It took another overtime game, but the UConn men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to 15 games against Villanova on Saturday and kept its spot at No. 2 in Monday’s AP Top 25 poll update.
The Huskies’ resumé, with only one loss coming to the unanimous No. 1 team, Arizona, without two starters, remains tops in the country by EvanMiya.com rankings thanks to four wins in nonconference play over teams currently ranked in the top 20. UConn is No. 8 in the NET rankings with a 5-1 record in Quad One games, No. 3 in the USA Today Coaches Poll and No. 10 on KenPom with the No. 38 offense and No. 4 defense.
UConn’s winning streak remains the fourth-longest in the country behind Nebraska (24), Miami (OH) and Arizona (20).
Michigan, which is ahead of the Huskies in the coaches’ poll, held at No. 3 in the AP Top 25, followed by Duke and undefeated Nebraska after Purdue lost back-to-back games to UCLA and Illinois and dropped to No. 12. The rest of the top 10 includes Gonzaga at No. 6, along with Michigan State, Iowa State, Illinois and Houston.
The Big East got a second team ranked with St. John’s finding its way back in at No. 25 after a six-game winning streak. Villanova, which nearly took down the Huskies in Hartford over the weekend, remained in the receiving votes category.
UConn showed it still has a ways to go on the offensive end and on the glass in the win over the Wildcats, though Solo Ball’s 24 points and 5-for-12 shooting from beyond the arc was a bright sign for him and the team as he seemingly got over his nagging wrist sprain and broke out of a shooting slump. He added five rebounds and three assists in 38 minutes to land a spot on the Big East’s weekly honor roll.
Ball’s emergence couldn’t come at a better time as the Huskies will presumably be without star freshman Braylon Mullins for at least Tuesday’s game against Providence as he entered concussion protocol following a hard hit to the head from fellow Big East Freshman of the Year candidate Acaden Lewis.
AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Week 12
Arizona (60 first-place votes)
UConn
Michigan
Duke
Nebraska
Gonzaga
Michigan State
Iowa State
Illinois
Houston
Texas Tech
Purdue
BYU
Kansas
Arkansas
North Carolina
Virginia
Vanderbilt
Florida
Louisville
Saint Louis
Clemson
Alabama
Miami (OH)
St. John’s
