Men's Basketball Jumps to No. 3 in D3hoops.com Top-25 Poll
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team received one first-place vote and jumped up to No. 3 in the nation following the release of the first in-season D3hoops.com Top 25, it was announced by the organization on Monday night. Previously ranked No. 13 in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, USJ shot up 10 spots to earn its highest national ranking in program history, as the Blue Jays are off to a 4-0 start to the 2022-23 campaign.
Head coach Glen Miller and the Blue Jays have secured four quality wins to start the season and move up in the national rankings, including its most recent pair of triumphs on back-to-back days over (then) No. 3 Wisconsin-Oshkosh, 60-44, and (then) No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan, 73-64, on November 18-19 at the Small College Basketball Champions Classic in Aberdeen, S.D. Prior to that, the Blue Jays opened their season with a 69-60 victory over Yeshiva (Nov. 9), as well as a 77-56 win over Babson (Nov. 14). Both Yeshiva and Babson were receiving votes in the national poll at the time of each victory.
Saint Joseph has relied on its balanced offense and relentless defense over its opening quartet of contests. The Blue Jays currently have four players averaging in double figures, led by senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) at 13.0 ppg. Defensively, the Blue Jays are currently one of the best teams in the nation, allowing just 56.0 ppg, holding opponents to 35.6 percent shooting from the field, and forcing 21.25 turnovers per game. Those marks rank fourth, sixth, and 15th in the nation, respectively.
The leap up to No. 3 in the land marks many firsts for USJ and Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) basketball since D3hoops started releasing top-25 polls in 1999-00. It marks the highest national ranking in school history across all sports. Men's basketball, which is in just its fourth full season as a program, was previously ranked as high as No. 5 during the 2021-22 season. It also marks the highest national ranking in GNAC men's basketball history and is tied for the highest national ranking in GNAC basketball history, tying Emmanuel women's hoops, who was last ranked No. 3 in the land on December 10, 2001.
USJ continues its challenging non-conference schedule when it returns back to the hardwood for its next contest on Tuesday, November 29 on the road at Tufts University out of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC). The Blue Jays and Jumbos, who received votes in the latest D3hoops.com Top 25, tip-off at 7:00 p.m. inside Cousens Gymnasium in Medford, Mass. Following the contest with Tufts, Saint Joseph rounds out the week playing in its GNAC opener on the road at Anna Maria on Saturday at noon.
For the complete D3hoops.com poll results, please see below.
D3hoops.com Men's Top 25, 2022-23 Week 1
Through games of Nov. 27, 2022:
| # | School (No. 1 votes) | W-L | Pts. | Prev. |
| 1 | Christopher Newport (15) | 7-0 | 609 | 4 |
| 2 | Mount Union (5) | 5-0 | 570 | 7 |
| 3 | St. Joseph (Conn.) (1) | 4-0 | 543 | 13 |
| 4 | UW-La Crosse (3) | 6-0 | 501 | 15 |
| 5 | Williams | 5-0 | 491 | 6 |
| 6 | WPI | 5-0 | 462 | 8 |
| 7 | Johns Hopkins | 5-1 | 411 | 10 |
| 8 | Randolph-Macon (1) | 4-1 | 405 | 1 |
| 9 | Mary Hardin-Baylor | 2-1 | 387 | 2 |
| 10 | Rochester | 5-1 | 341 | 11 |
| 11 | Elmhurst | 5-0 | 317 | 23 |
| 12 | Oswego State | 3-1 | 314 | 5 |
| 13 | Middlebury | 4-0 | 293 | 14 |
| 14 | Keene State | 6-0 | 289 | -- |
| 15 | UW-Oshkosh | 5-2 | 280 | 3 |
| 16 | John Carroll | 5-0 | 257 | -- |
| 17 | Calvin | 7-0 | 254 | -- |
| 18 | Case Western Reserve | 4-0 | 233 | 19 |
| 19 | RPI | 5-0 | 159 | 20 |
| 20 | Stockton | 4-1 | 143 | 9 |
| 21 | Wheaton (Ill.) | 5-1 | 136 | 24 |
| 22 | Claremont-Mudd-Scripps | 5-1 | 127 | -- |
| 23 | Washington U. | 4-1 | 94 | 16 |
| 24 | Mary Washington | 4-1 | 76 | -- |
| 25 | Wabash | 5-1 | 74 | -- |
Dropped out: No. 12 Pomona-Pitzer; No. 17 Marietta; No. 18 Trinity (Texas); No. 21 Illinois Wesleyan; No. 22 Wesleyan; No. 25 St. John's
Others receiving votes: Emory 59; Nazareth 47; Tufts 40; St. Thomas (Texas) 39; Swarthmore 38; Hope 29; Marietta 26; Rowan 12; Trinity (Texas) 12; Guilford 9; Trine 8; Catholic 6; Pomona-Pitzer 5; St. John's 5; Virginia Wesleyan 5; Roanoke 4; Illinois Wesleyan 4; Redlands 3; Hobart 2; Montclair State 2; Berry 1; Colby 1; Heidelberg 1; Nichols 1.
The D3hoops.com Top 25 is voted on by a panel of 25 coaches, Sports Information Directors and media members from across the country, and is published weekly. Points are awarded on a 25-24-23-22-etc. basis.
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