Up to this point in Big East play, no other team has fared quite as well as the UConn men’s basketball team. Fresh off their nail-biting 66-65 win over the Villanova Wildcats, the Huskies look to extend their winning streak to eight in a row. In order to do so, they will have to take care of business against the Xavier Musketeers.
Sunday will not be the first time these teams have squared away against each other this season. On Jan. 10, the Huskies visited the Cintas Center and came away with a solid 80-75 victory. In that contest, the Huskies were without starting center Donovan Clingan. As a result, they didn’t just lose the war on the boards — they got hammered. The Musketeers outrebounded Connecticut by double digits, which helped make that matchup much closer than Husky fans would like.
UConn’s struggles on the boards have not been unique to that Xavier game; it has been a recurring theme ever since the Bristol native fell with an injury. However, Clingan is back and looks to build off his encouraging outing against Villanova.
In that contest, the 7-foot-2 big man scored six points on 3-4 shooting with seven rebounds. However, the biggest takeaway was that Connecticut left Clingan on the floor for over 20 minutes, meaning that his conditioning is improving. From $2 beer night against Creighton to the Villanova game, the Bristol native has improved every time he is on the floor. The steps he takes this Sunday is something that Husky fans will want to keep tabs on. Even if he doesn’t come away with numerous rebounds, his enormous frame creates a highly disruptive presence for any opponent on both sides of the ball. Clingan playing more minutes also means there is more flexibility in scheming Samson Johnson, who was briefly thrust into a tremendous role. While having both bigs in the fold provides a different look, we will likely not see the “small ball lineup” that played a significant factor in why the Huskies were getting outrebounded.
How will the Huskies contain Quincy Olivari? This is a looming question heading into Sunday because the transfer guard has torched defenses all season long — including the Huskies.
Olivari is averaging 18 points per game on 44% shooting. In 35 minutes of play, the senior guard scored 24 points on 6-15 shooting last time out against UConn. Olivari also came away with seven rebounds. However, the most impressive part of his performance was his ability to draw contact on the way up to the rim. The 6-foot-3 guard attempted a staggering 12 free throws, converting on 10 of those chances. Olivari was a significant reason why this was only a five-point game. If the Huskies wish to win their eighth straight on Sunday, the defense must step up and not concede poor fouls, though having Clingan back will give them more freedom to do so.
Connecticut has a chance to flip last year’s Big East script completely. Not only have they dominated the month of January, but they have an opportunity to “reverse the sweep,” as Xavier went 2-0 against the Huskies a season prior. UConn is up a game and a half of second-place Creighton, and holding onto that advantage is crucial if the program wishes to win the Big East regular season for the first time since returning. Despite their 4-4 in-conference record, Xavier is an underrated squad that could give the Huskies problems. No game is a given in the Big East. There is much uncertainty heading in because even poor Big East squads are very good (sorry DePaul). What is certain is that Connecticut fans should expect nothing short of a 40-minute nailbiter, and you won’t want to miss it. The action will occur this Sunday at noon at the XL Center and can be viewed on FS1.