Gonzaga rises to No. 15 in AP poll, Saturday’s opponent Alabama moves to No. 4

Gonzaga moved up in the latest Associated Press college basketball poll after three straight weeks of sliding down the rankings.

The Zags climbed three spots to No. 15. They’re one point behind No. 14 Indiana and 67 points behind No. 13 Kentucky, which lost 88-72 to the Zags last month at the Spokane Arena.

Gonzaga was No. 2 in the preseason poll, but dropped four spots after a blowout road loss to Texas, eight spots following a lopsided loss to Purdue at the PK85 in Portland and four more after a neutral-site setback to Baylor.

The Zags face No. 4 Alabama on Saturday in Birmingham. The Crimson Tide jumped up four spots after knocking off No. 1 Houston on Saturday to earn the program’s highest ranking since 2006. Alabama edged then No. 1 North Carolina in four overtimes at the PK85 to become the second team to post a pair of top-ranked wins in the same season. Oklahoma was the first to do it in 1990.

Purdue moved into the top spot, followed by Virginia, Connecticut, Alabama, Houston, Tennessee, Texas, Kansas, Arizona and Arkansas. Arizona is led by former Gonzaga assistant Tommy Lloyd.

Baylor gained one spot to No. 11. Mississippi State, under the direction of former Idaho assistant coach Chris Jans, climbed six spots to No. 17.

Virginia coach Tony Bennett and Houston counterpart Kelvin Sampson are former Washington State head coaches. Their teams square off Saturday.

Purdue reached No. 1 for the first time in school history early last season and promptly lost to Rutgers.

The Zags have wins over Michigan State and Xavier, both in the receiving votes category outside of the top 25. Saint Mary’s is also receiving votes following its victory over then No. 22 San Diego State.

Connecticut leads the way in the NET rankings, followed by Houston, Purdue, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi State, Kansas, West Virginia, Virginia and Texas. Gonzaga is No. 19. Arizona is 15th and Saint Mary’s 16th.

The Zags are 2-3 in Quad 1 games, 2-0 in Quad 2, 2-0 in Quad 3 and 1-0 in Quad 4. The Gaels are 0-2 in Quad 1, 3-0 in Quad 2, 2-1 in Quad 3 and 3-0 in Quad 4.

The rest of the WCC in the NET: No. 94 Loyola Marymount, No. 107 San Francisco, No. 111 Portland, No. 122 Santa Clara, No. 149 Pepperdine, No. 187 BYU, No. 232 Pacific and No. 245 San Diego.

The Zags are a four seed and No. 14 in ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi’s latest seed list. Saint Mary’s is an 11 seed and the 43rd seed.