Sellout Weekend Against Xavier
The Story: No fair-weather fans are allowed this weekend in Storrs as the No. 24 men’s basketball team hosts Xavier at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion tomorrow.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies are set for their second consecutive game against an opponent that beat it earlier in the year. One week ago, the Huskies went to Cincinnati and lost 74-68. The game drew outrage from Dan Hurley, who criticized the referees and was subsequently hand-slapped by the Big East. The Huskies have won two straight, including an impressive win over Seton Hall on Wednesday.
THREE AMIGOS: We all know the formula for the Huskies: Keep Adama Sanogo on the floor, get R.J. Cole going and allow Tyrese Martin to attack. Sanogo is dominant when he is on the floor and finished with 20 points and 16 rebounds against Seton Hall. Cole and Martin each had 16 points. When the Huskies get all three going, they are tough to beat.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “When you have three guys playing at an all-conference level in a game, or throughout a season, you’re going to have a great season or a good chance of winning. Adama, R.J. and Tyrese all played like all-conference guys today.”
WHAT’S AT STAKE: The Huskies have a 100 percent chance of making the NCAA Tournament per our favorite prediction site, Team Rankings. We fully support that prediction, but we are focused more on seeding. UConn is No. 18 in KenPom’s ratings and Xavier is No. 38, which puts another potential Quad 1 win on the table for the Huskies. The Huskies are 9-5 in Big East play and third in the conference, with a date with second-place Villanova on Tuesday. The Huskies are only a half-game ahead of fourth and fifth place, and only the top five teams in the Big East receive a bye into the tournament quarterfinals.
Impatiently Waiting for Paige
The Story: The women’s basketball team will be without Paige Bueckers for a game tonight at Xavier at 7 p.m. and one on Sunday against Georgetown at 2 p.m., but there’s a possibility she could return as soon as Wednesday against Marquette.
WHAT’S THE LATEST? Geno Auriemma said on the Coaches’ Corner radio show last night that Bueckers’ return will depend on how she handles and improves in practice the next few days.
• Bueckers returned to practice on Tuesday for the first time since she broke her left leg and tore a ligament in her left knee in win over Notre Dame on Dec. 5.
• The 10th-ranked Huskies (17-5, 11-1 Big East) shouldn’t need Bueckers this weekend, but they would be better tune-ups for her than Marquette would be. Xavier (8-16, 3-12 Big East) and Georgetown (7-15, 2-12 Big East) are among the bottom three teams in the conference, and UConn already beat Xavier by 37 in mid-January.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “A lot of it has to do with how she handles the extra load that she’s putting on there now. Before, it was just a simple ‘Do some individuals, get some shooting up, do a little bit light cutting,’ and now, yesterday was a little bit more intense and added a little more defense and we’ll keep doing that every day. Yet, it’s not going to happen in two or three days, so you’re not going to see Paige Friday or Sunday, but after that, who knows? There may be an opportunity Wednesday. There may be an opportunity next Friday. You know, it’s funny when the Marquette game was cancelled. I was talking to Megan Duffy and she said, ‘I don’t know when we’re going to be able to make this up.’ I said, ‘Well, late February would be really good,’ and she goes, ‘Yeah, because you’ll have Paige back, right?’ I said, ‘Absolutely, that’s the plan.’ It’s funny if it turns out that way.”
CAPABLE REPLACEMENT: With Bueckers out of the lineup, Nika Muhl, one of her closest friends on the team, has been playing extraordinarily well.
• Muhl is not really a scoring option for the Huskies, but she doesn’t have to be. She was moved into the starting lineup in early January because of her defense.
• In the win against Marquette on Sunday, Muhl played all 40 minutes but did not score a point. She still had six assists and six rebounds, which shows the impact she can have on a game when she is not scoring.
• “To me, there’s a lot of different ways to impact the game,” Geno said. “And I thought that was one of the best games that Nika played all year long. It goes to show you that scoring points really doesn’t have a lot to do with it.”
INJURY UPDATES: Neither Caroline Ducharme nor Olivia Nelson-Ododa are guaranteed to play in either game this weekend as they recover from their illnesses. They don’t have COVID-19 — both have been on the bench during their absences — but they are not feeling well enough to put their returns in stone.
• Geno said Aubrey Griffin, who not been with the team as she recovers from back surgery, had a minor setback but didn’t divulge what that was. She is undergoing physical therapy three times a week “and she’s moving along pretty well.”
Morning Reads
• It’s a huge weekend for the No. 20-ranked men’s hockey team as it plays a home-and-home series against defending national champion UMass tonight at the XL Center and tomorrow in Amherst. It’s a good thing All-America Jonny Evans is back on track for the surging Huskies. (Hartford Courant)
• The baseball team, the favorite to win the Big East, opens its season today in a mini tournament at USF in Tampa, Florida. UConn has Charlotte tomorrow and Louisville on Sunday. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The No. 23-ranked women’s lacrosse team travels to take on No. 13 James Madison tomorrow. (UConnHuskies.com)
