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BYU's Dawson Baker jumps into the arms of teammate Richie Saunders after a 96-95 victory against No. 19 Arizona at the McKale Center in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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BYU's Delaney Gibb (11) takes a shot against Arizona State in a Big 12 women's basketball game at the Marriott Center on Saturday, Feb. 22, 2025.

Courtesy BYU Photo

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Getting two wins over Top 25 teams was the right stuff for the BYU men’s basketball team.

The Cougars, who last week routed No. 23 Kansas 91-57 at home and edged No. 19 Arizona 96-96 in Tucson, jumped into the Association Press at No. 25, the first time the program has been ranked in that poll since March 18, 2024 (21st).

BYU (19-8 overall, 10-6 Big 12) went from zero votes the previous week to 135 votes, more than enough to vault the team into the No. 25 spot behind Mississippi State at No. 24 (264 votes).

It was the first time the Cougars had beaten ranked teams in consecutive games since 1988.

“My message to our group is, whatever the next challenge in front of us, we’re trying to attack it, whether that’s practice, whether that’s shoot-around, whether that’s a game,” first-year BYU coach Kevin Young said. “I know that sounds cliche but that’s really been the recipe for us, to not look any further than what we have to do at that moment.”

Auburn remained atop the AP Top 25 for the seventh straight week on Monday, while preseason No. 1 Kansas dropped out of the men’s basketball poll for the first time in nearly four years, ending the Jayhawks’ ranked run at 80 consecutive weeks.

The Tigers earned all 60 votes from the national media panel after beating Arkansas and Georgia last week. They were followed by Duke and Florida, which traded places in the poll, with Houston and Tennessee rounding out the top five. Houston has the nation’s longest active streak in the Top 25 at 102 weeks.

The Jayhawks were dropped from the poll for the first time since Feb. 8, 2021, when the season was played amid the COVID-19 pandemic. That had ended a record 231 consecutive weeks in the Top 25 for Kansas.

The Jayhawks’ were dropped this week after a 74-67 loss at Utah and a 91-57 blowout loss at BYU, the biggest margin of defeat in school history for a ranked Kansas team against an unranked opponent.

Kansas took out its frustration on Oklahoma State on Saturday, rolling to a 96-64 victory in Allen Fieldhouse.

“We’re 1-0,” Jayhawks coach Bill Self said afterward. “That’s what we’re talking about. And everybody’s stat sheet in what they’re averaging this year is exactly what happened today. And we’re not even gonna talk about the other stuff right now.”

Alabama fell two spots to No. 6 this week and was followed by St. John’s and Michigan State, which jumped six spots after back-to-back ranked wins over Purdue and Michigan. Iowa State and Texas Tech rounded out the top 10.

Kansas dropped out along with Ole Miss, which had been ranked the last 13 weeks and 15 of the last 16. That made room for Saint Mary’s, which beat Portland and Gonzaga to enter at No. 23, and BYU, which followed its win over the Jayhawks by beating then-No. 19 Arizona 96-95 on Saturday thanks to two free throws by Richie Saunders with 3.2 seconds left.

Kansas isn’t the only team ranked highly in the preseason poll to drop out altogether this season.

Two-time defending national champion UConn was No. 3 with 11 first-place votes in October but did not appear on any ballots this week. Gonzaga was sixth, Baylor eighth and North Carolina ninth in the preseason poll — and all are unranked.

In all, more than half of the teams in the preseason poll — 13 of them — failed to crack this week’s Top 25.

Saunders named Big 12 Player of the Week

IRVING, Texas – BYU’s Richie Saunders was named the Big 12 Player of the Week on Monday after leading the Cougars to consecutive wins over ranked opponents for the first time since 1988.

In wins over No. 23 Kansas and No. 19 Arizona, Saunders averaged 22.5 points per game, shooting 73.9 percent from the field, 58.3 percent from three and 80.0 percent from the free throw line. He also had five rebounds, five assists, three steals and a block en route to becoming the first BYU men’s basketball player to be named the league’s player of the week since joining the conference last season.

The Big 12 leader in 3-point field goal percentage in league play had a team-high 22 points in the Cougars’ 91-57 victory over No. 23 Kansas going 9-of-13 from the field and 4-of-8 from behind the arc. Not only was the win over the Jayhawks BYU’s largest margin of victory over a ranked opponent, but it also marked the biggest regulation loss for KU under Bill Self.

Saunders followed that up with a 23-point performance at No. 19 Arizona including knocking down the game-winning free throws in the final seconds with BYU trailing by one. He went 8-of-10 from the field, 3-of-4 from behind the arc and 4-of-5 from the free throw in the Cougars’ first-ever win over a ranked Wildcat team, ending an eight-game losing streak.

The Cougars, who were named NCAA March Madness Team of the Week, return to action on Wednesday, Feb. 26, when they take on Arizona State in Tempe. Tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. MT on ESPN+.

Gibb takes ninth Big 12 Freshman of the Week award

On the strength of her first career double-double, BYU’s Delaney Gibb won the Big 12 Freshman of the Week honor for the eighth time in the past ten weeks and ninth overall.

Gibb led all league freshmen in scoring and was the second-leading scorer in the Conference for the week with her 20.5 points per game. The guard averaged 7.5 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals during the week. Gibb was the game’s leading scorer in the Cougars’ road contest at Arizona, putting up 16 points on 7-of-15 shooting to go with five assists, four rebounds and two steals. Against Arizona State, the freshman led all scorers with 25 points and four made triples en route to her ninth game with 20 or more points this season. The native of Raymond, Alberta grabbed 11 rebounds, dished seven assists, swiped three steals and recorded a block while tallying her first career double-double.

BYU (13-14 overall, 4-12 Big 12) hosts Kansas in the Marriott Center on Tuesday at 7 p.m. MT.