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Back atop the polls after a resounding victory over the previous No. 1 team in the country, Purdue aims to stay in the top spot for a while. Fresh off a 92-84 defeat of Arizona on Saturday in Indianapolis, the Boilermakers are back in action on Thursday night in West Lafayette, Ind., with a nonconference matchup against Jacksonville. Purdue (10-1) leaned on national Player of the Year Zach Edey plus sophomore guards Braden Smith and

No. 9 Kentucky will look to make it three straight wins when it visits rival Louisville on Thursday evening. The Wildcats are coming off an impressive 87-83 win over then-No. 9 North Carolina in Atlanta on Saturday behind strong work from the freshman class. Rob Dillingham finished with 17 points, while D.J. Wagner logged 14 points, six rebounds and five assists. Aaron Bradshaw had 12 points, and Reed Sheppard amassed 11 points and six rebounds

The Seattle Kraken salvaged a point with a late regulation goal in each of their last two games. But they’re hoping for a better overall result when they visit the Los Angeles Kings on Wednesday night. The Kraken scored with 2:29 left in the third period on Saturday night to tie the score against the visiting Kings, but they lost 3-2 in a shootout. Two days later, in the opener of a four-game road trip,

For all the attention Pitt’s offense has received — and deservedly so — the Panthers have proven to have a defense that’s hard to figure out. Pitt (8-3) will hope to stay strong on both ends of the floor when it welcomes its final nonconference opponent of the regular season, Purdue Fort Wayne (11-1), on Wednesday night. An 86-50 home win over South Carolina State Saturday marked the fifth time this season that the Panthers

Like most college basketball observers, Sean Miller believes Rick Pitino is one of the best coaches of all-time. “He has made an already difficult, challenging conference even better,” Miller said during Big East media day. Now it’s Pitino’s turn to try to follow Miller’s example. Pitino will coach St. John’s in a Big East game for the first time Wednesday night in New York when the Red Storm host Xavier in the league opener for

Northwestern dropped out of the Top 25 after losing at home to Chicago State last week, and the Wildcats will try to regain their momentum when they play Arizona State in Phoenix on Wednesday night. Northwestern (8-2) upset then-No. 1 Purdue on Dec. 1 and beat Detroit Mercy nine days later before falling to Chicago State. The Wildcats came back with a 56-46 win at crosstown foe DePaul on Saturday. “We got what we deserved

Oklahoma State will look to build on a modest two-game winning streak when it hosts Wofford on Wednesday afternoon in Stillwater, Okla. The Cowboys’ latest game was an 81-60 home win over Oral Roberts on Sunday as Brice Thompson and Quion Williams led the way with 13 points each. Oklahoma State (5-5) also got 12 points and 11 rebounds from Eric Dailey Jr. but just seven points from Javon Small, its leading scorer this season.

Iowa’s Brock Harding said he thought “guys were ready to attack” from the outset of Saturday’s rout of Florida A&M, a strategy that went a long way toward stopping the Hawkeyes’ three-game losing streak. As Iowa prepares to host UMBC on Wednesday night, the Hawkeyes realize repeating that early effort — and maintaining it — will be crucial. “We felt like (starting slow) was a big problem the last couple games,” Harding said. “We kind

West Virginia hopes to get back on the winning track Wednesday night when the Mountaineers host a streaking Radford team in Morgantown, W.Va. The Mountaineers (4-6), who have dropped three of their last four games, are coming off Saturday’s 87-79 home loss to UMass. Starting center Jesse Edwards suffered a fractured wrist in the defeat and is expected to miss four weeks. Fifth-year transfer RaeQuan Battle is ready to make his Mountaineers debut. Battle was

Two teams riding winning streaks will meet on Wednesday night when Georgia hosts Mount St. Mary’s in Athens, Ga. The Bulldogs (7-3) have won five straight games after suffering back-to-back losses to then-No. 12 Miami and Providence in the Baha Mar Hoops Bahamas Championship in mid-November. The Mountaineers (4-6) recorded their second straight win with a 72-65 victory over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Friday. A big reason for Georgia’s success has been the play of