Auburn tops men's AP Top 25 poll; UConn plummets to No. 25 - ESPN

Auburn keeps winning games that come down to the wire. It has kept them on top of the AP Top 25, too.

The Tigers were the unanimous choice atop the men's college basketball poll for the second consecutive week Monday, getting all 62 votes from the national media panel. Their place at No. 1 was solidified when Miles Kelly hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to propel Auburn to a 53-51 victory over then-No. 6 Tennessee this weekend.

«We can play better, and we still were able to beat a great team,» Tigers coach Bruce Pearl said. «We've won four of the last six games in the last possession. It's going to be a battle every night, but we're happy with this one because that's a great team.»

First-place votes in parentheses

The Tigers got All-American forward Johnni Broome back from an ankle injury that had sidelined him for two games. He led the way with 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocked shots against the Vols.

The Tigers led a top-five that was unchanged from the previous week. Duke remained No. 2, followed by Iowa State, Alabama and Florida, which rallied to beat South Carolina early in the week before a resounding victory over Georgia.

The big changes came elsewhere in the Top 25.

Houston climbed one spot to No. 6, thanks to a rout of Utah and a frantic, double-overtime win at Kansas.

«Our kids have a clear understanding of how it is we win,» Cougars coach Kelvin Sampson said. «The way we won in double-overtime, I think it speaks to this program's culture, how tough our kids are and our ability to hang in there, you know?»

Michigan State moved up one spot to No. 7 and was followed by the Vols, who balanced out their close loss to Auburn by beating No. 14 Mississippi State. Marquette and Purdue — which beat