Gophers break into AP Top 25 at No. 21

Nov 24, 2012; Paradise Island, BAHAMAS; Minnesota Golden Gophers guard Andre Hollins (1) and center Elliott Eliason (55) celebrate the victory against the Stanford Cardinal during the 2012 Battle 4 Atlantis in the Imperial Arena at the Atlantis Resort. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-US PRESSWIRE

Following a 2-1 record at the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas over Thanksgiving weekend, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers men’s basketball team are ranked for the first time this year, appearing at No. 21 in the AP Poll released on Monday.

This is the first national ranking for the Gophers since 2011. Minnesota is 6-1 this season.

Their only loss was at the hands of No. 5 Duke on Thanksgiving Day, but the Gophers followed up with an upset over No. 19 Memphis and unranked Stanford to place fifth overall in the tournament.

Minnesota will take their ranking to Florida for a game against unranked Florida State in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

Several other Big Ten teams also ranked in the latest poll, including Indiana (1), Michigan (3), Ohio State (4), Michigan State (13) and Illinois (22).

In other news, sophomore point guard Andre Hollins was named the Big Ten Player of the Week, after scoring 41 points against Memphis and hitting three game-winning free throws on Saturday against Stanford that put Minnesota in the lead with .4 seconds remaining.