West Virginia added as nonconference foe
Former league rivals last met in 2014 in Puerto Rico tourney
The UConn men’s basketball team will face a former conference rival, West Virginia, in the Big East-Big 12 battle series early next season, adding a potent opponent to the Huskies’ nonconference schedule.
UConn will travel to Morgantown, W.Va., on Wednesday, Dec. 8, for a game that will be televised by ESPN, the rights holder for Big 12 games.
The Mountaineers were 19-10 last season, 11-6 in the Big 12. They reached the round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament and were were eliminated by Syracuse. They return the bulk of their roster next season, as does UConn.
The Huskies and Mountaineers were rivals for 17 years in the original Big East. Jim Calhoun’s last victory as UConncoach came against West Virginia in the 2012 Big East Tournament in New York.
After the original conference broke up, West Virginia landed in the Big 12 and UConn in the American Athletic Conference. The schools met in the Puerto Rico Tip-Offin San Juan in 2014, a 78-68 victory for West Virginia.
UConn leads the series 16-6, including 15-4 when both were in the Big East. A notable meet
ing before they became conference foes came in 1988, when UConn won at West Virginia to begin its run to the NIT title.
UConn was not included in the Big East-Big 12 series last season, its first in the reconfigured Big East. The leagues split six games, and in 2019 the Big East won 8 of 10.
The Huskies will not be part of the Gavitt Games, which match Big East and Big Ten opponents, this coming season. It’s a possibility for next season.
Other Big East/Big 12 games are Texas Tech at Providence Dec. 1, Kansas at St. John’s Dec. 2, Iowa State at Creighton Dec. 4, Xavier at Oklahoma State Dec. 5, Butler at Oklahoma Dec. 7, Marquette at Kansas State Dec. 8, Texas at Seton Hall Dec. 9, Villanova at Baylor Dec. 12 and TCU at Georgetown Dec. 18.
The Huskies’ schedule is beginning to take shape. They will open the season at home against Central Connecticut, though the date and location (Gampel or the XL Center) hasn’t been determined.
UConn is to play for the third time in the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas from Nov. 24-26, a field that includes Arizona State — now coached by Bobby Hurley — Auburn, Loyola Chicago, Michigan State, Syracuse, Virginia Commonwealth and defending national champ Baylor. The bracket has yet to be announced.
UConn’s game at Florida, the road end of a home-and-home series, was not played last season due to the COVID-19-ravaged schedule. When that game could be played is yet to be determined.
Source tells AP Krzyzewski to coach last season in 2021-22: Duke Hall of Fame coach Mike Krzyzewski will coach his final season with the Blue Devils in 2021-22, a person familiar with the situation told Associated Press on Wednesday. The person said former Duke player and associate head coach Jon Scheyer would then take over as Krzyzewski’s successor for the 2022-23 season.
The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the school hasn’t commented publicly on the decision. An announcement was expected later Wednesday.
Stadium first reported news of the 74-year-old Krzyzewski’s final season with Duke, which he has led to five national championships, most recently in 2015. With 1,170 victories, he is the winningest coach in men’s college basketball history, with 1,097 of them coming during his 41 years with the Blue Devils.