Michigan State guard Jeremy Fears Jr., right, looks to pass around Rutgers guard Tyson Acuff during the second half Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York. The Spartans won 81-74. (AP photo)

Auburn keeps winning games that come down to the wire. It’s kept them on top of the AP Top 25, too.

The Tigers were the unanimous choice atop the men’s college basketball poll for the second consecutive week Monday, getting all 62 votes from the national media panel. Their place at No. 1 was solidified when Miles Kelly hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to propel Auburn to a 53-51 victory over then-No. 6 Tennessee over the weekend.

The Tigers led a top five that was unchanged from the previous week. Duke remained No. 2 followed by Iowa State, Alabama and Florida, which rallied to beat South Carolina early in the week before a resounding victory over Georgia.

The big changes came elsewhere in the Top 25.

Houston climbed one spot to No. 6 thanks to a rout of Utah and a frantic, double-overtime win at Kansas.

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo looks on during the second half of a game against Nebraska in Lincoln, Neb, on Feb. 20, 2020. (AP file photo)

Michigan State (17-2) moved up one spot to No. 7 and was followed by the Vols, who balanced out their close loss to Auburn by beating No. 14 Mississippi State. Marquette and Purdue — which beat then-No. 21 Michigan — rounded out the top 10.

Kansas moved up one spot to No. 11 despite the loss to the Cougars, while Kentucky fell three spots to No. 12 after losing to Vanderbilt. Texas A&M and Mississippi State were next after each went 1-1 on the week, and St. John’s leapt five spots to No. 15 after beating Xavier in overtime, matching the best ranking for the Red Storm since Dec. 29, 2014.

Oregon was No. 16 and followed by Wisconsin, Illinois, Memphis and Missouri. Louisville continued its climb, now up to No. 21, and was followed by Texas Tech, which entered the poll after two wins last week. Mississippi fell to No. 23, Vanderbilt broke into the poll at No. 24 and two-time defending national champ UConn fell to No. 25 after its loss to Xavier.

St. John’s and Memphis made the biggest jumps, climbing five spots this week.

Texas Tech made its

Their spots came at the expense of Michigan and West Virginia.

The Wolverines ended up two votes shy of No. 25 Connecticut.

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Conference watch

The SEC continued to dominate the Top 25 with three teams in the top five, four in the top 10 and 10 in the poll overall. The Big Ten was next with five ranked teams, the Big 12 had four, the Big East three, the ACC two and the American had one.

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