Duke a unanimous No. 1

Associated Press

Duke was a unanimous No. 1 in The Associated Press men's basketball poll yesterday for the third straight week, the longest such stretch since the Blue Devils did it 10 seasons ago.

Florida moved up one place to No. 4, the highest ranking in school history.

The Blue Devils (9-0), who have been No. 1 all season, received all 70 first-place votes and 1,750 points from the national media panel. Maryland (8-1) had 1,655 points and moved up one place to No. 2, the same spot the Terrapins held in the preseason poll.

When Duke was a unanimous No. 1 last week, it matched Kansas in 1996-97 and Stanford last season for the longest run since the 1991-92 season. Those Blue Devils, who like this year's team were defending the national championship, were a unanimous No. 1 for three weeks on the way to repeating.

Kansas and Florida were third and fourth, while Virginia, Oklahoma State and Kentucky each moved up two places, to fifth through seventh.

UConn tops women's poll: Connecticut remained No. 1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll by a wide margin yesterday, following a quiet week in which many players concentrated on final exams instead of games.

Yesterday's poll had no newcomers and 14 teams held the same position as last week.

Connecticut (10-0) received 41 of the 45 first-place votes from a national media panel and had 1,121 points to lead a top seven that was unchanged from last week.

Second-ranked Tennessee (7-0) had the four other first-place votes and 1,082 points.

Oklahoma (10-0) was third with 1,026 points and was followed by Vanderbilt (10-1), Iowa State (9-0), Stanford (8-1) and Purdue (8-1).

MEN'S TOP 25

• No. 5 Virginia 75, Charleston Southern 54: Travis Watson scored 16 points and Chris Williams 12 as Virginia (6-0) routed Charleston Southern (3-5) at Charlottesville, Va.

  The Cavaliers scored the first nine points and went up 28-11 on consecutive 3-pointers by Williams and Roger Mason Jr., with 11 minutes left in the half.

• No. 6 Oklahoma St. 79, Northwestern St. 44: Maurice Baker scored all 22 of his points in the first half, leading Oklahoma State (10-0) over Northwestern State (2-7) at Stillwater, Okla.

  Baker, who had nine rebounds, five steals and four assists, scored 12 points during a 15-0 run that gave Oklahoma State control midway through the first half.

• No. 16 Georgetown 99, Howard 80: Mike Sweetney had 25 points and 10 rebounds to lead Georgetown (9-1) over crosstown rival Howard (5-5) at Washington.

  Wesley Wilson added 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting and guard Kevin Braswell added 21 points and five assists for the Hoyas.

• No. 17 Michigan St. 76, N.C.-Asheville 56: Michigan State struggled as it seldom has in Breslin Center, but still set a Big Ten record with its 51st consecutive victory at East Lansing, Mich.

  Adam Ballinger scored 17 points and Kelvin Torbert 13 as the Spartans (7-3) beat North Carolina-Asheville (1-9).

WOMEN'S TOP 25

• No. 7 Purdue 63, DePaul 61: Shereka Wright scored 21 points to lead Purdue (9-1) over DePaul (6-4) at Chicago.

  DePaul's Lenae Williams scored 28 points but she committed a late turnover and saw her desperation shot blocked near half court at the buzzer.

HAWAI'I'S DIVISION II

• Lincoln (Mo.) 105, Brigham Young-Hawai'i 104: Mario Davis scored 30 points on 11-of-12 shooting from the field as the Blue Tigers edged the host Seasiders (6-3).

  Alexus Foyle scored 29 points and Scott Salisbury 27 for BYUH.

• Hawai'i-Hilo 84, Cal State Monterey Bay 62: Derek Mgbeke scored 19 points and David LaQua 16 as the host Vulcans (6-2) beat the Otters (4-8).

  Hilo made 32 of 55 shots from the field.