Zags Final Nonconference Test
The Story: The No. 5-ranked UConn men will close out their nonconference schedule in style tonight as they take on No. 10 Gonzaga in Seattle (10 p.m., ESPN2).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies (9-1) are right back in the national title hunt and will play Gonzaga, a team they destroyed in the Elite Eight last season on their way to the national title.
• UConn may be heading to the West Coast, but it’s technically a neutral site game. Seattle is four hours away from Gonzaga’s home in Spokane, but it’s still expected to be a partisan crowd.
• The Huskies are playing their third top-10 team in three weeks before diving into the Big East schedule, which includes a pair of top-10 opponents in No. 6 Marquette and No. 8 Creighton (for now).
• Tristen Newton did not make the Preseason All-Big East teams, not even as an honorable mention, but is making a run at National Player of the Year. He has been one of the best guards in the country as he’s averaging 17.7 points, 7.2 rebounds, 6.1 assists and 1.5 steals. He’s also shooting 47 percent, including 35 percent from 3-point range. Both figures are better than his career averages of 40.3 percent and 33.2 percent.
• UConn has a 4-2 edge all-time against the Bulldogs, with the first win coming in the Elite Eight in 1999.
ABOUT GONZAGA: The Zags have become one of the top programs in America and are perhaps the best program to never win a national title. Gonzaga (8-2) has lost to Purdue and Washington and has wins over Syracuse, USC and UCLA.
• The Zags are balanced and one of the better rebounding and offensive teams. They have five players averaging double figures in scoring, led by Graham Ike, who has a team-high 14.2 points per game.
• The Battle for Seattle will be a battle of the boards as the Zags are eighth in the country with a plus-12.4 rebound margin. They also like to get out on the break and are averaging 17 points per game in transition.
ZAGS TO BIG EAST? We’ve witnessed some crazy realignment rumors, and if Stanford and Cal can go to the ACC, why couldn’t Gonzaga join the Big East? Dan Hurley would like to see it.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “We’re not the same teams [as last season]. We’ve both lost some great players. Their frontcourt is very impressive, really talented. They go four deep. It’s going to be a real challenge.”
— John Silver
Old Foe Louisville Returns to Hartford
The Story: The No. 17-ranked UConn women will welcome an old nemesis back to the XL Center tomorrow when they host No. 18 Louisville in their final nonconference game before beginning Big East play.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies (6-3) used to have knock-em-down, drag-em-out battles with the Cardinals (9-1) when they were old Big East foes and coach Jeff Walz was doing his best to motivate Angel McCoughtry. Louisville even made it to a pair of NCAA title games, in 2009 and 2013, and were resoundingly beaten by UConn on both occasions.
• Louisville lost all but four players after last season, when it went 26-12, and it seems like the turnover may have worked. Its only loss has been to Alabama, and though it hasn't played the most challenging nonconference schedule, it did beat DePaul, then-No. 19 Ole Miss and Kentucky.
BIG-TIME PROBLEMS? The Huskies will likely experience some matchup problems tomorrow, especially with six Louisville players standing 6-foot-2 or taller. By comparison, only one UConn player — Aaliyah Edwards, at 6-foot-3 — who's expected to play crossing that threshold.
• Things get even more dire when Edwards, who's leading the team in minutes per game, needs a breather. (It's likely she'll play at least 36 minutes against the Cardinals, if we know Geno Auriemma like we do.) Paige Bueckers has had to crash the glass a lot more, which is something she shouldn't be asked to do.
• UConn desperately needs to get Ice Brady, a 6-foot-3 forward who missed all of her freshman year with a knee injury, up to speed with the college game.
GO LONG: Geno believes that if the Huskies play the way they did against then-No. 24 North Carolina last weekend, when they had the edge in scoring from the free throw line and beyond the 3-point line, they can overcome their rebounding disadvantage.
But it's a lot to ask for four guards to continue to rain 3s and make them at a high percentage, especially with Azzi Fudd out for the season and Caroline Ducharme out indefinitely.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? "We have to win the math battle. If we can win that battle on a regular basis, I think we can stay with that small lineup. If we can generate more quickness and more aggressiveness offensively and defensively because we have more ways to play with that small lineup, then we can stay with it. I don't know if we can stay with it for 40 minutes every night and I don't intend do. But knowing we can do that, we have to be able to mix and match."
ABOUT LOUISVILLE: The Cardinals are led in scoring by redshirt senior guard Kiki Jefferson, a transfer from James Madison who's averaging 12.1 points per game, and in rebounding by senior forward Olivia Cochrane, who's at 6.2 rebounds per game.
— Zac Boyer
Morning Reads
• We finally know where Justin Joly is headed. The former tight end committed to N.C. State yesterday and chose the Wolfpack over Tennessee. Good luck, Justin!
• Meanwhile, Dakote Doyle, a defensive tackle who played at Baylor before transferring to Garden City Community College, will join the football team. Doyle was a three-star prospect in 2020 who originally chose the Bears over Michigan State and Washington State.
• When Giannis Antetokounmpo scored a Bucks-record 64 points (passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!) on Wednesday, he did so with while wearing special UConn-branded Nike sneakers. What should Dan Hurley do? Send him a congratulatory UConn basketball.
• Former UConn guard Tiffany Hayes said she'll no longer play in the WNBA. Hayes played 11 years in the league — 10 with the Dream and one with the Sun — but will continue to pursue (more lucrative) options overseas.
(Top photo: Donovan Clingan drives to the rim during UConn’s game against Georgetown during the 2022-23 season. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
