Duke Takes Over The Top Spot In The AP Top 25 Poll After Kentucky's Loss To The University Of Evansville
The first week it was Michigan State who was the top team in the country and then they suffered a loss to then second ranked Kentucky then last week Kentucky lost and this week Duke who is a member of the Atlantic Coast Conference is the new top ranked team in the country.
Now lets talk about how Kentucky got bumped from the top spot in the AP Top 25 poll. They lost to the University of Evansville.
Evansville showed no fear either of Kentucky or venerable Rupp Arena, where the Wildcats had been perfect at ruining visitors' dreams of pulling off the seemingly impossible. “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx?path=mbball
Until Tuesday night.
Not only did the Purple Aces deal No. 1 Kentucky a stunning 67-64 upset, they beat the bigger, stronger Wildcats at their own game. When it was over, players, coaches and their fans whooped it up in a corner of the famed court, making sure they savored every bit of a momentous victory. “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx?path=mbball
''To be here is a dream come true,'' Evansville sophomore forward DeAndre Williams said. ''We took advantage and we made history.'' according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx?path=mbball
Sam Cunliffe scored 17 points, including two free throws with 6.8 seconds remaining to silence Kentucky (2-1) and a crowd of 19,101 - most of whom had expected a routine nonconference win from the Wildcats, who were 25-point favorites and had earned the top ranking a day earlier. “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx?path=mbball
Those expectations never materialized as Evansville (2-0) controlled the younger Wildcats on both ends of the floor. “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx?path=mbball
K.J. Riley added 18 points as the Purple Aces - coached by Walter McCarty, who won a national title with Kentucky in 1996 - pulled off the biggest upset in program history with their first win over a No. 1 team in three tries. “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx?path=mbball
Evansville led much of the game and answered each Kentucky rally with clutch baskets to grab the lead and then maintain it for the season's biggest upset.
Kentucky had been 39-0 at home against unranked, nonconference opponents when ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press poll. Evansville, meanwhile, got its first-ever road win over an AP-ranked team. “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
''Walter and their team deserved to win,'' Kentucky coach John Calipari said. ''If we would have somehow pulled it out, it would have been, kind of wouldn't even have been fair because they fought us the whole game and they were the tougher team. “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
''They executed, they made shots and 3s and free throws. My hat's off to them. It's hard to do that in this building, but they were more ready to play. He had his team better prepared than I had my team.'' “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
Tyrese Maxey's layup with 8 seconds remaining got Kentucky within 65-64, but Cunliffe stepped to the line and calmly made both ends of the 1-and-1 as his teammates locked arms on the bench. The Purple Aces raised their hands and ran around a silent Rupp Arena after the final horn as the Wildcats slowly walked off.”according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
Immanuel Quickley led Kentucky with 16 points, and Maxey scored 15.”according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
Cunliffe, a redshirt junior guard who played at Arizona State and Kansas, did most of his damage with 15 first-half points off the bench.”according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
''It's amazing. You come to a school like this and you talk about doing things like this and making history and playing in front of these bright lights,'' Cuncliffe said. ''We prepared the right way. We had our mind set in the right spot that we could actually do it. It is surreal.'' “according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
Evansville won just 11 games last season, its first under McCarty, who played in the NBA for 10 years and was an assistant at Louisville under Rick Pitino - his coach at Kentucky - and in the NBA before returning to his hometown to coach the Purple Aces.”according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
Evansville made nine of 30 3-point attempts while shooting 38% from the field to Kentucky's 37%. The Aces also outrebounded the Wildcats 38-35 and were edged by just 30-28 in points in the paint.”according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
''We started off saying, OK, we're going to punch them in the mouth and not let them punch us in the mouth first,'' Williams said. ''Once we started getting stops, they started turning the ball over, things like that. We saw that and we took advantage.''“according to https://ukathletics.com/news/2019/11/12/mens-basketball-no-1-cats-upset-by-evansville.aspx
Unlike Kentucky,
Duke who like Kentucky is a blue blood has yet to suffer a loss this season as their last game was against Georgia State where Tre Jones who is Duke’s point guard led the way.
In Duke’s game against Central Arkansas point guard Tre Jones only played nine minutes after head to head contact with Central Arkansas ' Aaron Weidenaar as the two chased a loose rebound with 7:57 left before halftime.
In Duke’s game against Georgia State Tre Jones not only played 40 minutes but was also Duke’s leading scorer.
Tre Jones scored a career-high 31 points and No. 2 Duke pulled away to beat pesky Georgia State 74-63 on Friday night. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-basketball-jones-scores-31-no-2-duke-beats-georgia-state-74-63.aspx
Duke (4-0) overcame season-worst 34.2% shooting by outrebounding the Panthers 58-32, and the school says its 30 offensive rebounds were the most in coach Mike Krzyzewski's 40 seasons.”according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-basketball-jones-scores-31-no-2-duke-beats-georgia-state-74-63.aspx
And yet, three nights after top-ranked Kentucky was upset at home by Evansville, the Blue Devils — 28 1/2-point favorites — were on upset alert against an unintimidated mid-major for longer than expected before they scratched out a sloppy victory, their 150th in a row at Cameron Indoor Stadium against nonconference opponents. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-basketball-jones-scores-31-no-2-duke-beats-georgia-state-74-63.aspx
This one was tied at 40 with less than 17 minutes to play, before Jones took over. He scored 10 points during a 13-0 run that pushed the lead into double figures. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-basketball-jones-scores-31-no-2-duke-beats-georgia-state-74-63.aspx
He put them ahead to stay with a 3-pointer and followed that with three layups through traffic. On the last one, he blew past Chris Clerkley while drawing contact from the Georgia State guard, then hit a free throw to put Duke up 51-40. After Wendell Moore Jr. capped the run with a stickback, the Panthers never got closer than nine the rest of the way. “according to https://goduke.com/news/2019/11/15/mens-basketball-jones-scores-31-no-2-duke-beats-georgia-state-74-63.aspx
As for the rest of the AP Top 25 poll,
It looks like this. “according to https://collegebasketball.ap.org/poll
Duke
Louisville
Michigan State
Kansas
North Carolina
Maryland
Virginia
Gonzaga
Kentucky
Ohio State
Oregon
Texas Tech
Seton Hall
Arizona
Utah State
Memphis
Villanova
Xavier
Auburn
Tennessee
VCU
Texas
Colorado
Baylor
Washington