With no Top 25 teams in action on Monday, one meaningful game was played in the Pacific Northwest, as the Oregon Ducks improved to 6-2 with a 79-70 home win over Portland State.Leading all scorers was Oregon's junior forward, E.J. Singler, with 19 points on 7-for-12 shooting. Singler, the younger brother of Duke alum, Kyle Singler, who led the Blue Devils to the national championship last season, also grabbed seven rebounds for the Ducks.
NOTABLE: As expected, the latest AP Top 25 poll, released on Monday, has Syracuse as the #1 team in the country, followed by Ohio State and Kentucky, two teams that suffered their first loss of the season on Sunday.
Polls being what they are, the teams that beat the Buckeyes and Wildcats - Kansas and Indiana - were ranked #12 and #18 respectively.
The real shocker, however, was Murray State's inclusion in the Top 25. The Racers come in at #24 and are 10-0, but play in the relative obscurity of the Ohio Valley conference. Their 76-72 win at Memphis on Sunday had a great deal to do with their inclusion among college basketball's elite teams. Murray State hasn't been ranked since the end of the 1997-98 season, when they showed up at #25.
