Coming off an impressive 77-69 win at Marquette, the UConn men’s basketball team returns to action to host the St. John’s Red Storm this Friday at Gampel Pavillion. The Johnnies have dominated the Big East competition so far, owning an impressive 11-1 conference record. However, the Huskies have a prime opportunity to cut into St. John’s 2.5-game lead with a win on Friday night.
Liam McNeeley will play a crucial role in deciding Friday night’s contest, as head coach Dan Hurley told the media that the star-studded freshman will likely be available.
“Liam looks like he’s going to be available. We will see how he feels when he gets up,” Hurley said. “There’s going to be minutes restriction; there’s going to be obvious rust.”
Even though Connecticut should get their star-studded freshman back for this contest, the program will need to deal with a familiar Big East foe in Kadary Richmond, who has had UConn’s number over the years.
The fifth-year guard joins the Johnnies after a three-year stint with Seton Hall, where Richmond dominated. The Brooklyn native averaged nearly 16 points a game a season ago, including two heater performances against the Huskies in the 2023-2025 season. Considering that Richmond has similarly dominated this season, this could spell trouble for the Huskies, who come into Friday’s contest bruised.
It is no secret that Hassan Diarra has been playing extended minutes lately for the Huskies, and it has taken a toll on him. Since Jan. 1, Diarra has averaged 30 minutes a game, playing as much as 39 against Butler. As a result, Hurley and the coaching staff have been trying to get the senior some rest.
“Hassan has just been limited to not much practice, so he’ll be a game time post shootaround choice,” said Hurley.
On that same token, the Huskies got some additional bad news concerning Aidan Mahaney, who “took a quad knee yesterday, so he falls into a game time [decision],” according to Hurley.
Considering how bruised the Connecticut guards are, the program will need another big showing from Solo Ball, who is coming off a heater performance. In case you forgot, the sophomore guard shot the lights out, scoring 25 points on 7-9 three-point shooting, which doesn’t include the 13 rebounds he snagged. Ball also demonstrated some much-improved defense at times in this contest. Considering that the Johnnies will also bring junior RJ Luis Jr., Connecticut will need Ball to be on his a-game.
The Red Storm guard has put on a scoring clinic this year for St. John’s, averaging over 17 points a game in 31 minutes of play. Luis Jr. also suited up for the program last season, just not in as big of a role as he has now. Considering how shorthanded the Huskies are, look out for how the program contains the guards, as this alone could decide this Friday night showdown. Despite the depth advantage that the Johnnies currently hold in the guard department, the Huskies will be looking for another big performance out of their star forward, Alex Karaban.
Karaban shook off a mild scoring funk last Saturday, scoring 15 points on excellent 4-8 shooting, including six free throws. With McNeeley likely back in the fold, this could help Karaban offensively get more open looks, as the program will need his offensive leadership as the program faces a top-five defense in the country, according to KenPom.
The Huskies will also look to their one-two punch down low in Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr. If it had not been for Johnson creating offense and scoring 13 points, the Huskies would have had a much more difficult path to victory against Marquette. However, this fact has been true throughout many of Connecticut’s close games. The game down low from both big men not only puts points on the board but also sets up shooting from shot-makers like Ball or Karaban.
While the Huskies come in as the favorites at home, this matchup will be back and forth. A win against St. Johns would be the perfect storm for the Huskies to get right back into contention for the Big East regular season.