The last time the UConn men’s basketball team took on the Seton Hall Pirates, the Huskies put up one of their worst performances of the season — a 17-point collapse over the course of a half and change. This time around, No. 20 Connecticut, victors of three of their last four contests, looks to flip the script and win on their home court on Saturday.
With an odd number of teams in the Big East, UConn is coming off of a mini break, having last played on Saturday. It was a solid week for a team that has lost their upper echelon status from the start of the season, defeating then-No. 10 Marquette in a blowout win at home before falling to a red-hot Creighton team by three points in Omaha. A week later, the Huskies are readying to pounce, looking to climb higher in the conference rankings.
Currently, Connecticut sits at sixth overall in the Big East with an 8-7 conference record. They can gain some ground rather quickly by defeating the fifth-place Pirates on Saturday, who boast a 9-7 record after a win over Georgetown this week. The coveted fifth seed is the last team to earn a bye in the Big East Tournament, so it is imperative for the Huskies to leave Saturday’s contest victorious. Outside of this matchup, Seton Hall has to go through a gauntlet of top teams in their remaining slate – a good sign that UConn could pull away in the standings with a win.
For the most part, the Pirates have been a decent squad this year, winning games over Connecticut and Rutgers while falling to solely top 66 teams in the KenPom rankings, minus an early-season contest with Siena College. According to TeamRankings.com, Seton Hall currently has a 19% chance of making the NCAA Tournament.
When the two teams last squared off, it was KC Ndefo who had the last laugh, grabbing an offensive board and putting it back in to put the Pirates on top with one second remaining. Ndefo was a star all game, putting up 14 points for Seton Hall on 6-for-8 shooting alongside eight rebounds and two blocks. This time around, the Huskies will certainly focus more attention on the forward to limit his damages.
While guard Kadary Richmond had an inconsistent scoring start to the year, he’s certainly found his own. After dropping 18 points on 5-for-11 shooting against UConn, he’s had eight straight games with double-digit scoring. He’s never scored less than 13 points against the Huskies in his five total contests, so he’ll look to once again be a key contributor for the Seton Hall offense.
For the Huskies, big man Adama Sanogo has been as consistent as ever, putting up 17 points and 10 rebounds in the loss to Creighton on Saturday. Over his career, the Big East Honor Roller has been very successful against the Pirates, never scoring less than 12 points against Seton Hall dating back to his freshman year. Last time out, he had 16 points on 6-for-14 with five rebounds, and he looks to build on that performance on Saturday.
One performance to look out for is that of transfer guard Tristen Newton. The East Carolina product saw his red-hot offensive production come to an end in Omaha, where he put up just two points on 1-for-4 shooting. He will look to bounce back in a big way for the Huskies.
Tip-off is set for noon at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut. The game will be broadcast live on FOX with stats provided by StatBroadcast.
