CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) Longtime national powers like Duke, Kansas, Arizona and Kentucky don’t lose often, much less on the same day.
Yet that’s what happened in what turned into a trouble-filled Saturday, the biggest news in a week that saw 10 teams in the AP Top 25 lose at least once, with nine of those stumbling against unranked teams. That will surely lead to significant changes when the new poll is released Monday.
Fourth-ranked Duke lost to St. John’s in New York. Seventh-ranked Kansas lost at home to Oklahoma State . Ninth-ranked Arizona lost on a last-second shot at Washington . And No. 21 Kentucky – which returned to the poll this week after falling out for the first time in nearly four years – lost at Missouri .
The series of losses kept things busy for ESPN Stats and Info, which noted it was the first time those four powers all lost on the same day as AP Top 25 teams. It was also the first time that Duke and Kansas lost as top-10 teams against unranked opponents on the same day since January 2003 .
Of those losses, the Blue Devils had the most confounding one.
While the others lost to teams hovering near .500 or better in their conferences, the preseason No. 1-ranked Blue Devils lost to a team that was 0-11 in the Big East. Afterward, Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski was clear in his displeasure with the way they performed, calling them ”a very frustrating group to coach today” and saying ”we got what we deserved.”
”You don’t accept that, that’s not acceptable,” Krzyzewski said. ”I’ve coached for 43 years, that is not acceptable. So I will do the things that I’ve done for 43 years to make sure that the next time we go out, we have an acceptable performance by our Duke team.”
For the record, that next time will be Thursday night at rival North Carolina.
MORE LOSSES
The list of ranked teams to lose to unranked opponents included No. 12 Oklahoma (Saturday at Texas ), No. 15 West Virginia (Wednesday at Iowa State ), No. 16 Wichita State (Thursday at Temple ), No. 23 Florida (Tuesday at Georgia and Saturday at home against Alabama ) and No. 25 Arizona State (Thursday at Washington ).
UNC REGROUPS
Maybe all No. 19 North Carolina needed to end its first three-game losing streak since January 2014 was a visit from a struggling Pittsburgh team. The Tar Heels were coming off Tuesday’s loss at No. 20 Clemson – the week’s only game involving two ranked teams – but blew Saturday’s game open and rolled past the Panthers (now 0-11 in the Atlantic Coast Conference).
”We’re definitely not going to overlook a team in the ACC,” junior Luke Maye said, ”especially after losing three games. Losing three games is not acceptable, especially at this university.”
WAHOO WINS
Second-ranked Virginia (22-1, 11-0) continued its methodical march toward what appears to be an inevitable ACC regular-season title. The Cavaliers beat Louisville at home and won at Syracuse for their 14th straight victory, keeping them at least three games up in the loss column on the rest of the league.
STILL ROLLING
Top-ranked Villanova (22-1, 9-1 Big East) beat Seton Hall on Sunday for its ninth straight win. The Wildcats haven’t lost in the 2018 calendar year.
No. 3 Purdue (23-2, 12-0 Big Ten) has the nation’s longest winning streak at 19 games after Saturday’s overtime win at Rutgers .
No. 13 St. Mary’s (23-2, 12-0 West Coast Conference) has won 18 straight to go with a 13-game road winning streak after Saturday’s win at San Diego.
CLOSE CALLS
The Boilermakers weren’t the only ranked team to need extra time to secure wins. Four other teams – No. 6 Xavier , No. 10 Texas Tech , Kentucky and No. 24 Michigan – won overtime games last week.
VOLS’ ROUTS
No. 18 Tennessee (17-5, 7-3 Southeastern Conference) had a good week. The Volunteers beat LSU by 23 points , then beat Mississippi by 33 points while allowing 61 points each time. They’ve won five straight.
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More AP college basketball: http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25
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Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap
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