UNDATED (AP) — Monday’s top-25 men’s basketball schedule has begun with a stunner.
Texas Southern became the first Southwestern Athletic Conference team to beat a ranked SEC program in The Associated Press poll era dating to 1936. The previously-winless Tigers stunned No. 20 Florida 69-54 behind PJ Henry’s 16 points. Karl Nicholas finished with 14 points on 7-for-7 shooting for Texas Southern, which was coming off a 27-point loss to Louisiana Tech and were 23 1/2-point underdogs against the Gators.
Florida struggled all night, shooting 38.2% from the field and hitting 5 of 24 from 3-point range.
Brandon McKissic led the Gators with 15 points.
In other top-25 action:
— Tramon Mark scored 18 points off the bench and Marcus Sasser had 17 with a career-high six steals as No. 14 Houston hammered Alcorn State, 77-45. The 8-1 Cougars shot 47% in their fourth straight win.
Purdue is number one for the first time
UNDATED (AP) — Purdue is No. 1 in The Associated Press men’s college basketball poll for the first time. The Boilermakers were a unanimous No. 1 in the poll to move up from No. 2 last week.
Reigning national champion Baylor moved up to No. 2, with Duke, UCLA and Gonzaga rounding out the top five.
