Huskies to begin series against Villanova

UConn will begin another series with an old Big East Rival this season.

The Huskies will start a threegame series with Villanova on Jan. 20, 2018 at the XL Center in Hartford, the school announced on Thursday. The series will shift to a neutral site, Madison Square Garden, on Dec. 22, 2018, with the final game being played at Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on Jan. 18, 2020.

“We are very excited to renew our series with Villanova, and especially pleased to be able to play one of the games in the tremendous basketball atmosphere of Madison Square Garden,” UConn head coach Kevin Ollie said in a statement released by the school. “We have had so many memorable games against Villanova over the years and Coach (Jay) Wright obviously has one of the very best programs in the country. I know our fans will be thrilled to see the Wildcats back on our schedule.”

Villanova owns a 33-31 all-time advantage over the Huskies, including a 70-61 win at XL Center in the teams’ final meeting as Big East foes on Feb. 16, 2013.

Of course, a little over a year later, they’d meet again in an NCAA tournament second-round game. And UConn won that one, 77-65, en route to its fourth national title.

UConn has rekindled rivalries with several Big East foes in recent years. The Huskies have played Syracuse the past two seasons and will face the Orange again on Dec. 5 at Madison Square Garden in a Jimmy V Classic game. UConn has also faced Georgetown the past two seasons, splitting the home-and-home series.

As Big East rivals for 33 years, beginning in 1980-81, the Huskies were 28-31 against the Wildcats — 1-17 during the first eight seasons and 27-14 during the last 25.

“UConn and Villanova have enjoyed exciting games over a long history. This series honors the great tradition of Villanova and Connecticut basketball,” said Villanova coach Jay Wright. “Facing UConn was always a challenge

lenge and will be again. Coach Ollie was one of the toughest and smartest players in Big East history and he instills those same qualities in his team.”