Huskies can help AAC tourney seeding with win at ECU

Remember in the dark, pre-Jim Calhoun days, when UConn’s goal was simply to avoid the dreaded 8-9 game at the Big East tournament?

Things have gotten so bad that the Huskies would likely kill to play in the 8-9 game at the American Athletic Conference tournament next month in Orlando, Florida.

With five games still to play, it may be a bit early to start worrying about conference tournament seedings. Still, UConn can take a good step toward at least getting into that 8-9 game with a win at East Carolina on Sunday (3 p.m., ESPNews).

Entering Saturday’s action, the Huskies (12-14, 5-8 AAC) sat tied with SMU in the league standings at eighth place in the 12team conference. UConn owns the tiebreaker over the Mustangs, by virtue of its 63-52 win on Jan. 25 at Gampel Pavilion. The teams don’t play again this regular season.

Still, a lot can happen over the final couple of weeks. ECU (1014, 4-9) currently sits in a tie with Tulane for 10th place. UConn already owns a victory over the Pirates, so a season sweep and two-game lead over them would virtually assure the Huskies of finishing above ECU in the standings. UConn also won its only meeting with Tulane this season, and there would be no chance for last-place, 1-13 South Florida to overtake the Huskies in the standings.

So, if UConn beats ECU on Sunday, the Huskies have the inside track on finishing in at least ninth place in the AAC standings and playing in that 8-9 game on Thursday, March 8 at noon. Win that game and the “prize,” of course, would be a game against the top seed — which right now would be fifthranked Cincinnati.

The Huskies, of course, would still have a chance to move up in the standings. They likely can’t catch currently fourth-place Tulsa, since the Golden Hurricane swept UConn this season.

But the Huskies could conceivably overtake fifth-place UCF (7-6), sixth-place Temple (7-7) or seventh-place Memphis (6-7). UConn still plays both Temple and Memphis — both at Gampel Pavilion.

Everything changes, of course, if UConn loses at ECU. And make no mistake, that is a distinct possibility.

The Huskies barely got past the Pirates, 70-65, back on Jan. 6 in Hartford. They lost at ECU last season, one of their more ignominious losses in a season full of them. And the Pirates did beat Memphis at home a few weeks ago in overtime.

Plus, UConn can’t be trusted on the road. The Huskies are 1-7 in true road games this season and 2-10 in road/neutral-site contests. Their lone road kill came on Jan. 13 at Tulane. Since then, they’re 0-4 away from home. Christian Vital Jalen Adam Mamadou Diarra Terry Larrie Josh Carlton Isaac Fleming Aaron Jackson B.J. Tyson Dimitrije Spasojevic Shawn Williams

And with road games still on the docket against Cincinnati and secondplace Houston, the Huskies need to stock up as many wins as possible if they want to at least get into that 8-9 game.

Which, unlike in years’ past, looks very attractive to UConn right now.