MEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

NO. 4 UCONN VS. GEORGETOWN

When: Sunday, noon

Where: XL Center, Hartford

Records: UConn 14-2 (4-1 Big East), Georgetown 8-8 (1-4 Big East)

TV: FOX (WTIC-Channel 61)

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

Polar opposites: Sure, they’re both in the Big East. But given where the UConn men’s basketball team and Georgetown stand today, the Huskies should just as well be in a league of their own.

Reigning national champion and fourth-ranked UConn, which entertains the Hoyas Sunday at noon in Big East action at the XL Center in Hartford, will try to make its case to be the No. 1 team in the Associated Press poll come Monday following losses earlier this week by top-ranked Purdue, No. 2 Houston, third-ranked Kansas, and No. 5 Tennessee. UConn (14-2, 4-1 Big East) is coming off a sweep of a conference road trip to Butler and to Xavier that pushed its winning streak to four.

Georgetown, meanwhile, is trying to find traction under first-year coach Ed Cooley, who was hired away from Providence to rebuild the Hoyas (8-8, 1-4). Since defeating Creighton in the 2021 Big East Tournament final under Patrick Ewing, Georgetown is 3-43 against conference opponents. The Hoyas’ lone Big East win this season came against hapless DePaul on Jan. 6, though they erased a 13-point second-half deficit to take a three-point lead over Seton Hall with 3:15 left Tuesday only to see the Pirates close with a 12-5 run for a 74-70 victory.

“I think we have come a long way,” Cooley said after the game. “We have a long way to go, but I’m going to look at how far we’ve come. We’ve got a long way to go, but we’re getting there.”

Cooley is expected to use a starting lineup of players he brought in last offseason from the transfer portal led by guard Jayden Epps, who turned down Cooley at Providence for Illinois. Epps had 30 points in the loss to Seton Hall. Fairfield transfer Supreme Cook was a three-year starter and compiled 910 points and 680 rebounds in 91 games for the Stags. The senior forward is the third of the Hoyas’ double-figure scorers behind Epps and North Carolina transfer Dontrez Styles.

Georgetown’s only win in six road games this season came in overtime at Notre Dame Dec. 16.

A little history: The series between the Huskies and Hoyas, that started on Dec. 22, 1958, is tied at 36. UConn has not led the series since taking a 3-2 edge following a 78-64 win on Jan. 13, 1973. UConn coach Dan Hurley is 6-0 against Georgetown with all the wins coming since the Huskies’ return to the Big East. A year ago, UConn defeated Georgetown 84-73 at Gampel Pavilion and 68-62 in Washington, D.C.