On Monday afternoon, the UConn Huskies got back into the Associated Press poll at No. 25 after a five-year absence.  They validated the recognition in the evening with a hard-fought 60-53 win at DePaul.

The victory gave the Huskies a 3-0 sweep of a seven-day road swing.  They are 7-1 overall and 4-1 in BIG EAST play.  DePaul fell to 1-4 overall and 0-3 in the league.

The second half produced eight lead changes before UConn held DePaul scoreless in the final 4:27.  Tyrese Martin scored a game-high 18 points and made five steals for the Huskies.  UConn was without top scorer James Bouknight for a second straight game due to an elbow injury.  Darious Hall led the Blue Demons with 10 points.  DePaul held a 39-29 rebounding edge, but was hurt by 24 turnovers.

Tuesday’s schedule is an FS1 doubleheader with Butler playing at St. John’s at 7 p.m. ET and Providence traveling to Marquette for a 9 p.m. tip.
St. John’s (6-6, 1-5 BIG EAST) will welcome a return to Carnesecca Arena after playing four of its first six conference games on the road.  Forward Julian Champagnie is first in the BIG EAST in scoring with a 21.0 average.  Butler (3-6, 2-4 BIG EAST) won both meetings with the Johnnies last season, including a 60-58 decision in Queens.

Last season’s meeting in Milwaukee between Providence (7-5, 3-3 BIG EAST) and Marquette (6-6, 2-4 BIG EAST) ended with an 81-80 overtime victory for the Friars.  PC’s David Duke, who is coming off a 30-point performance on Sunday at Xavier, ranks third in the BIG EAST in scoring at  20.2 ppg.  Marquette’s Dawson Garcia leads all BIG EAST freshmen with a 13.7 scoring average and a 9.7 rebounding mark.

Going into Tuesday, home teams are 17-14 (.548) in BIG EAST play.

In Monday’s release of the national polls, in addition to UConn’s move into the AP poll,  Villanova remained third in the AP and USA Today polls.  Creighton is No. 8 this week in AP and No. 6 in USA Today.