No. 11 UConn men could get Johnson back for another Big East battle at Butler’s Hinkle Fieldhouse; What to know

[ad_1]

The 2024-25 UConn men’s basketball team got its first taste of Big East basketball on Wednesday night, earning a win in an overtime thriller against hot-shooting Xavier.

That game featured the physicality, unpredictability and grit that is synonymous with the league, which coach Dan Hurley prepared his group of newcomers for when they joined the program.

Liam McNeeley described his first experience in Big East competition as “probably the most emotionally intense I’ve ever been during a game,” as he scored all 14 of his points in the second half and was juggled on and off the court with foul trouble, doing all he could to make his mark on a matchup that featured 22 lead changes.

Pulling that one out gave the Huskies momentum as they carry a five-game winning streak into Hinkle Fieldhouse on Saturday – a tough and historic environment that has played host to some gutty UConn wins since its return to the Big East.

“How could you not get excited about playing at Hinkle, playing college basketball at Hinkle in the state of Indiana, where they just love basketball, they love college basketball,” Hurley said on a Zoom call Friday. “They’ve lost a couple in a row, we’re on a win streak and feeling better about ourselves than we did a few weeks ago. But at noon tomorrow at Hinkle, there is gonna be a life or death desperation for both teams to do whatever they possibly can to win the game.”

Butler (7-5) has lost four games in a row and sits as the No. 73 team in KenPom.com’s rankings and No. 74 in the NET. Thad Matta’s team has quality nonconference wins over SMU, Northwestern and Mississippi State on its resumé, but also some bad losses to Austin Peay (KenPom No. 272) and North Dakota State (No. 124). Still, the Bulldogs led No. 9 Marquette at halftime in their Big East opener on the road and hung on until the Golden Eagles pulled away midway through the second half.

UConn holds a 9-0 advantage in the series against Butler, which began in the 2011 national…

[ad_2]
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/no-11-uconn-men-could-220900334.html

Author : Hartford Courant

Publish date : 2024-12-20 22:09:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.