Men's Basketball Sports

UH falls out of top 10 in AP Poll after first loss

UH guard Quentin Grimes (24) defends Cincinnati’s Jarron Cumberland inside of Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 1, 2020. UH fell out of the top five in the AP Poll on Monday. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar

UH guard Quentin Grimes (24) defends Cincinnati’s Jarron Cumberland inside of Fifth Third Arena on Feb. 1, 2020. UH fell out of the top five in the AP Poll on Monday. | Kathryn Lenihan/The Cougar

The Houston men’s basketball team fell to No. 11 in Monday morning’s AP Poll, following a week that saw UH suffer its first loss of the season against Tulsa.

Following the 65-64 nail biter that was decided with 0.1 seconds left on the game clock after Golden Hurricane guard Brandon Rachal drained two free throws to ice the game, the Cougars rallied with a double-digit win over SMU.

UH was able to gain separation on the Mustangs in the second half, starting the period on a 10-0 run that put them in front by nine, and gave it a lead it never gave away.

The Cougars were No. 5 in last week’s AP Poll with 1,313 total points off votes. They tallied only 977 in Monday’s poll. A 336 point decrease.

UH (8-1, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) remains the only team in the AAC in the AP Top 25, and is the only team from the conference to receive any votes in Monday’s poll.

The first NET rankings of the 2020-21 season were also released on Monday morning. The Cougars were at No. 8.

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