On a Saturday packed with big-time non-conference matchups around college basketball, the biggest game will be tonight’s contest in The World’s Most Famous Arena which tips off at 8 p.m. on FOX. “Two of the best programs in the last 25 to 30 years in college basketball, Gonzaga and UConn,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said on a Zoom call with reporters Friday afternoon. “Both of us need this game, want this game. It’s going to be a high level game, hopefully.”
Both teams may want this game, but UConn needs it more.
It has been a rocky few weeks for the two-time defending champs. In October, Hurley said he was miffed that his Huskies were ranked No. 3 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll instead of No. 1. He compared it to a championship fighter being stripped of his belt without actually losing a fight. The following month in Maui, UConn lost a fight to Memphis. Then it lost another to Colorado. And another to Dayton. After the Huskies finally righted the ship with a hard-fought home win over Baylor on Dec. 4 without their junior leader and leading scorer Alex Karaban (although Baylor was without star freshman VJ Edgecombe), Hurley acknowledged that he probably shouldn’t have taken such a combative approach to the season.
“I’ve got to coach this team with more grace and more building them up and more enthusiasm and more energy,” he said after the win over Baylor. “I can’t coach them mad because we’re not currently playing as well as the last two teams have played. There’s been some people that have helped me kind of check, whether it is my ego or just my approach with the team.”
On Sunday, UConn got another impressive victory, this time on the road versus Texas to improve their record to 7-3 and lift them to No. 18 in the AP poll. The Huskies come into tonight’s game ranked No. 20 in the Net and No. 14 in KenPom.
“It’s one of the best games of the weekend in college, if not the best game. When UConn plays at The Garden it’s always special.”
—UConn coach Dan Hurley
No. 8 Gonzaga will present the toughest test UConn has faced this season. The Bulldogs opened the season by destroying Baylor, 101-63, and then reeled off four more wins. They were tripped up by West Virginia in The Bahamas in overtime, throttled Indiana and Davidson over the next two days and then lost in overtime to Kentucky last Saturday after leading the Wildcats by 18 points in the second half.
It will be a tall task for UConn to slow down Gonzaga’s offense, since defense has been the Huskies’ weak point (88th in efficiency per KenPom). However, UConn showed improvement in Austin, holding the Longhorns to 42 percent shooting and outrebounding them 39-25. “Overall, as a group we made less mistakes, we had less breakdowns versus Texas,” Hurley said Friday. “We guarded better. It was encouraging. We looked like our old selves.”
UConn’s defense will have to be especially strong in the paint, where Gonzaga senior forward Graham Ike has been dominant. Ike leads the Bulldogs in points (15.3) and rebounds (7.0). Sixth-year senior guard Khalif Battle, a transfer from Arkansas who is averaging 13.4 points and 4.7 rebounds per game, will test the Huskies’ suspect perimeter defense. And it will be near impossible for UConn to fluster senior point guard Ryan Nembhard, who leads the nation in assists per game at 10.7 (to just 1.7 turnovers).
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“He’s hungrier than ever”“[Nembhard]’s one of the best point guards in the country,” Hurley said. “He creates all types of problems for you in transition and in the ball screen game and his ability to put pressure on the defense.”
After missing two games due to a head injury, Karaban returned with a stellar performance in UConn’s win at Texas, finishing with 21 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in a team-high 39 minutes. Karaban is averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and shooting 48 percent from three-point range.
The rest of UConn’s rotation will have to step up and help. Sophomore Solo Ball has been consistent from beyond the arc, shooting 45.8 percent from three and averaging 12.9 points a contest. Freshman Liam McNeeley averages 12.4 points and 5.9 rebounds, but the Huskies will need more from him as the season progresses. The same goes for 6-foot-10 junior forward Tarris Reed Jr., the Michigan transfer who has shown flashes but has been prone to foul trouble. He’s averaging 11 points and 8.2 rebounds per game in only 20.1 minutes.
A breakout game from Aidan Mahaney would be at the top of Hurley’s holiday wish list. As a a 6-foot-3 junior transfer from Gonzaga’s main WCC rival, Saint Mary’s, Mahaney is all too familiar with that program. His decision to transfer to UConn was a big reason for the Huskies’ high expectations, but he has at times this season, averaging only 4.9 points per game in 15.7 minutes. He has been a particular liability on defense.
The biggest X-factor of all is the stage. UConn fans call Madison Square Garden Storrs South. No doubt they will pack the place, which Hurley hopes will give his guys confidence. “It’s a big night for them,” he said. “It’s one of the best games of the weekend in college, if not the best game. When UConn plays at The Garden it’s always special.”
Check that: When UConn wins at The Garden, it’s always special. Is this team back on track for a run at a third straight national title? One way or another, we’re about to get an answer.
