Auriemma’s Huskies fall all the way to No. 5
Coach Geno Auriemma doesn’t seem too concerned that Connecticut (19-2, 8-0 American Athletic) has its most losses in six years.
After all, the Huskies entered the Final Four unbeaten the past two seasons only to walk away without a national championship.
“Last time I checked, there’s 365 Division-I teams in America, 364 of them would trade places with me in a heartbeat,” he said after the Huskies beat Cincinnati Saturday. “I’m not going to lose any sleep over this.”
Connecticut suffered its second loss Thursday, falling to then-No. 3 Louisville. The Huskies dropped to fifth in the women’s poll Monday, their lowest ranking since Feb. 12, 2007.
Louisville moved up to second this week behind topranked Baylor. The Lady Bears received 25 of 28 firstplace votes. The Cardinals received the other three. Oregon and Notre Dame rounded out the top five.
Men’s poll
Tennessee had a couple of shaky moments after earning its first No. 1 ranking in 11 years. But they are sure rolling now.
Coming off decisive wins against South Carolina and Texas A&M, Tennessee (20-1, 8-0 SEC) remained atop the AP men’s basketball poll for a third week in a row.
The Volunteers received 48 of 64 first-place votes. No. 2 Duke had 12 first-place votes and No. 3 Virginia four. Gonzaga and Kentucky rounded out the top 5.
While the top four remained the same, the top 10 became jumbled after Michigan and Michigan State lost.
The Wolverines dropped two spots to No. 7 after losing to Iowa. The Spartans fell three spots to No. 9 following a loss to Indiana. No. 5 Kentucky, No. 6 Nevada and No. 8 North Carolina all moved up because of the losses.
Louisville
Ryan McMahon scored 12 points in 83 seconds in the second half and No. 16 Louisville (17-6, 8-2 ACC) used a 143 run to beat host No. 11 Virginia Tech (18-4, 7-3), 72-64.
Penn State
Lamar Stevens scored 18 points as visiting Penn State (8-14, 1-10 Big Ten) defeated Northwestern (12-10, 3-8), 5952. Rasir Bolton added 14, and the Nittany Lions snapped an eight-game losing streak.
Baylor
Moon Ursin scored 20 points and the top-ranked Baylor women (20-1, 10-0 Big 12) held off No. 14 Texas (18-5, 8-3) for a 74-68 win to put a huge gap between the Lady Bears and the rest of the Big 12.