Baylor jumped back into the Associated Press college basketball poll at No. 25 while the Arizona Wildcats received the 29th most points in voting.
The Bears, who are scheduled to face Arizona on Tuesday at McKale Center in a 9 p.m. ESPN late-night affair, began the season ranked No. 8 and have bounced in and out of the poll since first bouncing out on Dec. 9.
Arizona (10-5) began the season ranked No. 10 but dropped out of the poll after losing two of three games in the Battle 4 Atlantis over Thanksgiving Week. Their point total Monday was the most the Wildcats have received since then.
Baylor head coach Scott Drew addresses the media during Big 12 Menโs Basketball Media Day on Oct. 23 in Kansas City, Missouri.
Auburn (15-1) took over the top spot in the AP poll after Tennessee (15-1) was crushed at Florida (15-1) while Iowa State (14-1) jumped from No. 3 to No. 2 and Duke from No. 4 to No. 3.
Among other UA opponents this season, Kansas (12-3) ย jumped from 11 to 9, Houston (12-3) moved from 12 to 10 while Oklahoma, West Virginia and UCLA all dropped out.ย
FWIW, this was my AP ballot.
Iowa State's Curtis Jones (player) and Joshua Jefferson (newcomer) swept Big 12 men's basketball weekly awards after the Cyclones beat Utah and Texas Tech last week.
Jones averaged 24.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.0 steals while not committing a single turnover. In Iowa State's 82-59 victory over Utah, Jones scored 23 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, adding five rebounds and six assists.
In an overtime win at Texas Tech, Jones scored a game-high 26 points.
Jefferson scored 17 points in both ISU wins. His buzzer-beating layup sent the game at Texas Tech to overtime, where he then hit the game-tying and game-winning free throws with four seconds left. The forward from Las Vegas went 5-of-10 from the field and added seven rebounds against Utah.
