Husky fans, it’s finally the end of a long and eventful regular season. Before the No. 2 team in the nation takes on both the Big East Tournament and a shot at back-to-back NCAA Tournament championships, they’ve got a battle with Providence on Saturday at the Amica Mutual Pavillion.
This is certainly going to be a massive game for the Friars. After securing a double-digit win over Georgetown, the team is looking to squeak into the NCAA Tournament, and a win over the reigning National Champions would be a huge addition to their resume. As of March 5th, ESPN analyst Joe Lunardi currently has Providence as one of the first four out of the NCAA Tournament, meaning they’ll need every win they can get to have a shot at March. With such high stakes at this point in the season, they’re going to look to play with a purpose against Connecticut.
“We needed to win tonight, but we also need to play well on Saturday, and we need to play well in New York. But, the focus is on scrubbing this game, getting healthy, getting recovered and preparing to play Connecticut, a team I have immense respect for,” said head coach Kim English following Providence’s win over Georgetown.
Of course, coach Dan Hurley and his squad are going to make the Friars work for every bucket on Saturday evening. After taking care of business against No. 8 Marquette at Fiserv Forum, they have many positives to take away from that matchup, especially the play of Alex Karaban. With the Southborough, Mass., native having one of his best offensive performances, this team is on a whole new level when he’s playing up to his potential. The amount of weapons that the Huskies can destroy teams with is vast, and adding No. 11 back into the equation would be scary.
If fans forgot the last matchup between these two programs, it’s certainly one that many would like to forget. While UConn came out with the win in front of the Gampel faithful, it was not without a foul-filled battle. Six players had four fouls with five minutes left in the game, and the Friars were giving the home squad some tough moments throughout the contest. But, with the help of some big moments from Stephon Castle, Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer, the game still concluded with a 74-65 victory for the Huskies.
Now, it’s Providence’s chance at redemption in their house and Hurley knows that it’s far from easy to play at Amica Mutual Pavilion. There may be a new coach on the sidelines, but it remains as hard as ever to leave that environment with a win. Just ask Creighton that, who fell to the Friars 91-87 in overtime during another hard-fought Big East thriller.
Just like the last game between these two programs, both Devin Carter and Josh Oduro remain two of the biggest weapons for English and Co. Carter specifically is coming off another impressive outing after putting up 24 points and 12 rebounds in their last win over the Hoyas. However, he’s going to need to be on his A-game if he wants any chance of his squad staying competitive with one of the top teams in the nation.
That fact remains true for Oduro, who has the tall task of guarding Donovan Clingan and being a key piece on both ends of the court. The former George Mason big man had 20 points and 9 rebounds in Providence’s loss to Connecticut and a big game to complement the play of Carter would cause some trouble for the Huskies.
For the final game of the regular season for UConn, tipoff is slated for 8 p.m. and can be watched on Fox.