None of the top 10 teams lost this week, as North Carolina survived a scare against Tennessee Sunday night and UCLA and Villanova held tough at the top of the polls.
Saint Mary’s falls to UT Arlington for its first loss of the season
Playing at home, nobody expected the Mavericks to come into the Gaels’ arena and emerge with their first ever top-25 victory. But No. 12 Saint Mary’s went cold on offense, shooting 31.4 percent for the game, and UT Arlington hounded star center Jock Landale into only 14 points on 3-of-10 shooting to land a statement win for its program. The Gaels fell to No. 20 after the shocking loss, and the mid-major powerhouse will have No. 8 Gonzaga standing in the way of an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament later this season.
North Carolina narrowly avoids a second defeat
Despite a poor shooting performance in which the No. 7 Tar Heels only made 39.7 percent of their shots, they rallied from a 15-point first-half deficit to eke out a 73-71 victory at home against Tennessee Sunday afternoon. With starting point guard Joel Berry II out with a sprained ankle, forward Justin Jackson converted a contested layup with less than three minutes remaining to give North Carolina a lead it would not relinquish.
The Tar Heels did not move in the rankings this week, but have a marquee matchup with No. 6 Kentucky Saturday in Las Vegas. Berry could be back on the court for Saturday's game.
Top-ranked Villanova survives scare from Notre Dame
Senior guard Josh Hart poured in 37 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the Wildcats past the No. 23 Fighting Irish 74-66 Saturday afternoon in Newark, N.J. Villanova did not take its first lead until there were less than 10 minutes remaining in the game, as Steve Vasturia and Matt Farrell each scored 18 points to lead Notre Dame, but the Fighting Irish went cold down the stretch and scored just 25 points in the second half.
The Wildcats remained atop the rankings for the second straight week, and Notre Dame moved up to No. 21 despite the loss in its first real test of the season.
Duke remains at No. 5 with wins against Florida and UNLV
The Blue Devils won two games away from Cameron Indoor Stadium this week, first beating the No. 21 Gators 84-74 Tuesday in New York and then embarrassing UNLV 94-45 Saturday in Las Vegas. There were two big stories coming out of Durham this week, as head coach Mike Krzyzewski said he hoped top-ranked recruit Harry Giles could play before Christmas and star guard Grayson Allen appears to be healthy after battling a toe injury to start the 2016 campaign.
Allen led Duke with a career-high 34 points against the Runnin’ Rebels, and emphatically threw down two highlight-reel dunks to display the athleticism that he often showcased last season. The once-decimated Blue Devils are getting healthier by the day and have two more games before starting ACC play Dec. 31 at Virginia Tech.
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