NO. 13 XAVIER AT NO. 19 UCONN

When: Wednesday, 6:30 p.m.

Where: Gampel Pavilion

Records: Xavier 16-4 (8-1 Big East), UConn 16-5 (5-5 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-Wilimantic (1400 AM, 95.3 FM), 97.9 FM-ESPN Hartford, SiriusXM-983, SXM App 973

KEEP AN EYE ON Revenge tour?: That can’t be what the UConn men’s basketball team is thinking right now. The Huskies simply need victories, against anyone.

Still, it has to be somewhere in the back of the Huskies’ minds that the second half of their Big East slate begins against the team that ended their undefeated season and began an ugly stretch of five losses in six games.

When UConn visited Xavier for a New Year’s Eve bout, the Huskies were 14-0 and ranked No. 2 in the nation. A rowdy crowd awaited at Cintas Center, Dan Hurley got caught up in it and was hit with a costly technical with about 2 1/2 minutes to play, and then-No. 23 Xavier emerged with an 83-73 victory.

Now, it’s the Musketeers who are the higher ranked team heading into a road atmosphere at Gampel that should be rowdy. The Huskies haven’t lost at Gampel since a Feb. 6, 2021 loss to Seton Hall before no fans. They haven’t lost at Gampel with fans in the seats since a “wheredid-that-come-from?” 96-87 loss to St. Joseph’s on Nov. 13, 2019. Of course, there were only 4,081 fans in the seats for that one, so ...

Bottom line, UConn needs a big win on Wednesday night. A 30-point drubbing of lowly Butler on Sunday was a nice way to end a losing skid, but if the Huskies are to get back to being a serious NCAA Tournament team, they need to start making statements. Xavier boasts perhaps the best starting lineup in the Big East and leads the Big East in scoring (85.2) in league games. But the Musketeers are 10th in the 11-team league in scoring defense (78.8), ahead of only winless Georgetown.

UConn dropped three straight road games to the Big East’s other three currently-ranked teams earlier this month: Xavier, Providence and Marquette. The Huskies get another shot at Xavier on Wednesday. They get Marquette in Hartford on Feb. 7, and Providence on Feb. 22 in the season finale at Gampel.

Revenge tour? Can’t be what’s on the Huskies’ minds. But it certainly can be on fans’ minds.

Jeff Dean/Associated Press UConn’s Adama Sanogo (21) is guarded by Xavier’s Jerome Hunter, second from left, and Zach Freemantle, right, on Dec. 31 in Cincinnati.