Monday, Houston (16-1) came in ranked #1. Other teams ranked inside of the Top 10 include:
#2 Kansas (14-1)
#3 Purdue (15-1)
#4 Alabama (13-2)
#5 Tennessee (13-2)
#6 UCONN (15-2)
#7 UCLA (14-2)
#8 Gonzaga (14-3)
#9 Arizona (14-2)
#10 Texas (13-2)
After a heartbreaking 64-63 loss to Baylor back on December 2 where the Bulldogs blew a seven-point lead with under two minutes remaining, Gonzaga dropped to #18 in the AP rankings. Since then, the Bulldogs have rattled off nine consecutive victories.
In West Coast Conference (WCC)action last week, Gonzaga was able to come away with a pair of victories, narrowly avoiding upsets at the hands of San Francisco (77-75) and Santa Clara (81-76). The wins improved Gonzaga’s record to 14-3, including 3-0 in WCC play.
Gonzaga’s three losses on the year have all come against ranked, non-conference opponents: vs #10 Texas (74-93); vs #3 Purdue (66-84); vs #19 Baylor (63-64).
On the year, the Bulldogs are averaging 85.9 points per game (ppg) offensively, led by senior Drew Timme’s 21.8ppg average. Timme also leads the team in rebounds (7.9 per game) and blocks (1.1 per game).
Head Coach Mark Few and the Bulldogs are scheduled to play another two conference games this week against BYU and Portland. The first game, a road contest against BYU (13-6) will be played Thursday, January 12. Gonzaga will then travel back to Spokane before hosting Portland (8-10) Saturday night.
