After a roller coaster campaign, ranked as high as No. 2 in the country to falling out of the AP Poll altogether, the UConn men’s basketball team’s story this regular season has been written. However, it is March, and, as head coach Dan Hurley has said so many times, UConn basketball is at a different level during this 31-day period, and the story for the 2024-2025 Huskies is far from over.
Despite suffering three devastating losses in the team’s first true road test in the Maui Invitational, losing Liam McNeeley to injury for over a month and Alex Karaban going through an uncharacteristic cold spell, the Huskies have racked up some massive wins throughout the campaign. With a pair of wins over Marquette, beating Creighton and Maui aside, dominating the out-of-conference schedule, the Huskies finished 22-9 on the regular season. Despite suffering some tough conference losses that could have gone the Huskies’ way, Connecticut heads into New York as the No. 3 seed for the Big East Tournament. As a result, they are entitled to a first-round bye and will face the winner of the 9 p.m. matchup on Wednesday between the Seton Hall Pirates (7-24, 2-18 Big East) and the Villanova Wildcats (18-13, 11-9 Big East). UConn beat both of these schools at home but lost on the road.
While Villanova comes into this contest as a 10.5-point favorite and is expected to cruise to victory in this matchup, there are facets of this contest that UConn fans will want to look out for. Of course, the biggest story heading into Tuesday and what will be the biggest determinant on who faces Connecticut in the second-round surrounds Villanova forward Eric Dixon.
Dixon, who comes in as a senior, is the nation’s leading scorer, averaging nearly 24 points a night this past regular season. The Pennsylvania native has also proved that he can get it done from nearly everywhere, hitting shots from downtown at a 43% rate. Dixon has been the Seton Hall killer this year. In Villanova’s narrow 59-54 Feb 26th road win, the forward played nearly the entire contest, scoring 32 points on 14-21 shooting, including 4-8 from downtown. The senior also added 10 rebounds and made 10 free throws to this day, again emphasizing his ability to affect the game in a multitude of ways. Performances like these are a significant reason why he is a member of this year’s All-Big East First Team. For as good as Dixon has performed all season long, the Wildcats will want to make sure they are up to date on their film of Isaiah Coleman, who has been Seton Hall’s best scorer all season long.
While Coleman didn’t play as well as he would have liked to in his side’s Feb. 26 road loss, the sophomore did have one of his best performances in his team’s initial matchup at Villanova on Dec. 17. The guard put up 22 points in that contest and grabbed nine boards in 36 minutes of work. Considering that Seton Hall’s season is on the line and the odds are significantly stacked against them, it is almost guaranteed that Pirates head coach Shaheen Holloway will draw up an offensive gameplan to get the ball in Coleman’s hands as much as possible. However, if the Villanova defensive attack neutralizes the sophomore guard, don’t be surprised if Dylan Addae-Wusu has a big night for Seton Hall.
The senior guard matches up against Villanova better than most other programs in the Big East and the stats back it up. Addae-Wusu averages nearly 17 points a night on 39% shooting from the field. However, the Bronx native especially excels from beyond the arc, hitting shots at a 46% clip.
Of course, Seton Hall’s defense has been questionable all season long and it has gotten them into trouble more times than not. The Pirates’ struggles start at the 3-point line, as they surrender more shots from beyond the arc than anyone in the Big East and it isn’t particularly close. Wednesday night’s contest could get out of hand quickly considering that the Wildcats are the country’s second best 3-point shooting team, according to KenPom. Struggling to defend from downtown has also led to teams punishing the Pirates in the paint. Considering that Dixon is also a solid post scorer, it could be a long night altogether for Seton Hall if they don’t control the 3-point line and Villanova shoots the roof off Madison Square Garden.
While Wednesday night is expected to be a Villanova victory, much crazier things have happened in March. Regardless of the outcome, this is a game that UConn fans will want to tune into, as Connecticut will face one of these teams in the 9:30 game on Thursday and because the Huskies have lost to both programs this season.