WOMEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

NO. 5 UCONN AT TENNESSEE

When: Thursday, 8 p.m.

Where: Thompson-Boling Arena, Knoxville

Records: UConn (18-2, 11-0 Big East), Tennessee (16-6, 8-0 SEC)

TV: ESPN

Radio: UConn Sports Network, WGCH 1490 AM (Greenwich), WAVZ 1300 AM (New Haven), WATR 1320 AM (Waterbury), 97.9 FM-ESPN

KEEP AN EYE ON

Rivalry week: The UConn women’s basketball team will face its most historic foe Thursday when it travels to Knoxville to face Tennessee.

The No. 5 Huskies last played at Tennessee on Jan. 21, 2021, when then-freshman Paige Bueckers made a 3-point dagger with 28 seconds left to seal a 67-61 victory.

This time they won’t have Bueckers, as she’s out for the year recovering from an offseason ACL tear. The Huskies will likely dress just eight available players against the Lady Vols now that freshman Ayanna Patterson has returned from concussion protocol. Both Azzi Fudd (right knee) and Caroline Ducharme (concussion) remain out.

While the UConn-Tennessee rivalry is not what it once was (the teams have met four times in the national championship game), there will still be plenty of passion from either side on Thursday, especially with ESPN’s College GameDay hosting the matchup.

“The most challenging thing about playing Tennessee is the size factor, the athleticism factor, the crowd factor that is going to be down there, the circus-like atmosphere that surrounds a ConnecticutTennessee game, even though it’s not quite at the level (it once was). It’s not the Beatles,” UConn coach Geno Auriemma said Monday.

“We have to handle the whole environment. Not an easy place to play, obviously, but our kids are excited about it. They’re looking forward to it. And we’re gonna come out of that game either way better than I thought, or we got work to do.”

About Tennessee: The Volunteers started the year with high expectations and were ranked No. 5 (one spot above UConn) in the first AP Top 25 Poll of the season.

However, the Lady Vols didn’t have such a promising start.

They lost their season-opener against then-No. 14 Ohio State 87-75 and had a nine-point victory over unranked UMass. Tennessee fell to No. 11 in the poll and lost to then-No. 12 Indiana.

Tennessee struggled to gain momentum and finished fourth at the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament falling to both UCLA and Gonzaga. The back-to-back losses dropped Tennessee to No. 23 in the rankings before falling entirely out of the poll the next week.

The team started to turn around in December finishing the month 5-2, including losing just by seven to then-No. 2 Stanford on Dec. 18 in California.

Now, in January, the Lady Vols have yet to lose. They’ve won their past nine games, including Sunday’s 68-65 win over Missouri.

Like UConn, the Tennessee has also had to find ways to win minus key players. Jasmine Franklin missed two games due to a concussion while star Rickea Jackson missed two games as a coach’s decision. In December, it was announced Tamari Key would miss the remainder of the season recovering from blood clots in her lungs.

Starting senior guard Jordan Horston missed the game on Sunday due to illness. As of Tuesday morning, coach Kellie Harper didn’t have an update on Horston’s availability for the UConn game. Horston is averaging 15.2 points and 6.9 rebounds.

Harper is in her fourth season coaching her alma mater and has a 79-33 record at Tennessee. She’s also coached at Missouri State, North Carolina State, Western Carolina, Chattanooga and Auburn. Harper played for the late Pat Summitt from 1995-1999, going 4-4 against UConn as a player. She is currently 0-3 against the Huskies as Tennessee’s head coach.

UConn is 16-9 all-time against its longest rival, including beating Tennessee last year on Feb. 6 in Hartford, 75-56 thanks to 25 points from Fudd.