The UConn men’s basketball team, after winning its 10th consecutive game, was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll for the fourth straight week on Monday.
It is the longest the program has held the No. 1 ranking since the 2005-06 season, which is also the last time it won a share of the Big East regular season title. The Huskies (20-2, 10-1 Big East) currently have a two-game lead over Marquette for first place in the conference standings.
Led by Stephon Castle and Tristen Newton, who earned Big East Freshman of the Week and weekly honor roll recognition, respectively, UConn earned two wins over Providence and St. John’s since the last poll was released.
The top five, jumbled after Houston’s loss to Kansas, saw the Jayhawks jump back in at No. 4 as Houston dropped one spot to No. 5 and bumped Tennessee down to No. 6. Purdue and North Carolina, with big wins over Wisconsin and Duke, respectively, are No. 2 and 3.
UConn, currently No. 3 on KenPom and in the NCAA’s NET rankings, was also ranked No. 1 in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the fourth week in a row. UConn and Purdue each lead the country with eight Quad 1 wins.
It was the fifth freshman of the week honor in the last six weeks for Castle, who has been the conference’s top rookie six times this season. Castle had back-to-back games with career-highs in scoring as he scored 20 points against the Friars on Wednesday and 21 against St. John’s at Madison Square Garden Sunday. Through the two games he shot 53.8% from the field and made 4 of 6 (66.7%) from beyond the arc.
Castle leads all Big East freshmen in scoring (10.9), rebounding (4.6) and assists (3.3) on the season.
Newton was named to the honor roll for the fourth time this season after he posted double-doubles in both games, his fifth and sixth of the year. The graduate guard had 16 points and 11 rebounds against Providence and had 18 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists to beat St. John’s. Establishing himself as an All-America candidate, Newton continues to lead the Huskies in points (15.9), rebounds (6.8) and assists (5.7).
The Big East had three teams ranked for the sixth straight week as Marquette moved up two spots to No. 7 and Creighton, with its 99-98 home loss to Butler, dropped six spots to No. 19. No other Big East teams received votes.
AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll: Week 14
- UConn (45 first place votes)
- Purdue (16)
- North Carolina
- Kansas
- Houston
- Tennessee
- Marquette
- Arizona
- Duke
- Illinois
- Wisconsin
- Auburn
- Baylor
- Iowa State
- South Carolina
- Alabama
- Kentucky
- Dayton
- Creighton
- Florida Atlantic
- BYU
- Utah State
- Texas Tech
- San Diego State
- New Mexico
