The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)

ST. JOSEPH’S at UCONN

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When: Where: Records: TV: Radio:

Wednesday, 7 p.m.

Gampel Pavilion

St. Joseph’s 1-1, UConn 1-0 CBS Sports Network UConn/IMG Sports Network, 97.9 FM-ESPN Hartford, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WICC-Brideport (600 AM), WINE-Danbury (940 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM)

KEEP AN EYE ON MATCHUP NIGHTMARE?:

Dan Hurley said the Hawks are “kind of like a matchup nightmare” for UConn, since they spread out the floor, shoot a bunch of 3-pointers and rarely post up their big men. In fact, SJU’s starting forwards, 6-foot-8 Lorenzo Edwards and Taylor Funk, may be its two best 3-point shooters. Edwards has canned 7 of 15 (46.7 percent) of his treys so far this season.

“They have a unique style of play, probably the most unique, where they rarely post their bigs, run them off staggers, post their guards and invert you,” said Hurley.

That could be a challenge for Josh Carlton, who’s more of a traditiona­l center, and Akok Akok, who gave up four 3-pointers in the Huskies’ Oct. 30 exhibition win over Saint Michael’s.

REBOUND, RINSE, REPEAT:

After being outrebound­ed in their season-opening win over Sacred Heart (including by a 28-13 margin in the first half), the Huskies got a lot of work on the boards over the past couple of days of practice.

“The film session was a tough one for the guys to sit through,” said Hurley. “We analyzed every shot off the glass, emphasized (rebounding) in drilling ... and it wasn’t just the defensive glass. On the offensive glass, we’re not making anywhere near the effort we need to make to create extra possession­s.”

HALFTIME SURPRISE?:

Javonte BrownFergu­son, a 6-foot-11 center from Thornlea Secondary School near Toronto, will announce his college decision at 8 p.m. on Wednesday.

Brown-Ferguson is down to UConn, Texas A&M and Kansas, with UConn considered to be the favorite.

“He has a chance to come in and play right away,” Brown-Ferguson’s prep coach, Shane James, told Hearst Connecticu­t Media recently. “He’s very comfortabl­e with the coaching staff. (Assistant coach) Kenya (Hunter’s) done an amazing job, Coach Hurley was exceptiona­l when he came and sat down with us, talking about the history, his coaching style. It would be a good fit for him.”

James also noted that Brown-Ferguson is intrigued by UConn’s return to the Big East next season.

HISTORY LESSON:

UConn owns a 6-2 all-time advantage over St. Joe’s. The last time the teams met was on March 20, 2014 in a first-round NCAA tournament game in Buffalo, N.Y. that UConn won 89-81 in overtime to kick-start its run to a fourth national title. Freshman center Amida Brimah’s convention­al 3-point play with 39 seconds left in regulation saved the day and kept UConn’s return to the postseason run from ending practicall­y before it even began.

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