Villanova leads men’s AP poll; Stanford women drop out for first time in 16 years

The new AP Top 25 poll features the same four teams at the top, led by No. 1 Villanova.

The Wildcats (12-0) received 43 of 65 firstplace votes to stay at No. 1 for the third consecutive week.

Michigan State (12-1) was second and had 16 first-place votes, while third-ranked Arizona State (12-0) had six firstplace votes to stay ahead of No. 4 Duke (12-1).

Texas A&M (11-1) climbed to fifth, followed by Xavier, West Virginia, Wichita State, Virginia and TCU to round out the top 10.

Four ranked teams took big slides after losses to unranked opponents last week. North Carolina fell eight spots to No. 13, while Gonzaga also fell eight spots to No. 20.

Now-No. 15 Miami and No. 16 Kentucky each fell nine spots.

UCONN NO. 1 IN WOMEN’S POLL » Stanford has fallen out of The Associated Press women’s basketball poll for the first time since the 2001 season.

The Cardinal (6-6) saw their streak of 312 consecutive weeks in the Top 25 end Monday. The remarkable run started with the 2001-02 preseason poll. Stanford lost at home last week to Western Illinois and Tennessee.

Only UConn, which remains the unanimous No. 1 team, has a longer active streak in the poll. The Huskies have been ranked for 458 consecutive weeks. Stanford’s streak is tied for third longest in the history of the poll. Tennessee had the longest run at 565 weeks. Stanford’s mark ties it with Duke.

UConn was followed by Notre Dame, Louisville, South Carolina and Mississippi State. With a light schedule because of the holidays, the top 17 teams stayed the same.

Oklahoma State replaced the Cardinal in the poll, coming in at No. 24.

NBA

76ERS BEAT KNICKS ON THE ROAD » Joel Embiid had 25 points and 16 rebounds, J.J. Redick scored 24 points, and the Philadelphia 76ers snapped a five-game losing streak with a 10598 victory over the New York Knicks on Dec 25.

Neither player was cleared to play until going through pregame warmups, and their presence gave the 76ers just enough to win their first Christmas Day appearance since 2001.

Embiid, who has been battling a bad back, powered through a big-man duel with Enes Kanter, who had a season-high 31 points and a careerbest 22 rebounds.

Redick, who missed the last game with right hamstring tightness, helped the 76ers pull away from an 89-all tie midway through the fourth quarter.

Kristaps Porzingis scored 22 points for the Knicks, who fell to 22-30 on Christmas with their fifth straight loss on the holiday.

Backup point guard T.J. McConnell had Philadelphia’s final eight points of the third quarter, and the 76ers pushed the lead to nine with about 9 minutes left in the game. The Knicks battled back to tied it 89 on Porzingis’ three-point play with 5:20 left, but Philadelphia promptly scored the next seven to go up 96-89 on Redick’s 3-pointer with 3:34 to play.

WIZARDS TOP CELTICS » Bradley Beal scored 25 points, John Wall had 21 points and 14 assists, and the Washington Wizards beat Boston, 111-103, on Dec. 25 in the Celtics’ first Christmas Day home game in franchise history.

Otto Porter Jr. added 20 points and Kelly Oubre Jr. finished with 16, helping Washington take the first meeting between the teams since Boston’s Game 7 victory at home in the second round of the playoffs last spring.

Eastern Conferenceleading Boston lost for the third time in four games. Kyrie Irving and Jayson Tatum each scored 20 points for the Celtics, and Terry Rozier had 16.

Boston opened a 95-90 lead on Irving’s 3-pointer with 6:18 left, but the Wizards responded with a 12-0 run. Beal capped the spurt with a threepoint play and a breakaway dunk off a turnover.

Wall added a layup and two free throws down the stretch to help Washington hold on.