Wait over: Virginia No. 1 again
A loss didn’t prevent Virginia from climbing to No. 1 in AP men’s basketball poll for the first time in more than 35 years after all.
The Cavaliers rose a slot to sit atop Monday’s AP Top 25 despite an overtime home loss Saturday to Virginia Tech, part of an upsetfilled week that allowed for plenty of uncertainty in the poll. The Cavaliers (23-2, 12-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) earned 30 of 65 firstplace votes to outdistance No. 2 Michigan State and rise above the turmoil that included last week’s top three teams all losing.
Tony Bennett’s Cavaliers had been at No. 2 before this season, but this is the first time the program has reached No. 1 since December 1982 — the senior season of 7-foot-4 great Ralph Sampson — back when the poll ranked only 20 teams.
Michigan State climbed two spots after a win against Purdue in a top-5 matchup. The Spartans, who reached No. 1 for a week in January, earned 21 first-place votes.
Next came Villanova, which lost at home to St. John’s on Wednesday and fell to third after a five-week stay at No. 1 and earned nine first-place votes. Kennedy to step down: Mississippi coach Andy Kennedy and the school are parting ways after 12 seasons.
The move will be effective at the end of the season. The decision came two days after the Rebels fell to 11-14 overall and 4-8 in the SEC with their fifth straight loss.
Kennedy is the winningest coach at the school with 245 wins. SEC fines Martin: The Southeastern Conference fined South Carolina coach Frank Martin $25,000 for comments about an official that issued him a technical foul during a 65-41 home loss to Florida on Saturday. Tar Heels pull away: Theo Pinson scored 14 of his 16 points after halftime to go with 10 rebounds, helping No. 14 North Carolina pull away late to beat visiting Notre Dame 83-66.
Joel Berry II added 21 points for the Tar Heels (20-7, 9-5 Atlantic Coast Conference), who needed a 13-0 burst late to finally get some separation.
Martinas Geben and John Mooney each scored 18 for Irish (15-11, 5-8).