College basketball rankings: At 7-0, Arizona shows why it is No. 1 in Top 25 And 1
After defeating Norfolk State, the Wildcats will bring their undefeated record into Saturday's game vs. Auburn
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
The Saturday following Thanksgiving is always a slow one for college basketball -- in part because so many schools spent an earlier part of the week playing in some tournament somewhere, in part because football takes up most of the sports-space on television. That's my way of saying only three teams in Sunday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings played Saturday, and all three were in buy games that doubled as mismatches.
Arizona is the most notable of the group.
The Wildcats beat Norfolk State 98-61 inside the McKale Center to improve to 7-0 and remain No. 1 in the Top 25 And 1 thanks to a body of work featuring three victories over top-35 KenPom teams. Arizona junior Motiejus Krivas took eight shots, made seven of them and finished with a game-high 20 points. Five-star freshman Koa Peat added 16 points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Next up for Arizona is back-to-back games against SEC schools -- first on Saturday at home against Auburn, then on Dec. 13 in Birmingham against Alabama. If the Wildcats win both, they'll be 9-0 with five victories over schools that were ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 preseason poll -- specifically Florida (No. 3), UConn (No. 4), UCLA (No. 12), Alabama (No. 15) and Auburn (No. 20).
Elsewhere Saturday, Nebraska, which is 20th in the Top 25 And 1, improved to 8-0 with a 72-63 win over South Carolina State. That's the good news for the Cornhuskers -- but there was also some bad, specifically that Connor Essegian is done for the season because of an ankle injury.
"I'm heartbroken for him," said teammate Pryce Sandfort.
Essegian suffered the injury in the second half of Tuesday's win over Winthrop. The 6-foot-4 guard averaged 10.7 points in 22.5 minutes per game last season. According to coach Fred Hoiberg, Essegian will apply for a medical redshirt. And given that he's only appeared in seven games this season, there's no good reason he shouldn't receive it.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Motiejus Krivas finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 98-61 win over Norfolk State. The Wildcats' next game is Saturday against Auburn. | -- | 7-0 |
| 2 |  | Daniel Jacobsen finished with 24 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 109-62 win over Eastern Illinois. The Boilermakers' next game is Tuesday at Rutgers. | -- | 7-0 |
| 3 |  | Yaxel Lendeborg finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 101-61 win over Gonzaga. The Wolverines' next game is Dec. 6 against Rutgers. | -- | 7-0 |
| 4 |  | Solo Ball finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Friday's 74-61 win over Illinois. The Huskies' next game is Tuesday at Kansas. | -- | 6-1 |
| 5 |  | Richie Saunders finished with 29 points and eight rebounds in Friday's 83-79 win over Dayton. The Cougars' next game is Wednesday against Cal Baptist. | -- | 6-1 |
| 6 |  | Cameron Boozer finished with 35 points and nine rebounds in Thursday's 80-71 win over Arkansas. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against Florida. | -- | 8-0 |
| 7 |  | Ryan Conwell finished with 32 points and nine rebounds in Wednesday's 104-47 win over NJIT. The Cardinals' next game is Wednesday at Arkansas. | -- | 7-0 |
| 8 |  | Milan Momcilovic finished with 24 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 95-64 win over Syracuse. The Cyclones' next game is Wednesday against Alcorn State. | -- | 7-0 |
| 9 |  | Carson Cooper finished with 14 points and six rebounds in Thursday's 74-58 win over North Carolina. The Spartans' next game is Tuesday against Iowa. | -- | 7-0 |
| 10 |  | Graham Ike missed all nine of the shots he attempted in Wednesday's 101-61 loss to Michigan. The Zags' next game is Dec. 5 against Kentucky. | -- | 7-1 |
| 11 |  | Labaron Philon finished with 20 points and six assists in Wednesday's 105-72 win over Maryland. The Crimson Tide's next game is Wednesday against Clemson. | -- | 5-2 |
| 12 |  | Kyan Evans missed six of the seven shots he attempted in Thursday's 74-58 loss to Michigan State. The Tar Heels' next game is Tuesday at Kentucky. | -- | 6-1 |
| 13 |  | Elmarko Jackson finished with 17 points and four rebounds in Wednesday's 81-76 win over Tennessee. The Jayhawks' next game is Tuesday against UConn. | -- | 6-2 |
| 14 |  | Ja'Kobi Gillespie missed 14 of the 19 shots he attempted in Wednesday's 81-76 loss to Kansas. The Vols' next game is Tuesday at Syracuse. | -- | 7-1 |
| 15 |  | Emanuel Sharp finished with 17 points and five rebounds in Wednesday's 66-56 win over Notre Dame. The Cougars' next game is Dec. 6 against Florida State. | -- | 7-1 |
| 16 |  | Andrej Stojakovic missed six of the seven shots he attempted in Friday's 74-61 loss to UConn. The Illini's next game is Saturday against Tennessee. | -- | 6-2 |
| 17 |  | Christian Anderson finished with 23 points and five assists in Wednesday's 82-50 win over New Orleans. The Red Raiders' next game is Sunday against Wyoming. | -- | 6-2 |
| 18 |  | Malachi Moreno finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds in Wednesday's 104-54 win over Tennessee Tech. The Wildcats' next game is Tuesday against North Carolina. | -- | 5-2 |
| 19 |  | Maleek Thomas missed 10 of the 15 shots he attempted in Thursday's 80-71 loss to Duke. The Razorbacks' next game is Wednesday against Louisville. | -- | 5-2 |
| 20 |  | Pryce Sandfort finished with 20 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 72-63 win over South Carolina State. The Cornhuskers' next game Dec. 7 against Creighton. | -- | 8-0 |
| 21 |  | Tucker DeVries finished with 20 points and five assists in Saturday's 100-56 win over Bethune-Cookman. The Hoosiers' next game is Wednesday at Minnesota. | -- | 7-0 |
| 22 |  | Isaia Howard finished with 19 points and six rebounds in Wednesday's 59-46 win over Grand Canyon. The Hawkeyes' next game is Tuesday at Michigan State. | -- | 7-0 |
| 23 |  | Tahaad Pettiford finished with 27 points and three steals in Wednesday's 85-74 win over St. John's. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against NC State. | -- | 6-2 |
| 24 |  | Duke Miles finished with 25 points and four assists in Friday's 96-71 win over Saint Mary's. The Commodores' next game is Wednesday against SMU. | -- | 8-0 |
| 25 |  | Oziyah Sellers missed six of the seven shots he attempted in Wednesday's 85-74 loss to Auburn. The Red Storm's next game is Dec. 6 against Ole Miss. | -- | 4-3 |
| 26 |  | Chad Baker-Mazara finished with 23 points and four assists in Wednesday's 88-75 win over Arizona State. The Trojans' next game is Tuesday against Oregon. | -- | 7-0 |
