There won’t be many candlelit dinners or boxes of chocolates handed out in Storrs on Saturday. UConn students will be spending their Valentine’s Day this year with the campus’s one true love: College basketball.
No. 6 UConn meets Georgetown for the second time this weekend at Gampel Pavilion looking to complete its fifth Big East regular season sweep.
Everyone knows that one couple who can’t stop yelling at each other, even on Valentine’s Day. Those shouts will sound like whispers compared to the coaches patrolling the sidelines on Saturday: Dan Hurley and Ed Cooley, two of the sport’s most boisterous voices.
Hurley has not lost to Georgetown (13-11, 5-8) in his tenure as the head coach of UConn (23-2, 13-1). He is 11-0 all time over the Hoyas, five of which came against Cooley.
UConn enters fresh off an 80-70 road win over Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse, Solo Ball delivered one of the best performances of his career, scoring 24 points and burying six three-pointers.
Ball’s shooting has been inconsistent this season after being one of the best marksmen in the country last season. He is shooting from a nearly a 41% clip in his past three games.
“My teammates are always uplifting me, making sure I keep my confidence,” Ball said. “As long as I trust the playbook and trust my coaching staff, I know I’m going to be in the best spot to succeed.”
The Huskies knocked down double digit three pointers for the third time in four games while shooting 50.8% from the field.
“I don’t know that there’s a lot of teams in the country that have that type of firepower,” Hurley said.
Ball security was a major point of emphasis for UConn after its previous loss to St. John’s on Feb. 6. The Huskies committed 15 turnovers in the 81-72 loss, nine of which came from Silas Demary Jr., who called the performance “unacceptable.”
UConn committed just one turnover in the second half against Butler while 22 of their 30 baskets came off an assist. Demary bounced back from his performance at Madison Square Garden and logged his third double-double of the season with 10 assists to just two turnovers.
“Ball security is everything,” Hurley said. “The turnovers have been a major problem.”
The Hoyas will arrive in Storrs with a week’s rest after falling to Villanova 80-73 on Feb. 7. The loss snapped a four-game winning streak, which included road wins over Providence and Butler.
The Huskies’ last face off with Georgetown came on Jan. 17. UConn narrowly escaped the nation’s capital with a victory, missing four of its six free throw attempts down the stretch. UConn posted season lows in both their field goal (36.2%) and three-point (19.2%) percentages. The 64-62 finish was the Huskies’ tightest margin of victory since Nov. 15. when they defeated BYU 86-84.
Tarris Reed Jr. controlled the paint in the first clash. The senior big man had the third of his five double-doubles this season, scoring 15 points while pulling down 11 rebounds. His activity on the glass extended possessions for UConn. His eight offensive rebounds helped contribute to 15 second chance points on a night when the team shot poorly.
Expect Reed and the Huskies to continue creating havoc for the Hoyas on the interior. Ending possessions has been a struggle all season for Georgetown. The Hoyas rank in the 27th percentile nationally for defensive rebounding percentage, according to CBB Analytics, and allows opponents to convert on two-pointers at a 49.5% rate.
Georgetown’s offense runs out of its backcourt, with Malik Mack as its focal point. The third-year guard has been named to the Big East Weekly Honor Roll for two consecutive weeks. He scores 14.5 points per game while dishing out 3.6 assists.
KJ Lewis joins Mack in the backcourt as the Hoyas leading scorer. The Arizona transfer is averaging over 15 points per game. The tandem combined for 23 points during the first meeting with UConn.
Lewis is also a pest on the defensive end. He has a 4.3% steal rate which ranks No. 30 in the country, according to KenPom. He plays with constant energy, diving on loose balls and making hustle rebounds.
Hurley and the Huskies will look to improve to 12 straight wins over Georgetown in their first game at their on-campus venue since Jan. 27.
Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. and can be streamed on Peacock.