NO. 4 UCONN AT XAVIER

Location: Cintas Center, Cincinnati

Tip time: 8:30 p.m. (FS1)

Records: UConn 13-2, 3-1; Xavier 7-7, 1-2

Last game: UConn won at Butler, 88-81, Friday; Xavier lost at Villanova, 66-65, Wednesday

Series: UConn trails, 4-3, losing both meetings last season, 82-79 at home and 83-73 on the road.

Probable starters: UConn, 6-5 graduate guard Tristen Newton (15 pts, 6.5 rebs, 5.7 assists), 6-6 graduate guard Cam Spencer (15.1 pts, 3.9 rebs), 6-6 fr. guard Stephon Castle (9.4 pts, 4.7 rebs), 6-8 r-so. forward Alex Karaban (14.8 pts, 5.9 rebs), 6-10 jr. center Samson Johnson (6.6 pts, 3.8 rebs)

Xavier, 6-0 sr. guard Dayvion McKnight (9.7 pts, 5.2 assists), 6-3 grad guard Quincy Olivari (17.9 pts, 4.7 rebs), 6-6 so. guard Desmond Claude (14.8 pts, 4.8 rebs), 6-8 sr. forward Gytis Nemeiksa (6.6 pts, 4.9 rebs), 6-10 sr. forward Abou Ousmane (8.6 pts, 6.4 rebs)

Noteworthy: UConn lost three out of the last four meetings. … In Big East play, Xavier beat Seton Hall (74-54), lost to Villanova and St. John’s (81-66). … Two non-conference losses came vs. teams currently in AP top 5 – No. 2 Houston, No. 1 Purdue. … Xavier 1st in Big East in fast break points at 15.9 per game, 2nd in assists at 17.2, 2nd in FG% defense at 39.7. … McKnight 1st in Big East in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.65. … Fr. Reid Ducharme is the younger brother of Caroline Ducharme, a guard on the UConn women’s basketball team. He’s appeared in just 5 games.

… Top reserve: 6-0 fr. guard Troy Green (5.8 pts). … Hot: Castle is 11 for 15 from the field in last two games. Cold: Newton is 2 for 16 from three in the last three games. … Huskies lead the Big East in scoring offense, assists per game, FG%, scoring margin, assist-to-turnover ratio. … Injury news: Donovan Clingan (foot) out. … Up next: UConn hosts Georgetown at noon at the XL Center in Hartford.

— Gavin Keefe