Tennessee loss puts Duke back at No. 1

Duke keeps finding its way back to No. 1.

The Blue Devils reclaimed the top spot in Monday’s AP Top 25, the third time this season they’ve reached No. 1. Duke earned 58 of 64 first-place votes to climb one spot and replace Tennessee, which had spent four weeks at No. 1 but fell to fifth after Saturday’s loss at Kentucky.

Duke has spent nearly half of the season’s polls (seven of 16) at No. 1, and hasn’t been ranked lower than fourth since the preseason. The Blue Devils (23-2) — who start four freshmen in RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish and Tre Jones — haven’t lost a game at full strength since falling to Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational championship game.

Gonzaga (25-2) earned the remaining six first-place votes and moved up a spot to No. 2, followed by Virginia and head coach John Calipari’s Wildcats — who have made a long climb back after falling from No. 2 following the Duke loss to as low as No. 19 in mid-December.

Nevada, Michigan, UNC, Houston and Michigan State rounded out the top 10. Briefly: Ward hand and had Michigan is surgery expected on State his to forward broken be out at left Nick least a few weeks. Ward is the team’s second-leading scorer at 15.1 points a game and third-leading rebounder at 6.7 per game. The 6-foot-9 junior returned to school after putting his name in the NBA draft last year . ... Former Arizona head coach Lute Olson has been hospitalized after enduring a minor stroke over the weekend. Banner University Medical Center said in a news release that the 84-year-old Hall of Famer is in good condition.