Can the Huskies Finally Right the Ship?
The Story: The No. 15-ranked men’s basketball team will look to put a crushing loss at Seton Hall behind it Sunday afternoon when it hosts Butler at the XL Center (noon, Fox).
STOP THE SLIDE: UConn (15-5, 4-5 Big East) has lost five of its last six games after starting the season 14-0 and rising to No. 2 in the Associated Press poll. It heads into the weekend with significant questions, notably about its backcourt, its defense and its resilience. (These were not things we were asking a month ago.)
• The Huskies had not previously lost three consecutive games since they rejoined the Big East. That’s the uncharted waters they now find themselves in after squandering a 17-point first-half lead and losing 67-66 on Wednesday.
• We’re hopeful that the upcoming run will get UConn back on track. After the game against Butler, it will play Xavier at home on Wednesday, followed by two of the conference’s worst teams in DePaul and Georgetown. (Though we saw that DePaul beat Xavier 73-72 earlier this week.)
STILL ELITE: No matter what we might think of the Huskies’ struggles, the computers see them differently. KemPom.com still has UConn ranked No. 6 and the NCAA’s NET ranking has it at No. 7.
• What we’re also watching is whether the Huskies will be in position to begin their NCAA Tournament run in Albany, then play their regional games at Madison Square Garden. That was a given if they were a No. 1 seed, but that seems unlikely now; they’ll still need to win a ton of games and have a few breaks go their way over the next eight weeks.
HURLEY TO RETURN: Although Dan Hurley and associate head coach Kimani Young missed the game at Seton Hall after testing positive for COVID-19, there’s an expectation that both will be on the bench on Sunday.
ABOUT BUTLER: The Bulldogs (11-9, 3-6 Big East) were throttled 68-46 at home by the Huskies on Dec. 17. They’ve been a mixed bag in their last six games, with wins against Georgetown, DePaul and Villanova and losses to Seton Hall, St. John’s and Creighton.
• Junior center Adama Sanogo pulverized the Bulldogs with 27 points and 14 rebounds in the first meeting. Oh, how we’d love to see a repeat performance that would get him right.
Morning Reads
• A home-and-home series against UMass is on deck for the No. 13-ranked men’s hockey team (13-7-3, 8-6-2 Hockey East), which will travel north tonight before a game tomorrow at the Toscano Forum. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The No. 14-ranked women’s hockey team will hit the road to face No. 13 Providence tonight. The Huskies (16-8-2, 10-7-2 Hockey East) won each of the previous two games 2-1. (UConnHuskies.com)
• The Storm will retire Sue Bird‘s No. 10 during their afternoon game against the Mystics on June 11. No word on when they’ll start building the statue. (Seattle Times)
Top photo: UConn’s Adama Sanogo takes a shot during the game against Georgetown. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
