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Zags jump to No. 1 in college basketball poll

Gonzaga center Przemek Karnowski (#24) tries to split a Pepperdine double team in the paint during a game on Jan. 28.
(Ringo H.W. Chiu / Associated Press)
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Gonzaga, the lone remaining unbeaten team in Division I, moved to No. 1 in the Associated Press college basketball poll for the second time in school history.

The Zags (22-0) jumped up from third when Villanova and Kansas both were defeated in a week when seven of the top 10 lost. Gonzaga, which was No. 1 for the last three weeks of the 2012-13 season, is the fifth team to top the poll this season, joining Duke, Kentucky, Villanova and Baylor.

Baylor (20-1), one of the three top 10 teams to not lose, jumped from fifth to second. The Bears were one point ahead of Kansas (19-2), which dropped one place after losing at West Virginia before winning at Kentucky. Villanova (20-2), which had been No. 1 for the last two weeks and six overall, dropped to fourth after losing at Marquette.

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Northwestern (18-4) is the week’s lone newcomer. The Wildcats were last ranked for one week in 2009-10. Arizona, the other top 10 team to get through the week without a loss, moved from seventh to fifth and was followed by Louisville, West Virginia, Kentucky, Virginia and Wisconsin.

UCLA was 11th and was followed by North Carolina, Oregon, Cincinnati, Florida State, Butler, Maryland, Saint Mary’s, South Carolina and Notre Dame.

The last five ranked teams were Duke, Creighton, Purdue, Florida and Northwestern.

Xavier (15-6), which has lost four of six with all the losses to ranked teams, dropped out from 24th.

West Virginia, which beat Kansas and Texas A&M, had the week’s biggest jump from 18th to No. 7. Louisville, which beat Pittsburgh and North Carolina State by an average of 40 points, moved from 13th to No. 6.

Florida State’s fall from sixth to No. 15 followed the Seminoles’ losses to Georgia Tech and Syracuse. Kentucky also lost twice last week — to Tennessee and Kansas — and the Wildcats dropped from fourth to eighth.

Etc.

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Xavier point guard Edmond Sumner will sit out the rest of the season after suffering a torn ACL in his left knee during the Musketeers’ 82-77 victory over St. John’s on Sunday. The sophomore had to be helped off the court by teammates after he was fouled while going up for a layup with six minutes to play.

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Kansas forward Carlton Bragg has been charged with possession of drug paraphernalia and remained suspended indefinitely from the third-ranked Jayhawks.

Vicki Stanwix, municipal court administrator in Lawrence, Kan., confirmed that Bragg was given a notice to appear in court after police said they found two glass smoking devices with residue inside. The paraphernalia was found last month while university police were investigating a reported rape at McCarthy Hall, which houses the basketball team on campus.

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