WSU checks in at No. 25 in new AP poll, dropping three spots from previous rankings

PULLMAN – Washington State will be ranked heading into its first NCAA Tournament in more than a decade.

The Cougars checked in at No. 25 in the new AP Top 25, released Monday, dropping three spots from last week’s poll. It’s the fifth straight week in the rankings for WSU, a seventh seed in the NCAA Tournament, facing 10th-seeded Drake on Thursday in Omaha, Nebraska.

The Cougs dropped a few spots thanks to a loss to Colorado in the semifinals of last week’s Pac-12 Tournament, a 58-52 setback. In that one, guard Myles Rice scored 10 points but lost five costly turnovers, part of the 19 giveaways WSU committed in the defeat.

Also in that game, WSU wing Andrej Jakimovski was clearly limited by a shoulder injury, which figures to feature prominently in Thursday’s game. He made just 1 of 7 shots, missing three layups, just one of a few Cougars who struggled offensively in that game.

In Monday’s poll, the Cougars received votes as high as No. 17, where three voters slotted them. They also garnered one vote apiece at Nos. 18 and 19. Their most popular spot was No. 22, where eight voters put them, while a majority of voters left them off their ballots.