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PrintCOLUMBIA — The Missouri men's basketball team remained ranked third in the Associated Press poll on Monday morning. Kentucky and Syracuse still hold the top two spots.
Kentucky, Syracuse and Missouri also remained the top three teams in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' poll.
THE AP TOP 25
The top 25 teams in The Associated Press' college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses, records through Feb. 19, total points based on 25 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 25th-place vote and previous ranking:
| Record | Pts | Prv | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Kentucky (63) | 26-1 | 1,623 | 1 |
| 2. Syracuse (2) | 27-1 | 1,559 | 2 |
| 3. Missouri | 25-2 | 1,498 | 3 |
| 4. Kansas | 22-5 | 1,377 | 4 |
| 5. Duke | 23-4 | 1,359 | 5 |
| 6. Michigan St. | 22-5 | 1,317 | 7 |
| 7. North Carolina | 23-4 | 1,261 | 8 |
| 8. Ohio St. | 22-5 | 1,139 | 6 |
| 9. Georgetown | 20-5 | 1,085 | 10 |
| 10. Marquette | 22-5 | 1,013 | 12 |
| 11. Michigan | 20-7 | 869 | 17 |
| 12. Florida | 21-6 | 860 | 14 |
| 13. Baylor | 22-5 | 859 | 9 |
| 14. Murray St. | 26-1 | 765 | 16 |
| 15. Florida St. | 19-7 | 620 | 20 |
| 16. Wisconsin | 20-7 | 615 | 15 |
| 17. Louisville | 21-6 | 495 | 19 |
| 18. New Mexico | 22-4 | 469 | — |
| 19. Wichita St. | 24-4 | 467 | 24 |
| 20. Notre Dame | 19-8 | 457 | 23 |
| 21. UNLV | 22-6 | 325 | 11 |
| 22. Temple | 21-5 | 281 | — |
| 23. Indiana | 20-7 | 246 | 18 |
| 24. San Diego St | 20-6 | 176 | 13 |
| 25. Virginia | 20-6 | 153 | 22 |
Others receiving votes: Creighton 76, Gonzaga 47, BYU 29, Saint Louis 25, Drexel 13, Harvard 12, Vanderbilt 12, California 11, Saint Mary's (Cal) 7, Long Beach St. 4, VCU 1.
TUESDAY'S GAME
Kansas State (18-8, 7-7 Big 12)
at No. 3 Missouri (25-2, 12-2 Big 12)
WHEN: 6 p.m.
WHERE: Mizzou Arena
RADIO: KCMQ/96.7 FM
TV: ESPN2
Missouri (25-2, 12-2) has a big week coming up with a home game against Kansas State (18-8, 7-7) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday at Mizzou Arena, and a road game against rival Kansas (22-5, 12-2) at 3 p.m. on Saturday.
Missouri and Kansas are tied for first place in the Big 12 with 12-2 conference records. The Jayhawks are ranked in the top five in both polls — No. 4 in the AP poll and No. 5 in the coaches' poll.
Baylor, who had spent the whole season ranked in the top 10, dropped to No. 13 in the AP poll and No. 14 in the coaches' poll after a home loss to Kansas State on Saturday.
Kansas State will come to Columbia with confidence from that win. The Wildcats also beat Missouri 75-59 on Jan. 7.
"They took us out to the woodshed," Missouri coach Frank Haith said about that game in a Monday teleconference. "They whooped us. They physically dominated the game."
Since that loss, Missouri has gone 11-1. The Tigers are undefeated at home this season.
Missouri hopes to have senior Matt Pressey back and healthy in time for Tuesday's game. Pressey aggravated his ankle in Missouri's win against Texas A&M on Saturday.
Haith said that Pressey did not participate in a light practice on Sunday, and that his status for Tuesday's game is uncertain.
Playing with only seven scholarship players after Laurence Bowers suffered a season-ending knee injury in October, Haith said that Missouri can't afford any more injuries.
"We've been very blessed and fortunate that (injuries haven't) happened this year," Haith said. "All seven guys are valuable. I don't think we could do without any of those seven."
Missouri has been lucky to avoid injuries so far, and Texas A&M coach Billy Kennedy said Monday that everything seems to be going the Tigers' way. He thinks that their luck will continue down the homestretch of the season.
"This team is special," Kennedy said. "They're having one of those special years and you gotta give (Haith) a lot of credit. They're going to make some noise in the games to come."
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