The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
VILLANOVA AT NO. 1 UCONN
When: Saturday, 8 p.m.
Where: Gampel Pavilion
Records: Villanova 15-11 (8-7 Big East), UConn 24-3 (14-2 Big East)
TV: FOX
Radio: UConn Sports Network, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM), WATR-Waterbury (1320 AM), WICH-Norwich (1310 AM, 94.5 FM), WILI-Willimantic (1400 AM, 95.3 FM), Fox Sports 97.9 FM Hartford, SiriusXM-983, SXM App 973.
KEEP AN EYE ON Entering a hornet’s nest: Woe to be the Villanova men’s basketball team on Saturday night.
The Wildcats are the “lucky” guests for one of the more eventful days in recent UConn men’s basketball history. ESPN’s GameDay crew will broadcast live from Gampel Pavilion in the morning. And UConn legend Richard “Rip” Hamilton will have his No. 32 retired to the rafters at halftime of the Huskies’ 8 p.m. bout with ‘Nova.
Oh yes, UConn is coming off a painful, 19-point loss at Creighton, just its third of the season
and first of 2024. The Huskies have had a few days to lick their wounds, and after Saturday night, they’ll have a week off from game action.
Safe to say, UConn will be amped up and ready to make amends for Tuesday night’s embarrassing loss in Omaha. Of course, this game is more important for Villanova, which is firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, probably on the wrong side right now. A win on the road against the No. 1 team in the country would immediately
put the Wildcats back in the fray as an at-large qualifier.
They’re certainly capable. ‘Nova has won three straight and four of its last five after suffering a five-game losing streak that included a 66-65 loss to UConn in Philadelphia (a meaningless Mark Armstrong halfcourt 3-pointer at the buzzer provided the one-point margin, but it was obviously a tightlycontested game either way).
When Villanova is good, it’s good: beating Texas Tech, North Carolina and Memphis to win the Battle 4 Atlantis, as well as a win at Creighton. When it’s bad, it’s bad: losses to all three midmajor Big Five rivals, Penn, St. Joseph’s and Drexel, along with that five-game losing skid last month.
The ‘Cats have talent, led by mobile center Eric Dixon, a confirmed Husky-killer. But they just might be entering a hornet’s nest on Saturday night, with an angry, well-rested UConn team and a sellout crowd with plenty to celebrate.