Virginia claims No. 1 ranking for third straight week

Virginia is the No. 1-ranked team in college basketball for the third straight week, according to the Associated Press poll released Monday.

AP Top 25
Feb. 26

1 Virginia 26-2 ACC
2 Michigan State 28-3 Big Ten
3 Xavier 25-4 Big East
4 Villanova 25-4 Big East
5 Duke 24-5 ACC
6 Kansas 23-6 Big 12
7 Gonzaga 27-4 West Coast
8 Purdue 26-5 Big Ten
9 North Carolina 22-7 ACC
10 Cincinnati 25-4 American
11 Wichita State 23-5 American
12 Texas Tech 22-7 Big 12
13 Ohio State 24-7 Big Ten
14 Auburn 24-5 SEC
15 Michigan 24-7 Big Ten
16 Tennessee 21-7 SEC
17 Rhode Island 23-4 Atlantic 10
18 Clemson 21-7 ACC
19 Arizona 22-7 Pac-12
20 West Virginia 21-8 Big 12
21 Nevada 25-5 Mountain West
22 Saint Mary’s 27-4 West Coast
23 Kentucky 20-9 SEC
24 Middle Tennessee 23-5 Conference USA
25 Houston 22-6 American

Top 25 notable

Virginia clinched its third ACC title in five years by beating Pittsburgh, 66-37. Cavaliers held the Panthers to seven points in the first half…

Michigan State claimed the outright Big Ten championship with a 68-63 victory Sunday at Wisconsin. Sophomore guard Miles Bridges was cleared by the NCAA just before game time after he was linked in media reports to the college basketball corruption scandal …

Xavier was hammered by 16 at Villanova on Feb. 17 but rebounded last Wednesday to beat Georgetown 89-77. Freshman Naji Marshall was the man with a career-high 21 points. Xavier leads Villanova by one game in the Big East …

Villanova suffered a blow to its conference title chances when it lost Saturday at Creighton, 89-83, in overtime. Guard Phil Booth has returned to play the past two games after sitting out a month with a broken hand, but the Wildcats have lost three of their last six …

Center Marvin Bagley III has returned for Duke after sitting out four games with a knee injury. Bagley, a projected NBA lottery pick, scored 19 in a 60-44 home victory over Syracuse. Duke plays at Virginia Tech tonight …

Texas Tech point guard Keenan Evans is shooting just 2-for-13 from the field in his last two games while trying to play on an injured toe. The Red Raiders lost both games, at Oklahoma State and Kansas, to fall out of first place in the Big 12. Tech plays at West Virginia tonight on Big Monday.

Selection Sunday is two weeks away, so, who’s in?

With two weeks remaining until Selection Sunday, here are the Texas-based teams projected into the NCAA tournament by Jerry Palm of cbssports.com:

(3) Texas Tech, in the South, at Dallas
(6) TCU, in the East, at Dallas
(7) Houston, in the West, at Pittsburgh
(9) Texas A&M, in the South, at Charlotte
(12) Texas, in the East, at Dayton (R-68)

Note: Texas is projected to play in the round of 68 and the others in the round of 64.

Evans scores 26 as No. 7 Texas Tech beats Oklahoma, 88-78

Texas Tech’s best season in 13 years just got a little better.

Guard Keenan Evans scored 26 points Tuesday night as the seventh-ranked Red Raiders pulled away late to down No. 23 Oklahoma, 88-78, in a Big 12 game at Lubbock.

Alone in first place in the conference, the Red Raiders (22-4, 10-3) held OU freshman Trae Young to 19 points in running their winning streak to seven.

Texas Tech hasn’t won 22 games in a season since 2004-05, when the Bob Knight-coached Red Raiders finished 22-11.

Young entered the ESPN national-television game leading the nation in scoring (29.5) and assists (9.4).

In a strategy that proved effective, Tech employed traps with taller perimeter players in holding Young to 4 of 16 shooting.

Guarded alternately by Jarrett Culver, Zhaire Smith and Niem Stevenson, all of them with at least a three-inch height advantage, the Red Raiders hounded the 6-2 Young into an 0-for-9 night from 3-point range.

It was a eventful homecoming for Young, a Lubbock native whose father played for the Red Raiders.

Not only was the Tech defense all over him, so were the fans who booed and chanted.

“I get that everywhere I go,” Young told newsok.com. “Just because I’m back here in Lubbock, I didn’t think I was going to get a welcome-home type of feel.

“I wasn’t expecting anything different tonight.”

In the beginning, Oklahoma jumped out to an early five-point lead and hung on to lead by one at the half.

The Sooners (16-9, 6-7) continued to play well as a team and mustered a 64-63 lead with 8:51 remaining.

But the Red Raiders were too tough down the stretch.

After Evans drove for a dunk to give Tech an 81-74 lead, OU never got any closer.

Young even dribbled off his foot for a turnover on one possession.

Evans, a senior from Richardson, hit 9 of 15 shots from the field. He also tied a season high with 4 three-point buckets on 7 attempts.

Three other Texas Tech players reached double figures in scoring, including center Norense Odiase with 14. Smith scored 13 and Stevenson had 12 off the bench.

“We’re defending. We’re locking people down,” Odiase told lubbockonline.com. “We’re really harping on defense. … We’re tightening it up together in these last six to seven games. We’ve been playing on that end.”

Texas Tech beats Texas 73-71 at the buzzer in overtime

Keenan Evans hit an 18-foot jumper at the buzzer Wednesday night, lifting 10th-ranked Texas Tech to a 73-71 victory over Texas in an overtime thriller in Lubbock.

Kerwin Roach II made a 3-point shot with 12 seconds left to tie the game, setting up the dramatic final play.

Evans calmly brought the ball up and drained a shot over Roach from the top of the key.

“He made a tough step-back on me,” Roach told the team’s radio broadcast. “I guarded pretty well … but it was a tough shot by a good player.”

Evans led Texas Tech with a career-high 38 points on 9 of 13 shooting from the field. Evans was also 2 of 4 on three-pointers and 18 of 20 from the free-throw line.

Roach scored 20 to lead Texas.

Records
Texas Tech 18-4, 6-3
Texas 14-8, 4-5

Villanova takes over No. 1, with West Virginia No. 2, in AP Top 25

Villanova is No. 1 again in the Associated Press Top 25 poll released Monday.

West Virginia has jumped to No. 2, up from sixth, in the highest ranking for the program since December of 1959.

Jerry West was a West Virginia senior at the time.

Texas Tech moved up to No. 8, the first time for the Red Raiders have been in the top ten since 1996.

Here’s the Top 25

1. Villanova (14-1) Big East
2. West Virginia (14-1) Big 12
3. Virginia (14-1) ACC
4. Michigan State (15-2) Big Ten
5. Wichita State (13-2) AAC
5. Purdue (15-2) Big 10
7. Duke (13-2) ACC
8. Texas Tech (14-1) Big 12
9. Oklahoma (12-2) Big 12
10. Xavier, Ohio (15-2) Big East
11. Arizona State (13-2) Pac-12
12. Kansas (12-3) Big 12
13. Seton Hall (14-2) Big East
14. Cincinnati (14-2) AAC
15. Gonzaga (14-3) West Coast
16. TCU (13-2) Big 12
17. Arizona (12-4) Pac-12
18. Miami, Fla. (13-2) ACC
19. Clemson (14-1) ACC
20. North Carolina (12-4) ACC
21. Kentucky (12-3) SEC
22. Auburn (14-1) SEC
23. Florida State (12-3) ACC
24. Tennessee (10-4) SEC
25. Creighton (13-3) Big East