UConn hosts Georgetown on Saturday night after playing and winning one game last week and losing to St. John’s last Friday. While the Huskies beat Butler by 10, the game was close for about 33 minutes. Tonight, at Gampel Pavilion, they meet a Hoya team that pushed them to the brink in their last meeting.
The Huskies are 5-1 since that 64-62 win on Jan. 17, while Georgetown is 4-2 in the same period. The Hoyas lost two games to Villanova but took down Providence, DePaul, Butler, and Creighton in between.
When these two teams last played, UConn (23-2, 13-1) led by as much as 10 before allowing Georgetown (13-11, 5-8) back into the game. The Hoyas had a shot to win with 20 seconds left, but an open three-point attempt fell short. Afterwards, Husky head coach Dan Hurley admitted that they stole that one with their poor situational basketball late.
Lately, teams have been testing the Huskies with full- or three-quarter-court pressure a lot and trying to force mistakes. Turnovers remain an issue for Hurley’s squad, and while their defense has been elite (8th in defensive efficiency), their offense is inconsistent.
Still, they’ve been improving, up to 21st in offensive efficiency, posting three of their five best offensive performances of the season in the last four games.
Hurley left the Jan. 17 meeting impressed by Vincent Iwuchukwu, who posted 12 points and 14 boards, who had missed a lot of the season to date at that point. The 7-foot-1 senior has scored in double digits in each of his last four games and also posted a double-double with rebounds in his last two.
The Hoyas’ leading scorers are KJ Lewis (15.1 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 2.7 APG) and Malik Mack (14.5 PPG, 4.3 APG), while sophomore Caleb Williams (9.6 PPG, 5.7 RPG) has also been impactful as a starter.
Georgetown’s strengths are in keeping turnovers down and getting to the free-throw line, and they’re decent defensively on the perimeter. They held the Huskies to a 5-of-26 mark (19%) from three in the first meeting and 36% FG overall.
The Huskies are coming off a 24-point performance by Solo Ball as Braylon Mullins dropped 15 in another solid outing for the freshman, while Silas Demary Jr. and Tarris Reed Jr. each had double-doubles. Reed and Demary are looking for more consistency as of late, while Ball has perhaps gained some confidence after a down stretch that was partially due to a shooting wrist injury.
At the same time, UConn’s weaknesses on turnovers, fouls, hitting free throws, and getting to the line persist. With five regular-season games left after this, they need to tighten that up quickly. The Huskies still have meetings with Villanova, St. John’s, and Seton Hall left in the home stretch.
KenPom projects a 78-61 Husky win. Tip-off is at 8 p.m. in Storrs on NBC SN/Peacock. UConn will also be inducting program great Hasheem Thabeet into the Huskies of Honor in a halftime ceremony.
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