The UConn men’s basketball team dropped five spots to No. 14 in the AP Top 25 rankings after splitting a pair of Big East games on the road last week.
Playing both games without high-impact freshman Liam McNeeley, the Huskies had their eight-game winning streak snapped in the final seconds at Villanova’s Finneran Pavilion on Wednesday and bounced back with a decisive win at Georgetown – the 68-60 final score not indicative of how most of the game went.
The loss at Villanova was UConn’s second Quad 1 loss of the season as it sits at No. 25 in the NCAA’s NET rankings. The Huskies have a 4-2 record in Quad 1 games with the other loss against Memphis coming in the Maui Invitational. UConn’s other two losses in Maui were Quad 2 games against Colorado and Dayton.
The Huskies are now 2-1 without McNeeley, who is out of his walking boot as he continues to recover from the high ankle sprain he suffered at DePaul on New Year’s Day.
UConn men’s basketball notes: ‘Hungry’ defense steps up to beat Georgetown, Karaban bounces back
Nationally, the AP poll was shaken up quite a bit this week.
Tennessee, the previous No. 1, experienced a similar five-spot drop to No. 6 after suffering its first loss of the year in blowout fashion when visiting Florida on Tuesday. The Volunteers responded with a four-point win at Texas. Auburn (15-1) took over the top spot, followed in the top five by Iowa State, Duke, Alabama and Florida. Both Duke and Florida received one first place vote while Bruce Pearl’s Tigers took the other 60.
Marquette, No. 7, remains the only other ranked team in the Big East after its 14-2 start to the season. The Golden Eagles, currently 5-0 in Big East play, were picked fourth in the league’s preseason coaches poll despite receiving a first place vote from UConn’s Dan Hurley (coaches cannot vote for their own team).
St. John’s continues to receive votes, this week enough to be No. 26, at 14-3 and 5-1 in league play.
UConn will play the Golden Eagles and the Johnnies in back-to-back games to start February, when it is hoping to have McNeeley close to return. Of the Huskies’ nonconference opponents, Gonzaga moved up to No. 16, Memphis went up to No. 18 and Baylor reentered the rankings at No. 25.
The Huskies will be back in action to host Creighton in a white out at Gampel Pavilion on Saturday (Noon, FOX).
AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Week 11
- Auburn (60 first place votes)
- Iowa State
- Duke (1)
- Alabama
- Florida (1)
- Tennessee
- Marquette
- Kentucky
- Kansas
- Houston
- Texas A&M
- Michigan State
- Oregon
- UConn
- Mississippi State
- Gonzaga
- Purdue
- Memphis
- Illinois
- Michigan
- Ole Miss
- Utah State
- Georgia
- Wisconsin
- Baylor
