KANSAS CITY, Mo. – West Liberty University’s high-flying Hilltoppers were voted No. 1 in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) NCAA Division II Top 25 poll for the eighth consecutive week on Tuesday.
Coach Jim Crutchfield’s squad extended its unbeaten record to 16-0 with a pair of wins last week, surviving a scare at arch rival Wheeling Jesuit on Thursday before pulling out a 93-89 win in overtime and following that up with a record-setting 133-92 rout of Urbana on Saturday. The Hilltoppers’ 30 3-point field goals in the Urbana win are the most by an NCAA Division II team in more than seven years.
The top six spots in the poll remained unchanged this week with West Liberty once again just missing a unanimous vote for No. 1 with 14 first-place votes and 398 of a possible 400 poll points. No. 2 Florida Southern (18-0) received one of the two remaining first-place votes, followed by Metro State, Colo. (16-1); Tarleton State, Texas (17-0); Drury, Mo. (16-1); and East Stroudsburg, Pa. (18-0).
Last week’s No. 7 squad, Bellarmine, Ky., lost three straight games to drop completely out of the Top 25. The Kentucky school was replaced at No. 7 by fast-rising Cal State-San Bernardino (15-1), which picked up the lone remaining first-place vote. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. (15-1), USC-Aiken (17-2) and Indianapolis (15-2) round out this week’s Top 10.
This week’s Top 25 poll includes games played through Sunday.
West Liberty’s 28th No. 1 ranking is the third-highest total for any Division II school since NCAA Division II polling began during the 1960-61 season.
This is also the Hilltoppers’ 35th consecutive Top 5 ranking, which ties WLU with Evansville, Ind. (Jan. 24, 1963 to Jan. 20, 1966) for No. 2 all-time. The NCAA Division II record for consecutive Top 5 rankings is held by Grambling, which stayed in the Top 5 for 40 consecutive polls from March 2, 1961 to Jan. 28, 1965.
West Liberty puts its unbeaten record and a 60-game home conference winning streak on the line Thursday night when the Hilltoppers host Notre Dame (OH). Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. at the ASRC.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
NCAA Division II Top 25
(Through games of Sunday, Jan. 26)
Team (FPV) Rec Pts Pvs
1. WEST LIBERTY (14) 16-0 398 1
2. Florida Southern (1) 18-0 381 2
3. Metro State, Colo. 16-1 360 3
4. Tarleton State, Texas 17-0 354 4
5. Drury, Mo. 16-1 332 5
6. East Stroudsburg, Pa. 18-0 324 6
7. Cal State-San Bernardino (1) 15-1 311 8
8. Lincoln Memorial, Tenn. 15-1 274 10
9. USC-Aiken 17-2 262 13
10. Indianapolis, Ind. 15-2 221 14
11. Indiana, Pa. 16-2 219 15
12. Montevallo, Ala. 15-2 210 17
13. Colorado School of Mines 15-2 193 11
14. California Baptist 16-1 160 12
15. Delta State, Miss. 16-2 158 20
16. Southern Indiana 14-3 153 9
17. Lewis, Ill. 15-2 135 19
18. Wisconsin-Parkside 16-2 111 NR
19. Southern Connecticut State 16-2 96 NR
20. Dixie State, Utah 16-2 84 18
(tie) Seattle Pacific, Wash. 16-4 84 24
22. Minnesota State 17-4 81 14
23. Cal Poly-Pomona 13-3 52 NR
24. Fort Hays State, Kan. 16-3 49 NR
25. Winona State, Minn. 17-4 48 NR
