St. John's, which defeated UConn on Friday, surged five spots in the poll.
UConn slipped three places to No. 6 in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll, released Monday. It is their lowest ranking of the season.
The women stayed atop their poll, earning all 31 first-place votes.
For the men, the drop followed the Huskies’ 81-72 loss to then-No. 22 St. John’s on Friday, their first defeat in Big East conference play. It snapped their 18-game winning streak, the first since the Huskies (22-2) lost to Arizona 71-67 in November.
The Wildcats (23-0) continued their grip on No. 1, followed by Michigan, Houston, Duke and Iowa State. Arizona has been No. 1 since Dec. 8.
St. John’s rose to No. 17.
Next for UConn
UConn head coach Dan Hurley gave St. John’s plenty of praise for the challenge they gave the Huskies.
“I credit St. John’s. I think, you know, it was the exact type of game we thought it was going to be, just as hard a game as we’ve had to play this year,” he said, postgame. “And, in the end, it was always going to come down to just the rebounding piece and then just being able to take care of that, and just to go on the road against that defense and shoot 54% and go 9-for-19 from three. Obviously, the turnovers killed us, 15 of them.”
On Wednesday, UConn will face Butler in Chicago, and the Bulldogs (13-11) shouldn’t present the same sort of obstacles. They are 4-9 in the Big East; UConn is 12-1.
UConn opened the conference schedule against Butler at PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford on Dec. 16 with a 79-60 victory. Solo Ball led the Huskies with 26 points on 8-of-14 shooting. Tarris Reed Jr. scored 16 and Braylon Mullins added 12.
Jayden Ross came off the bench to add 13 points and a team-leading eight rebounds.
After the Butler game, UConn will have six games remaining on the conference schedule before the Big East tournament.
They will play at home against Georgetown (Feb. 14), Creighton (Feb. 18), St. John’s (Feb. 25) and Seton Hall (Feb. 28). They have road games on the schedule at Villanova (Feb. 21) and Marquette (March 7).
The Big East Tournament follows March 11-14 at Madison Square Garden in New York City – a home court of St. John’s. The top five seeds from conference play advance directly to the quarterfinals.
St. John’s is the defending tournament champion. UConn and Georgetown are tied for the most tournament titles since the event’s inception in 1980 with eight each.
The men’s top 25
1. Arizona (23-0)
2. Michigan (22-1)
3. Houston (23-2)
4. Duke (23-2)
5. Iowa State (21-2)
6. UConn (22-2)
7. Nebraska (21-2)
8. Illinois (20-4)
9. Kansas (18-5)
10. Michigan State (20-4)
11. North Carolina (19-4)
12. Gonzaga (23-2)
13. Purdue (19-4)
14. Florida (17-6)
15. Virginia (20-3)
16. Texas Tech (17-6)
17. St. John’s (18-5)
18. Saint Louis (23-1)
19. Vanderbilt (19-4)
20. Clemson (20-4)
21. Arkansas (17-6)
22. BYU (17-6)
23. Miami (Ohio) (24-0)
24. Louisville (17-6)
25. Kentucky (17-7)
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