Houston remained atop the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for the third consecutive week Monday while a couple of the game’s traditional bluebloods made big jumps as they peak just in time for postseason play. The Cougars received 52 of 62 first-place votes from a national media panel after a week in which they beat UCF and routed then-No. 14 Kansas to clinch the Big 12 regular-season title in their first year in the league. The three straight weeks Houston has spent at No. 1 matches the school’s longest run since the 1967-68 season.
Fousseyni Traore scored 19 points and Jaxson Robinson added 17 to lead No. 20 BYU to an 85-71 victory over Oklahoma State on Saturday night. Spencer Johnson had 14 points, 10 rebounds and five assists for the Cougars. BYU (22-9, 10-8 Big 12) earned its sixth straight home win and clinched the fifth seed in the upcoming Big 12 Tournament.
Isaiah Watts and Andrej Jakimovski scored 18 points each and Myles Rice added 16 to help No. 19 Washington State rally past Southern California 75-72 on Thursday night. The Cougars (22-7, 13-5 Pac-12) trailed by 12 points late in the first half and didn’t take their first lead until 2:35 remaining on a 3-pointer from Watts, his fifth of the game. Washington State avoided what would have been its second straight loss to an unranked opponent after winning at No. 4 Arizona on Feb. 22.
BYU coach Mark Pope had just been given a technical foul late in the game, and the volume was quickly ramping up inside Allen Fieldhouse, where so many opponents over the years have wilted down the stretch against mighty Kansas. Led by 18 points apiece from unflappable Dallin Hall and Jaxson Robinson, the Cougars wiped away a 12-point deficit and then held on for a 76-68 victory Tuesday night, ending the seventh-ranked Jayhawks' 19-game home winning streak. The Cougars (20-8, 8-7 Big 12) trailed 58-57 with 4:50 to go when Hall made two free throws for their first lead.