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After 6-0 start, BYU men's basketball is back in AP Top 25

T.Lee3 months ago

Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes

PROVO — BYU basketball is back in the Associated Press Top 25, and is even rated higher by some advanced metrics.

The Cougars were ranked No. 19 by the AP's weekly poll Monday after wins over Arizona State and North Carolina State in Las Vegas over the Thanksgiving holiday.

BYU is one of six ranked teams from the Big 12, joining No. 25 Oklahoma as newcomers and led by No. 5 Kansas and No. 6 Houston. No. 9 Baylor and No. 16 Texas are also in the top 25.

It's the first time BYU (6-0) has been ranked since the third week of the 2021-22 season. The Cougars finished the 2020-21 season ranked No. 23, started the year as high as 18, and climbed as high as No. 12 before falling out in December 2021.

In 79 seasons of Division I basketball, BYU has been ranked in 22 of them, including just eight of the last 30. But Monday's ranking marks just the second time in program history that the Cougars have appeared in the AP poll four times in five seasons.

After earning 138 votes to finish two spots out of the rankings a week ago, the Cougars went to the Vegas Showdown and put in a pair of performances over Power Five competition that had them looking like a ranked team.

POLL ALERT: Purdue is back at No. 1 in the AP Top 25 men's poll; Arizona, Marquette, UConn and Kansas round out top five.

Full poll: pic.twitter.com/drwwIH13Xp

— AP Top 25 November 27, 2023

Noah Waterman scored in double figures both nights, including 24 points and seven rebounds in a 77-49 win over Arizona State en route to tournament MVP honors. Trevin Knell added 13 points, five rebounds and two assists on 3-of-7 3-point shooting in a 95-86 win over the Wolfpack to also earn All-Tournament honors in the Cougars' first multi-team event win since 2010.

Through six games, Jaxson Robinson leads the team with 15.3 points per game on 45.8% shooting, including 37.5% from deep — a sparkplug that has played exclusively off the bench in wins that also include San Diego State. Waterman is second with 12.5 and 6.8 rebounds per game, while Knell (12.3 points), Spencer Johnson (10.8 points) and Fousseyni Traore (10.2 points) are also averaging scoring in double figures.

Dallin Hall is right behind with 9.7 points per game, and Richie Saunders is averaging 9.5 points and 4.3 rebounds per game off the bench.

The Cougars rank 10th nationally in KenPom's predictive metrics , including a top-20 mark in adjusted offense and adjusted defense. According to barttorvik.com , which ranks teams without preseason bias, BYU is the No. 4 team in the country — behind Houston, Purdue and Connecticut.

BYU hosts Fresno State at 7 p.m. MST at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City.