Michigan had a long wait to chase down Arizona for the No. 1 spot in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll. Staying there beyond this week won’t be easy, either.
That’s because the Wolverines visit No. 7 Purdue on Tuesday night in a matchup with the team that held the preseason No. 1 ranking. Then comes a marquee nonconference tussle Saturday night with No. 3 Duke in the nation’s capital, pairing two teams that have looked every bit like Final Four favorites.
The Duke-Michigan game stands out as the headliner on the AP Top 25 national schedule, coming in the heat of league play for both teams while offering a dry run for NCAA Tournament prep.
“The ratings show that (marquee matchups) are well-received by the fans,” Michigan coach Dusty May told reporters Monday. “Obviously, attendance and the people that are looking for tickets, you tell them to go to the secondary market, and then you start looking what the secondary market is — that shows that this game is going to be good for the game and the sport.”
The Wolverines (24-1) claimed 60 of 61 first-place votes in the new poll to end Arizona’s nine-week reign at the top. Michigan had sat at No. 2 for six of those weeks before reaching No. 1 for the first time since January 2013. The Blue Devils (24-2) climbed one spot to No. 3 in Monday’s poll, barely missing on setting up a 1-vs-2 date with the Wolverines.
Michigan entered the week ranked No. 1 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency by allowing 87.9 points per 100 possessions while ranking fourth on the offensive side (126.6).
Duke, meanwhile, entered Monday’s win against Syracuse ranked No. 2 in defense (89.3) and No. 10 in offense (125.2) behind star freshman Cameron Boozer inside.
“Conference play can really bog you down,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after Saturday’s win overt then-No. 20 Clemson. “It’s such a grind. … Neutral-site game, that’s what you’re going to play in the postseason. You play a great opponent who is different, you’re not watching them all the time.
“You go into the game obviously to win. But the lessons you come away with I think completely outweigh the risk-reward when you think about that game.”
The game also offers another example of Scheyer’s willingness to schedule tough matchups. Duke has already played a home-and-home series with Arizona, the kind of pairings getting harder to find with bigger conference schedules gobbling up slots in the realignment era.
Duke played a February game against another Big Ten team, Illinois, this week last year at New York’s Madison Square Garden. The Blue Devils won 110-67 in the most-lopsided loss in Illini history.
“I talked to (Illinois coach) Brad Underwood about it, and they had a tough showing last year for a number of reasons,” May said. “They had some injuries and illness and whatnot. I said, ‘With that being said, would you still play it?’ He said, ‘A hundred times out of a hundred.’”
Arizona’s bounceback?
Arizona started 23-0 before losing at Kansas and then at home to Texas Tech last week. The schedule isn’t letting up as the Wildcats try to bounce back.
First comes Wednesday’s home game against No. 23 BYU and star freshman AJ Dybantsa, who entered the week averaging a national-best 24.4 points per game. Then comes Saturday’s trip to No. 2 Houston.
The Wildcats entered Monday alongside Michigan and Duke as the only teams ranked inside the top 10 of KenPom’s adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency metrics.
BYU’s tests without Saunders
Speaking of BYU, the Cougars have their own tests. In addition to playing Arizona, BYU also hosts No. 6 Iowa State on Saturday.
Those will be the program’s first games since losing guard Richie Saunders to a season-ending knee injury. The 6-foot-5 senior had started 60 games the past two seasons and was averaging 18.0 points on the season.
Watch list
Clemson and Utah State are both vying to get back into the poll as the top vote-getters among unranked teams.
The Tigers were No. 20 last week after starting 10-1 in the ACC before falling out Monday after a home loss to Virginia Tech and a loss at Duke. Clemson visits Wake Forest on Wednesday and then hosts Florida State on Saturday.
Utah State, which spent a week at No. 23 last month, hosts Boise State on Wednesday then visits Nevada on Saturday.
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