Fresh off their first loss of the season to No. 5 Kansas, the UConn men’s basketball team looks to etch their names back into the win column. To do so, Connecticut faces a tall task against the No. 9 University of North Carolina Tar Heels in the Jimmy V Classic, a matchup that all college basketball fans should be excited about. There are many questions heading into this one, and perhaps the biggest of all: How will UConn bounce back from their first loss?
In case you don’t know, The Classic is an annual game held by ESPN to raise money for cancer research. It is in honor of former coach and player Jim Valvano, who passed away from adenocarcinoma, a form of cancer.
The Tar Heels are perhaps the most interesting team in all of college basketball this season. Two seasons ago, UNC made it to the National Championship, falling short 72-69 to the Jayhawks. The Tar Heels reloaded and expected to make a run for the ages in their 2022-2023 campaign, but they didn’t even come close. In fact, they made history in the wrong way as they were the first team in nearly 50 years to miss the March Madness tournament despite being the preseason No. 1 team, a monumental disappointment. With a 7-1 record thus far, their 2023-2024 campaign is off to a better start for them, and the program wants nothing more than to show the college basketball community that they are back. What better way to do so than knocking off the defending national champions at the “World’s Most Famous Arena.”
A major storyline in this matchup surrounds the status of Stephon Castle as the 19-year-old guard looks to make his return to the hardwood on Tuesday. The Georgia native is available to suit up tomorrow, barring any setbacks. However, he will be limited in whatever capacity he participates. To say the Huskies have missed him would be an understatement. Many UConn fans believe that if he played against Kansas, the outcome would have been different, and it’s easy to see why. Outside of Newton, no Connecticut player stood out. Castle being back could have given Dan Hurley the option to sit Cam Spencer, as his foot injury played a major role in his poor shooting performance.
A player that could give the Huskies trouble is big man Armando Bacot. The 6-foot-11 center could prove to be a significant challenge for Donovan Clingan down low. The UNC veteran is in the midst of an excellent offensive season, averaging 16 points and 12 rebounds in 28 minutes of work. Unlike Kansas center Hunter Dickinson, Bacot is not a threat to stretch the floor for the Tar Heels with a 2-18 career mark from downtown. Due to Clingan’s toe injury, it will be interesting to see what role he is given, along with the role that Samson Johnson plays.
While Bacot is a very talented center, he alone can not deliver the knockout blow to the Huskies. How the Huskies defend and contain the talented RJ Davis will be critical in which side comes out on top. The Tar Heels guard is a lethal scorer, averaging 20 points a game on 44% shooting. The New Yorker is not afraid to let it fly from deep and has shown the ability to hit tough shots at a high clip with a 35% three-point percentage. Davis is arguably the biggest reason why UNC has climbed 10 spots in the AP poll since the preseason rankings.
“He’s so quick and dynamic,” noted Hurley of Davis. “I think with [Harrison] Ingram and [Cormac] Ryan and a big-time player at center and a quarterback in [Elliot] Cadeau getting [Davis] the ball in great spots, and you can’t help any one of those guys… .” “We have got to make sure we keep [Davis] away from the front of the rim, and when he’s there, we have got to challenge him.”
There are many ways in which the Huskies can find themselves on the right side of this one. They need to play the fundamentals of the game better. The program tends to find itself in foul trouble; their 3-point shooting up to this point has been less than ideal, and their free-throw shooting has been beyond poor. Despite these red flags, you can’t deny Connecticut’s talent. Despite shooting 8-15 from the charity stripe, their tug-of-war fight against the preseason No. 1 team came down to the last possession, with Spencer narrowly missing the game-winning three. The UConn men’s ability to score in the paint, defend as well as any team in the country and outrebound their opponents has and will continue to keep them competitive. Hurley and the rest of the team believe that the shots will eventually fall, as they are too talented to keep shooting at this poor clip. If they can make threes at an efficient rate, don’t be surprised if they win their Jimmy V Classic matchup in runaway fashion.
While this game is slotted for 9 p.m., there is much to look forward to with two great opponents pitted against each other and a game for a good cause. This year’s Jimmy V Classic should prove to be nothing short of a winter classic.