The Huskies’ loss to Villanova dropped UConn down five spots compared to last week.
UConn men’s basketball dropped five spots from No. 9 to No. 14 in this week’s AP Top 25 poll after the Huskies fell on the road to Villanova before closing out the week with a road win over Georgetown. UConn’s 1-1 week gives Dan Hurley’s squad a 13-4 record on the year and a 4-1 record in Big East play.
The Huskies are one of two Big East teams in the top 25, joined by No. 7 Marquette. St. John’s is just barely on the outside looking in with 83 votes, the most of any school outside of the top 25. UConn has just one game in the upcoming week, a home matchup against an underperforming Creighton squad led by big man Ryan Kalkbrenner. After that, the Huskies finish out the month of January with three games in eight days before heading to Milwaukee for a showdown with Marquette on Feb. 1.
UConn stayed put at No. 25 in this week’s NET rankings, and is now ranked 26th overall in KenPom. The advanced stats still love the Huskies’ offense, which ranks fifth nationally, and the defense is up to 112th in efficiency after an impressive showing against the Hoyas on Saturday. The Huskies still rank as one of the worst teams in the country in opponent 3-point percentage, and Villanova and Georgetown combined to shoot 18-35 (51.4 percent) against UConn last week. Perimeter defense will once again be key against Creighton, as point guard Steven Ashworth is a dangerous shooter who is shooting over 35 percent from deep on the year and torched the Huskies for five threes in the Bluejays’ win over UConn last season.