Trading Places
The Story: The men’s basketball team is ranked No. 20 in the latest Associated Press poll and a big favorite against struggling Georgetown tonight in Storrs (8:30 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn is trending in the right direction as a program. Auburn is the new No. 1-ranked team in the country and its only loss was to UConn. Marquette, which broke into the rankings at No. 22, lost to the Huskies in Milwaukee when they were less than 100 percent.
• The Huskies are 13-4 and in many eyes trending upward. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing. They don’t have the fortune of letting up in the Big East, which is one of the better conferences this year.
BIG EAST POWER: The Big East has five teams in the top 25, with Villanova at No. 14, Providence at No. 17, UConn, Xavier at No. 21 and Marquette.
• The Big East is setting up as a six-bid conference with six teams in the KenPom Top 50.
WHERE IS AKOK? You want a tough rotation? Dan Hurley has Adama Sanogo and Isaiah Whaley, and that means the bench gets some scant work. Take Akok Akok, who only played three minutes in the win over Butler on Thursday.
• Akok has shown glimpses of being able to dominate defensively this season but is more often than not the third big man in the rotation.
• That also leaves talented freshman Samson Johnson searching for minutes, and none are coming his way.
STRUGGLING HOYAS: Georgetown is facing hard times this season, just 10 months after they won the Big East tournament under coach Patrick Ewing.
• There was an exodus of players and Ewing has struggled to get anything going this year. The Hoyas are 6-10 this season and 0-6 in the Big East. Aminu Mohammed (13.6 points per game) and Dante Harris (12.9 points per game) lead the Hoyas.
