Ankle sprain idles Arizona guard

Arizona point guard Parker Jackson-Cartwright will miss about eight weeks with a high ankle sprain, Wildcats coach Sean Miller said.

Jackson-Cartwright was injured last Wednesday in No. 20 Arizona’s home win over Texas Southern and did not play in the Wildcats’ loss to No. 8 Gonzaga on Saturday in Los Angeles.

His loss leaves Arizona without its top distributor — 5.3 assists per game — and with its roster even thinner.

The Wildcats lost forward Ray Smith to a seasonending knee injury during an exhibition game, and Allonzo Trier has yet to play this season for unspecified reasons. Drake coach resigns: Drake coach Ray Giacoletti abruptly resigned Tuesday after three-plus seasons, saying it was time for a “new voice” to lead the Bulldogs out of a skid that has them just 1-7 so far.

Giacoletti, a former coach at Utah, went 32-69 at Drake and will be replaced by assistant Jeff Rutter for the rest of the season. Athletic director Sandy Hatfield-Clubb wouldn’t speculate on Rutter’s status following the season.

Giacolleti’s stint with the Bulldogs got off to a promising start as he finished 15-16 in 2013-14 at a program with just one NCAA tournament appearance since 1971. But Drake finished 9-22 and 7-24 the last two seasons.

The Bulldogs’ only win so far in 2016-17 came against Division III Simpson College, and last week they went through a brutal stretch that included twopoint losses at DePaul and Fresno State.

’Nova back at No. 1: Reigning national champion Villanova has handled anything that’s come its way to this point, but everything ratchets up another level now that the Wildcats are No. 1 in the AP Top 25 for the second time in school history.

“We know what it’s like,” coach Jay Wright said about managing expectations. “We know what the attention is like. We know what the effort of the other team is like, (but) this puts more on top of that.”

Villanova (8-0) received 57 of 65 first-place votes this week to supplant Kentucky at No. 1.