St. John's needed a win against Cincinnati to get back near the top of the Big East, but they were foiled at the free throw line.

They lost 53-51 to the Bearcats after going 14-of-26 from the foul line, including the front end of a 1-and-1 with 23.9 seconds left.

Cincinnati forward Yancy Gates said he's hopeful the twisted left ankle he suffered against Syracuse on Saturday is not serious.

“I don’t think it’s that bad based on what they told me,” Gates said. “Doc checked it and he gave me some pills to get the swelling down. I’m going to see him in the morning once we get home tomorrow.”

Gates came down on another player’s foot and left the game with 7:35 remaining in the first half of Cincinnati's loss.

No. 7 Villanova defeated No. 25 Cincinnati 72-61 on Sunday afternoon, handing the Bearcats their first loss of the season.

Corey Fisher scored 20 of his 21 points in the first half and Maalik Wayns had 13 of his 15 in the second.

Wayns was 6 for 6 from the field and 8 for 8 from the line in the second half.

"I just had to keep being aggressive and play the same game," said Wayns, who played with four fouls in the second half. "Take my aggressiveness away and I don't play the same. I have to play the same way."

Villanova upped its winning streak at The Pavilion to 45 straight. The streak began on Jan. 17, 2007, and now includes 19 wins over Big East teams.

Duke, Ohio State, Kansas and Syracuse maintained their position in the top-four of RealGM's college basketball rankings for another week.

With their victory over Connecticut last week, Pittsburgh took their Big East rival's spot in the top-five.

San Diego State, Villanova and Missouri all moved up in the rankings and are at sixth, seventh and eighth respectively.

Georgetown's loss to Notre Dame sent them from 9th to 13th.

There are now eight Big East teams in the RealGM Top-25, followed by six Big 12 representatives, four from the Big Ten, three from the Mountain West, two SEC schools and one apiece for the ACC and Conference-USA.

Cincinnati debuted at No. 25 in the new ESPN/USA Today coaches' poll on Monday, giving the Big East eight teams in the Top 25.

Duke remained atop the poll with all 31 first-place votes, with Ohio State, Kansas, Syracuse and Pittsburgh rounding out the top five.

In addition to Cincinnati, Syracuse and Pittsburgh, the Big East is also represented by No. 7 Villanova, No. 9 Connecticut, No. 13 Georgetown, No. 15 Notre Dame and No. 23 Louisville.