Duke Regains Top Spot – NCAA Top 25 News And Notes

UNDATED (AP) — Duke is once again the top team in The Associated Press men's basketball poll. The move from the No. 3 spot came a week after the Blue Devils dropped from the top position last week. To regain the No. 1 ranking Duke took advantage of losses by Louisville and Indiana last week. This marks the Blue Devils' fifth week on top this season.

Duke received 39 first-place votes from the 65-member national media panel. Michigan, which jumped from fifth to second, had 11 No. 1 votes. Kansas, which had seven first-place votes, and Syracuse, which knocked Louisville out of No. 1, tied for third. Syracuse received eight No. 1 votes.

Louisville dropped to fifth and was followed by Arizona, Indiana, Florida, Butler and Gonzaga.

T25-SCORES

UNDATED (AP) — C.J. Fair tipped in the go-ahead basket with 19.4 seconds left and No. 3 Syracuse rallied past No. 21 Cincinnati 57-55.Trailing by seven with just over 5 minutes left, Syracuse tied it at 55 on Michael Carter-Williams' 3-pointer from the top of the key with 80 seconds left. Fair's tip came after Jerami Grant drove the lane and missed.

Cincinnati's Cashmere Wright missed a 3 from straight on with 2.9 seconds left and the Orange had their 35th straight win at home, the longest active streak in Division I.

Otto Porter scored 19 points to lead Georgetown to a 63-47 victory over No. 24 Notre Dame, the Fighting Irish's third loss in four games. It was a dismal night for Notre Dame's offense, which recorded season lows in points scored, field goal percentage (35 percent) and assists (11).

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Thad Matta (MAH'-tuh) has a new long-term deal to coach basketball at Ohio State. The revised contract will give him a 10 percent increase to more than $3.2 million annually and includes academic bonuses and more stringent wording about NCAA violations.

With years he had already earned through job performance, the five-time Big Ten champion coach will be under contract through July 2019.

The contract requires Matta to report anyone who "may potentially have violated" NCAA rules. That was added to clarify wording which had been troublesome in contracts in the wake of violations committed by football coach Jim Tressel (TREH'-sehl) which led to Ohio State being put on probation and receiving a bowl ban after the 2012 season.