UConn men’s basketball is in Philly to take on Villanova tonight as the Huskies kick off a crucial stretch of schedule that has them facing the three best Big East opponents available.
In this season’s first meeting with Kevin Willard’s squad, UConn lost Braylon Mullins at the beginning of the second half to injury and needed overtime to win the game at PeoplesBank Arena. The Wildcats are 6-0 since then, including wins over Seton Hall, Creighton, Xavier, and Providence, while UConn (24-3, 14-2 Big East) is 5-2 after taking its first losses in league play.
The Huskies’ setback at home against Creighton on Wednesday should be a wake-up call for the team, especially at this crucial juncture of the season. Head coach Dan Hurley has been forthright about the team’s weaknesses, including bench strength, defense, and rebounding.
Hurley has also intimated that lineup changes may be coming. Jayden Ross started the second half of the Creighton game, and it wasn’t just because of foul trouble, the coach said.
Villanova (21-5, 12-3 Big East) is a balanced group, ranked 31st in offensive efficiency and 33rd in defensive efficiency, with four guys averaging over 12 PPG and another two averaging more than nine PPG. Freshman point guard Acaden Lewis has been the main distributor and a big difference-maker for this team. Tyler Perkins is the leading scorer while big man Duke Brennan is averaging 10 rebounds per game in addition to 12.3 PPG.
In the last meeting, Villanova controlled the glass and was ahead for 30 minutes. They got off to an 8-0 start in Hartford and led by four at halftime. A Hurley technical helped push the visitors’ lead to six before the Huskies came alive. A Tarris Reed Jr. putback tied the game at 61 to send it to OT before UConn pulled away in the extra five minutes.
Villanova likes to take threes and is a decent shooting team, 52nd in eFG%, that keeps turnovers down and is pretty good at forcing them. Devin Askew is hitting 42% of his threes, while him, Matthew Hodge, Tyler Perkins, and Bryce Lindsay are all over 35% with over 120 attempts.
The Huskies’ defensive woes can be attributed to foul trouble and perhaps Alex Karaban not being at full strength. They need Karaban fully healthy but they also need Silas Demary Jr. and Reed to avoid foul trouble since Demary’s absence affects their attack so much and Reed’s hurts their rim protection.
After tonight, UConn hosts St. John’s on Wednesday, needing a win to even that season series and re-establish themselves in the Big East title race. The Huskies then host Seton Hall for Senior Day before ending the regular season at Marquette. The Big East Tournament kicks off on Wednesday, March 11.
Tip-off tonight is at 5:30 p.m. from Xfinity Mobile Arena, formerly known as the Wells Fargo Center. The game will be televised on TNT + TruTV.
