Tennessee stays No. 1 in AP Top 25 poll; Kentucky moves past UNR

NEW YORK — Tennessee stayed atop the AP Top 25 men’s college basketball poll for a second straight week.

The Volunteers earned 48 of 64 first-place votes in Monday’s poll to extend the program’s first stint at No. 1 since February 2008. Tennessee (18-1, 6-0 Southeastern Conference) has won 14 straight games — the program’s longest run since the 1922-23 season and one shy of the school record — since suffering a neutral-court loss to Kansas in November.

The top six teams in the poll remained unchanged, with Duke sitting at No. 2, followed by Virginia, Gonzaga, Michigan and Michigan State. The Spartans stayed put despite suffering their first Big Ten loss at Purdue in a game that helped lift the Boilermakers back into the poll.

Kentucky moved past UNR to reach No. 7, while North Carolina and Marquette each rose two spots to round out the top 10.

No. 15 Louisville moved up eight spots for the week’s biggest jump after reaching 6-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference, while No. 19 LSU rose six spots. No. 13 Houston, No. 14 Villanova and No. 20 Iowa State each jumped four spots.

No. 17 Purdue, No. 24 Wisconsin and No. 25 Florida State returned to the poll after being ranked for multiple weeks earlier this season.

Maryland had the week’s biggest slide among ranked teams, falling eight spots to No. 21. Auburn, Iowa and Mississippi fell out of the poll.

AP TOP 25 POLL

The top 25 teams in The Associated Press’ college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses and records through Jan. 27.

1. Tennessee (48) 18-1

2. Duke (12) 17-2

3. Virginia (4) 18-1

4. Gonzaga 19-2

5. Michigan 19-1

6. Michigan St. 18-3

7. Kentucky 16-3

8. UNR 19-1

9. North Carolina 15-4

10. Marquette 18-3

11. Kansas 16-4

12. Virginia Tech 16-3

13. Houston 20-1

14. Villanova 16-4

15. Louisville 15-5

16. Texas Tech 16-4

17. Purdue 14-6

18. Buffalo 18-2

19. LSU 16-3

20. Iowa St. 15-5

21. Maryland 16-5

22. Mississippi St. 15-4

23. NC State 16-4

24. Wisconsin 14-6

25. Florida St. 15-5

Others receiving votes: Auburn 85, Cincinnati 76, Washington 75, Kansas St. 73, Oklahoma 41, Iowa 28, Wofford 10, Hofstra 9, Mississippi 7, TCU 7, Nebraska 6, Davidson 5, Syracuse 3, Minnesota 1.