The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Weekend getaway
Huskies hit road to face red-hot Villanova
PHILADELPHIA — On Thanksgiving weekend in Portland, Oregon, the UConn and Villanova men’s basketball teams couldn’t have been heading in more opposite directions.
The Huskies were flexing their muscles, stomping Oregon, Alabama and Iowa State by a combined 57 points en route to the PK Invitational championship.
Conversely, Villanova was losing all three of its games, to Iowa State, Oregon and Portland, a low point in the midst of a 2-5 start for first-year head coach Kyle Neptune and the perennial Big East powerhouse Wildcats.
Things didn’t go a whole lot better after that, and after a similar 2-5 start in Big East play (including a 74-66 loss to UConn in Hartford), Villanova was 8-10 and going nowhere.
Fast-forward to Saturday night and the Wildcats are one of the hottest teams in the Big East. Second hottest perhaps only to UConn.
The 14th-ranked Huskies (23-7, 12-7 Big East) went through their own low point earlier this season, dropping six of eight between New Year’s Eve and Jan. 25. But they’ve regrouped and are starting to have that look they had at the PK Invitational, winning seven of their last eight. The Huskies will likely be the No. 5 seed in next week’s Big East tournament, but have an outside shot at earning the No. 4 seed or possibly even No. 3.
More importantly, UConn is playing for NCAA tournament seeding. As things stand now, the Huskies are likely a No. 4 seed for the Big Dance, but could play themselves into threeseed territory with a win over Villanova and a strong run through the Big East tourney.
Villanova (16-14, 10-9 Big East) isn’t on the NCAA tourney bubble just yet.
But the Wildcats, who’ll be the sixth seed at Madison Square Garden next week, could play themselves into consideration with a win over UConn and a strong run through Manhattan of their own.
And so, the stakes will be pretty high on Saturday when UConn and Villanova square off at Wells Fargo Center (7:30 p.m., FOX) in both teams’ regularseason finale.
For UConn, a win over red-hot Villanova on Saturday night might represent the Huskies’ best road win of the season. UConn won at Florida in December, but the Gators are floundering through a 15-15 season. UConn’s four Big East road wins have come against St. John’s, Butler, DePaul and Georgetown — the last four teams in the league’s standings.
Of course, any road win is gold these days. And a win at Villanova, a team that is starting to resemble Villanova teams of recent vintage, would be a gold rush for UConn.