MEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY

NO. 4 UCONN AT XAVIER

When: Wednesay, 8:30 p.m..

Where: Cintas Center, Cincinnati

Records: UConn 13-2 (3-1 Big East), Xavier 7-7 (1-2 Big East)

TV: FS1

Radio: UConn Sports Network, WAVZNew 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 AND EYE ON

For the fourth straight game, the UConn men’s basketball team will go up against an opponent that bears almost no resemblance to the team the Huskies faced a season ago.

Xavier has 10 newcomers to this year’s roster, including six freshmen. Those frosh have logged 32-percent of the team’s minutes so far. In an older, veteran-laden Big East, that can lead to trouble.

In Xavier’s case, the offseason dip into the transfer portal and reliance on freshmen comes largely out of necessity. Two key frontcourt players are out for the season: Zach Freemantle, one of the program’s top players the past three seasons, due to a foot injury and Jerome Hunter, a senior who led the team with 19 points per game in last year’s NCAA Tournament, due to a heart issue.

Head coach Sean Miller scoured the portal and came up with some good ones. Quincy Olivari, a guard from Rice, is the Musketeers’ top scorer at 17.9 points per game and shoots 41.1 percent from 3. Dayvion McKnight, a guard from Western Kentucky, is third in scoring at 9.7 ppg. and leads the Big East in assist-to-turnover ration (3.65). Abou Ousmane, a 6-10 senior from North Texas, has recorded two double-doubles in the past five games since returning to the starting lineup.

But perhaps Xavier’s top all-around player has been the one key returnee from last season’s 27-10 team that went 15-5 in the Big East and was the only team in the nation to play UConn last season and not lose (twice). And that player is a familiar name to local fans, as well.

New Haven’s own Desmond Claude is second on the team in scoring (14.8 ppg) and assists (3.7) and third in rebounding (4.9). The sophomore recorded his first career double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds at St. John’s on Dec. 20.

It’s hard to figure out this year’s Musketeer team. They’ve lost at home to Oakland and Delaware, but have also beaten Cincinnati and, more recently, trounced Seton Hall by 20. The same Seton Hall that beat the Huskies by 15 a couple of weeks ago.

UConn certainly hopes Xavier doesn’t find a bit of last year’s magic on Wednesday night.