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Following two assertive wins against Big 5 opponents, Penn and St. Joseph's, Villanova moved up in the Associated Press' Top-25 rankings to No. 10 on the list.
The Wildcats also jumped five spots in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll to the No. 14 spot, a mark they were placed at last week by the AP. "Nova hasn't been ranked this high since February 7th, 2011 when Jay Wright's squad was No. 9 on the Top-25 rankings.
AP Top 25 Poll
|
Rank
|
Team
|
Record
|
Votes
|
Previous
|
|
1
|
Arizona
|
9-0
|
1623
|
2 |
|
2
|
Syracuse (2)
|
9-0
|
1527
|
4
|
|
3
|
Ohio State
|
8-0
|
1453
|
5 |
|
4
|
Wisconsin
|
10-0
|
1318
|
8
|
|
5
|
Michigan State
|
7-1
|
1311
|
1 |
|
6
|
Louisville
|
8-1
|
1262
|
7 |
|
7
|
Oklahoma State
|
8-1
|
1160
|
9
|
|
8
|
Duke
|
7-2
|
1040
|
10
|
|
9
|
UConn
|
9-0
|
981
|
12 |
|
10
|
Villanova
|
9-0
|
938
|
14 |
|
11
|
Kentucky
|
7-2
|
926
|
3 |
|
12
|
Wichita State
|
9-0
|
884
|
11 |
|
13
|
Kansas
|
6-2
|
862
|
6 |
|
14
|
Baylor
|
8-1
|
843
|
20 |
|
15
|
Oregon
|
8-0
|
831
|
13 |
|
16
|
Memphis
|
6-1
|
768
|
16 |
|
17
|
Iowa State
|
7-0
|
606
|
17
|
|
18
|
UNC
|
6-2
|
450
|
NR
|
|
19
|
Florida
|
6-2
|
434
|
15
|
|
20
|
Gonzaga
|
8-1
|
365
|
19
|
|
21
|
Colorado
|
9-1
|
330
|
NR
|
|
22
|
UMass
|
8-0
|
326
|
21
|
|
23
|
Iowa
|
9-1
|
207
|
23
|
|
24
|
Mizzou
|
9-0
|
203
|
NR
|
|
25
|
San Diego State
|
7-1
|
159
|
24 |
|
Others receiving votes: UCLA 104, New Mexico 62, Pittsburgh 47, Boise State 34, Michigan 26, Virginia Commonwealth 17, Dayton 11, Cincinnati 5, Harvard 5, Saint Mary's 3, Indiana 3, George Washington 2, Creighton 2, Oklahoma 1, Toledo 1
|
|
Dropped from rankings: UCLA 18, Michigan 22, Dayton 25, St. Mary's 2, Xavier 1 |
Pinkston Awarded By Big East
The Big East Conference announced that JayVaughn Pinkston was named to the Weekly Honor Roll, the conference said in a media release Monday morning.
Pinkston averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds in two games against Big 5 opponents, St. Joseph's and Pennsylvania, and collected two wins to keep Villanova undefeated through the week. The Wildcats crushed their Big 5 foes by an average of 26.5 points and during the Holy War against the Hawks, had a season-low five turnovers.
The 6-foot-7 junior forward and Brooklyn native averages a team-high in scoring (17.8 PPG) and in field goal percentage through nine games (.521 percent). The forward dropped a team-high 27 points against the Hawks on Saturday next to senior James Bell's career-high 25 points.
The No. 14 Wildcats take a week off in preparation for their final Big 5 contest before the New Year, La Salle University, scheduled for Sunday afternoon on December 15. Creighton's Doug McDermott was named Big East Player of the Week and Xavier's Myles Davis was named Rookie of the Week.
