NEW YORK – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – With several shake-ups throughout the latest Associated Press college basketball Top 25 rankings, Villanova and UConn both climbed the ladder, while Seton Hall closed out the poll at No. 25. In its lone game of the week, No. 6 Villanova dominated La Salle (72-46) in a Philadelphia Big Five contest, to move up a spot in the rankings.
A busy week in Paradise Island, Bahamas, concluded on Friday with Connecticut going 2-1 in the Battle 4 Atlantis and finishing third. With overtime wins over No. 21 Auburn (115-109) and VCU (70-63), accompanied by a close loss against No. 22 Michigan State (64-60), the Huskies jumped five spots in the poll and now sit at No. 17.
At No. 25, Seton Hall remained in the polls after a 2-1 week. The Pirates came up short against Ohio State (79-76) in the first of two games of the Rocket Mortgage Fort Myers Tip-Off, before closing out the week with victories over California and Bethune-Cookman.
With Thanksgiving holiday tournament action in the rearview mirror, five BIG EAST teams return to their respective home arenas tonight.
Butler jumpstarts the evening at 5 p.m. on FS1 against Saginaw Valley State. Georgetown later hosts Longwood at 7 p.m. on FS2, while UConn tips off against Maryland Eastern Shore at 7 p.m.on CBS Sports Network.
At 9 p.m., Marquette hosts Jackson State on CBSSN, while Creighton takes on North Dakota State on FS2.
Individually, DePaul’s Javon Freeman-Liberty ranks fourth in the nation with 23.5 ppg, while St. John’s Posh Alexander ranks ninth nationally in assists, with 6.6 per game.
DePaul (5th, 88.5) and UConn (10th, 87.6) both rank among the nation’s top-10 scoring offenses, while UConn (T3rd, 7.6) and St. John’s (T10th, 6.3) are getting it done on the defensive end of the court with blocked shots.