UConn men’s basketball moves up in AP Top 25

The UConn men’s basketball program moved up to No. 4 in the latest AP Top 25 poll on Monday after a 2-0 start to Big East play.

The Huskies are the only ranked team in the Big East after St. John’s fell out with its fourth loss of the season to Kentucky at a neutral site on Saturday and moved into the “receiving votes” category behind Seton Hall, which opened league play with a win at Providence, its fifth in a row.

It is the first time the league only had one team in the Top 25 this season.

UConn, after an impressive 10-1 nonconference season with four wins over teams ranked in Monday’s poll, began Big East play with a 79-60 win over Butler behind a career-high 26-point performance from Solo Ball, who was named to the league’s weekly honor roll. Ball missed the Huskies’ 72-54 win at DePaul on Sunday with a wrist injury that is expected to be minor.

The opportunity to move up in the poll after four consecutive weeks at No. 5 came when Duke suffered a 82-81 loss to Texas Tech at Madison Square Garden on Saturday. The Blue Devils fell just outside the top five, which otherwise stayed the same with Arizona holding at No. 1, followed by Michigan and Iowa State. Purdue moved up a spot to No. 5.

UConn’s only loss came to the Wildcats, who received 38 first place votes, at Gampel Pavilion without two starters in Tarris Reed Jr. and Braylon Mullins. The Huskies, No. 8 in the NET rankings, hold Quadrant One wins over No. 10 BYU, No. 17 Kansas, No. 20 Illinois and No. 22 Florida.

AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Week 7

Arizona (38 first place votes)
Michigan (19)
Iowa State (1)
UConn
Purdue
Duke
Gonzaga
Houston
Michigan State
BYU
Vanderbilt
North Carolina
Nebraska
Alabama
Texas Tech
Louisville
Kansas
Arkansas
Tennessee
Illinois
Virginia
Florida
Georgia
USC
Iowa