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Duke's new No. 1

Duke moved to No. 1 after blowing out Kentucky in its season opener, only to lose the top spot two weeks later with a loss to Gonzaga in Maui.

Well, the Blue Devils are back at No. 1.

Buoyed by a win over No. 12 Texas Tech and Kansas’ loss at No. 18 Arizona State, Duke moved atop The Associated Press Top 25 released on Monday, receiving 35 of 64 first-place votes.

No. 2 Michigan received nine first-place votes, No. 3 Tennessee got 12, and No. 4 Virginia and No. 5 Kansas received four each.

No. 6 Nevada, Gonzaga, Michigan State, Florida State and Virginia Tech rounded out the top 10.

Duke (11-1) started the season No. 4 in the preseason poll, but moved to No. 1 for a record-tying 135th week in the first regular-season poll after turning its opener against then-No. 2 Kentucky into a laugher.

The Blue Devils stayed in the top spot until a rally against Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational title game came up short. Duke worked its way up to No. 2 and slid into the top spot after routing Princeton and holding off No. 12 Texas Tech last week.

The 69-58 win over the previously-unbeaten Red Raiders had a March-like feel at Madison Square Garden as two Elite Eight teams from a year ago played for the first time.

“This is a great night for college basketball,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

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