Mid-Day Rumble: Denzel Valentine out 2-to-3 weeks, Marcus Paige suffers another injury

Today in the Mid-Day Rumble, Denzel Valentine will be shut down, Marcus Paige leaves the Tar Heels' latest game and the AP Poll has some interesting surprises.

The number one team in the country, Michigan State, has lost their best player, Denzel Valentine, for 2-to-3 weeks due to a knee injury. Valentine suffered the injury during practice and underwent a mild procedure on Monday morning.

The versatile forward, who is averaging 18.5 points per game and has notched two double-doubles on the season, will miss likely miss games against Oakland, Iowa, Minnesota and possibly Illinois. The Spartans are deep, have plenty of experience and have a Hall of Fame coach in Tom Izzo so this shouldn't be the end of the world as long as it's a short term absence.

The Tar Heels were given a scare on Monday night against Appalachian State and it had nothing to do with their opponent. Marcus Paige, who has already dealt with a broken hand this season, left with an ankle injury after playing just 17 minutes. The senior point guard didn't return but said he is fine following the game.

The Tar Heels lost at Northern Iowa without Paige. He averages 14.7 points per game and 4.3 assists.

The AP Poll was released on Monday and Iowa State (lost to Northern Iowa), Kentucky (lost to Ohio State) and Duke (lost to Utah) dropped out of the top 10. The Big East now has three teams ranked in the top 10 (Xavier at 6, Butler at 9 and Providence at 10) while Villanova dropped to 17th.

Monmouth has been a sensation this season and they received six votes to enter to poll.

Dayton began the year 8-2 but they will be getting a key reinforcement, possibly as soon as December 30. Dyshawn Pierre, a critical piece who was suspended for the first semester due to a sexual assault allegation, could make his season debut against Arkansas at the end of the month.

The senior forward has been practicing with the Flyers and head coach Archie Miller could certainly use his production, leadership and experience.

Larry Brown is back! The SMU Mustangs head coach is set to return versus Kent State in the Las Vegas Classic after serving a nine-game suspension for committing NCAA violations. Associate head coach Tim Jankovich was the interim coach in Brown's absence, leading the Mustangs to a undefeated early season record and the 18th best ranking in the country.