Gearing up for the final month of the season, Villanova is making its move in the Associated Press college basketball poll.
The Wildcats moved from No. 6 to No. 4 in the latest poll, released yesterday, right behind Massachusetts, Kentucky and Connecticut.
Penn State moved up one spot, to No. 9.
UMass, which will play La Salle Thursday, is at No. 1 for the eighth consecutive week. Kentucky has been No. 2 just as long.
UConn moved up one spot, and also received one first-place vote. Kansas, which had been third, was fifth after losing to Missouri, and Cincinnati dropped two places to sixth after its buzzer-beater loss to Arizona.
The biggest drop was Georgetown's fall from No. 8 to 14th, its first time out of the Top Ten this season. The Hoyas (19-5) lost road games this week to Villanova and Syracuse by a combined 34 points.
In other news:
BAYLOR: DROPS LAWSUIT Baylor dropped its breach of contract lawsuit against former men's basketball coach Darrel Johnson, who was fired by the university over a grade-fixing scandal and later acquitted on federal fraud charges.
Johnson has denied having any knowledge of the scandal. Three of his assistants were convicted last April of rigging correspondence-school test scores to help basketball recruits.
DAYTON: DANIELS REMEMBERED More than 500 mourners filled Community of St. John Holy Rosary Church in Columbus, Ohio, for an African-inspired ``coming home celebration'' for Chris Daniels, the 22-year-old Dayton center who died Thursday after collapsing in his off-campus home.
GANNON: FIRES COACH Gannon University fired basketball coach Bob Dukiet, who led the Knights to five 20-win seasons in his first six years but was 9-12 this season. He was replaced by former coach Dick Fox, and Gannon beat Ashland last night, 90-83.
Dukiet (135-68, three Division II playoff berths) was the most successful coach in school history.
