AP basketball Top 25: Purdue drops another while Arizona, Miami fall to wild buzzer-beaters

It’s the final week of the regular season and last week’s top five is finally back.

Here’s everything you missed in week 16 of the season, plus the latest Associated Press poll on men’s college basketball.

Purdue stumbling continues

Just a few weeks after a comfortable tenure at number one, Purdue continued to stumble over the past week.

On Saturday, the Boilermakers lost again to Indiana, their fourth loss in six games. Two of them ended up in the hands of the Hoosiers, who won the state’s first season streak in a decade. Jalen Hood-Scifino scored a career-high 35 points in the win, and Indiana is now heading 20-9 into its games with Iowa and Michigan this week to close out the regular season. The Hoosiers moved up to 15th place this week, moving up two spots.

Purdue, despite losses, remained in fifth place in this week’s poll. The Boilermakers missed a shot at the Big Ten regular season title on Saturday, but they still ended up winning it on Sunday night due to the Northwestern’s loss to Maryland. Most likely, they will take first place in the Big Ten tournament.

However, the team is losing consecutively for the first time this season. This is never a good sign for March. The games against Wisconsin and Illinois this week suddenly feel a lot more important.

Arizona state stuns Arizona, ex-USSR rallies to get Miami

Arizona State pulled off a dream victory over an in-state rival on Saturday night.

The Sunny Devils, trailing by double figures midway through the second half at the McKale Center, rallied and stunned Arizona 89-88 on a wild 60-foot buzzer from Desmond Cambridge Jr.

The loss marks Arizona’s second-place finish in four games and dropped it to 8th in this week’s poll. The Wildcats will close out their season with games against USC and UCLA in Los Angeles. The Bruins, who won eight games in a row, won the Pac-12 championship on Sunday with a four-point win over Colorado.

Across the country in another rivalry, the state of Florida had one of the biggest rallies of the season. The Seminoles came back after the second half with 25 points and upset Miami at Coral Gables. Matthew Cleveland hit the Siren with a deep three-pointer to seal Florida State’s victory.

According to ESPN, the 25-point comeback was the largest in ACC history.

The win was just Florida State’s ninth of the season and ended a seven-game win streak for the Hurricanes, who were 15-0 at home before the loss. Miami dropped to 16th this week.

Games to watch this week

Wednesday, March 1
No. 19 Xavier at No. 20 Providence | 6:30 pm ET
No. 9 Texas at No. 22 TCU | 21:00 ET

Saturday, March 4
When. 2 Alabama at no. 24 Texas A&M | 12:00 pm ET
Iowa State at Baylor No. 7 | 12:00 pm ET
No. 3 Kansas to No. 9 Texas | 4:00 pm ET
No. 8 Arizona at No. 4 UCLA | 22:00 ET

Top 25 AP

1. Houston (27-2)

2. Alabama (25-4)

3. Kansas (24-5)

4. UCLA (24–5)

5. Purdue (24-5)

6. Marquette (23-6)

7. Baylor (21–8)

8. Arizona (24-5)

9. Texas (22-7)

10. Gonzaga (25-5)

11. Kansas State (22-7)

12. Tennessee (21-8)

13. Virginia (21-6)

14. YuConn (22-7)

15. Indiana (20-9)

16. Miami (23-6)

17. Saint Mary (25-6)

18. San Diego State (23-5)

19. Xavier (21–8)

20. Providence (21-8)

21. Maryland (20-9)

22. TCU (19-10)

23. Kentucky (20-9)

24. Texas A&M (21-8)

25. Pittsburgh (21-8)

Others who received votes: Creighton 87, Duke 78, Oral Roberts 40, NW 39, Florida Atlantic 25, Iowa State 20, Nevada 17, Missouri 16, Arkansas 7, NC State 6, Charleston 6, Clemson 5, Memphis 4, Boise State 3, VCU 1, West Virginia 1