No Doubt Who’s No. 1

With March just one page away on the calendar, there are some big discrepancies between the AP Top 25--an unscientific polling of 70 members of the media--and the Ratings Percentage Index--a three-factor computer formula.

Both agree on Cincinnati at No. 1; then the differences start to appear.

Kent, at No. 13, was the highest team in the RPI not ranked in the Top 25. Others in last week’s RPI first 25 teams not in the poll were St. John’s (21), Dayton (22), Illinois (24) and Wisconsin (25).

On the flip side, Michigan State, No. 8 in this week’s poll, was 43rd in the RPI.

*

WHERE’S CROFT?: Manhattan freshman Bruce Seals became the first player to set an NCAA Division I record this season when he launched 27 3-pointers in a 105-98, quadruple-overtime loss to Canisius on Monday.

Seals, which finished with 41 points, set a school record by making nine shots from behind the arc.

“We started with nine guys, three fouled out. It was a war of attrition,” first-year Manhattan coach Bobby Gonzalez said of the record-breaking performance. “He played all 60 minutes. We had to get him a lot of touches. We rode him all the way. ... We went to the well until the well went dry.”

He broke the record of 26 3-point attempts set by Lindsey Hunter of Jackson State against Kansas on Dec. 27, 1992, in the Rainbow Classic. Hunter made 11.

The record for 3s in a game is 15 by Keith Veney of Marshall against Morehead State on Dec. 14, 1996. He did it in 25 3-point attempts.

One team record has been broke this season. TCU made 56 free throws against Eastern Michigan on Dec. 12, breaking the record of 53 set by Morehead State against Cincinnati on Feb. 11, 1965, and matched by Miami of Ohio on Jan. 29, 1992 against Central Michigan.

TCU attempted 70 free throws in its 107-101 victory. Morehead State attempted 65 and Miami took 64.

The record for free-throw attempts in a game is 79 by Northern Arizona against Arizona on Jan. 26, 1953. The Lumberjacks made 46.