“Two rings, Baldy!” bellowed in the tunnel of the CHI Health Center last season, when UConn Head Coach Dan Hurley claimed his first career road victory over Creighton. The ironic taunt was aimed at a member of the hostile home crowd.
While UConn captured the historic road win, it was the Blue Jays who got the better of last season’s series. Creighton won the first meeting of the year at Gampel Pavilion, which snapped the Huskies’ 28-game winning streak at home.
The Blue Jays got the last laugh in the Big East Tournament Semifinal in a 71-62 final. The game ended in a scuffle after Jamiyah Neal punched home a fast break dunk as time expired.
The rivalry renews on Saturday when the No. 2 Huskies return to Omaha, Neb. riding a 16-game winning streak.
Roster turnover has left this year’s iteration of the Blue Jays looking far different from Head Coach Greg McDermott’s teams in recent seasons. Creighton has already suffered four losses in conference play, after losing just five in the 2024-25 season.
The team reached a new low on Tuesday night when the Blue Jays fell to Marquette. The Golden Eagles were ranked No. 110 in KenPom’s Net Rating coming into the game; Creighton’s only loss to a team outside the top 100.
The Huskies earned their 20th win of the season when they defeated Providence on Tuesday. UConn was without its two-time Big East Freshman of the Week Braylon Mullins. The former five-star recruit exited the Huskies’ game against Villanova on Jan. 24 early with a concussion after a violent collision.
Hurley said the team would “take good care of him, like we did with Alec Millender when he dealt with it in practice” following the game. Millender was sidelined for two games with a concussion he sustained earlier this month. With Saturday being UConn’s second game since Mullin’s injury, his status will likely be a game time decision.
Solo Ball has also been trying to shrug off the injury bug. A left wrist issue which has been plaguing Ball since December seemed to flare again during the win over the Friars.
The third-year guard seemed to have broken out of a shooting slump last week when he scored 24 to help UConn down Villanova. Ball began to favor his left wrist in the second half of the Providence game
The Blue Jays are the most efficient shooters in the conference with an effective field goal percentage of 56.3%. Creighton boasts one of the top marksmen in the Big East, Austin Swartz.
The sophomore guard is shooting over 46% from three over 20 games played. Swartz hits the third most three-pointers in the conference, with 2.5 per game.
Jasen Green had another standout for the Blue Jays this season. He scored 19 points when Creighton bounced the Huskies in the Big East Tournament Semifinals last year.
“You’re gonna lose when a five-point per game scorer has 17 at halftime,” Hurley said after the game.
Green has grown beyond the role player he was last season. He averages double digit points with the highest field goal percentage on the team. The junior forward is also the team’s leading rebounder, pulling down over five per game.
The game tips off at 8 p.m. and can be watched on Fox.