Preview: No. 5 UConn men’s basketball vs. Villanova| Feb. 21, 5:30 p.m. | TNT, truTV

UConn men’s basketball (24-3, 14-2) will look to shake its recent struggles in a crucial game this weekend, as the Huskies travel to Philadelphia to take on Villanova (21-5, 12-3) at Xfinity Mobile Arena in a battle between two of the three best teams in the Big East.

The Wildcats rank No. 27 in KenPom, with the No. 32 offense in the country, No. 33 defense, and 29th NET ranking. In Kevin Willard’s first year as the head coach, Villanova is trending towards making the NCAA Tournament for the first time in the post-Jay Wright era. Since losing in overtime in Hartford around a month ago, the Wildcats have won six games in a row and are getting hot at the right time, with March right around the corner.

Advertisement

UConn sits No. 5 in the AP Poll, No. 13 in KenPom, and No. 10 in the NET. They have the 13th-most efficient defense in the country and 24th-most efficient offense. The Huskies had a total defensive failure on Wednesday in a 91-84 loss at home to Creighton. Despite a career-best 25 points from Braylon Mullins, UConn was unable to get stops down the stretch, and the offense went cold at the wrong time, handing the team their third loss of the year.

The loss means UConn has lost control of a potential Big East regular-season title, needing to defeat St. John’s and have the Red Storm lose again to claim it. If both teams finish 18-2, St. John’s would get the title due to the tiebreaker rules and head-to-head against the teams in descending order in the standings.

Last time the Huskies played Villanova, they needed overtime to come away with the win. Can UConn bounce back from the Creighton loss and add a quality road win to their resume on Saturday?

Date/Time: Saturday, Feb. 18, 7:00 p.m.

Advertisement

TV/Stream: TNT, truTV

Radio: UConn Sports Network, Sirius XM 84, Sirius/XM online streaming

Odds:

Location: Xfinity Mobile Arena – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

KenPom Predicted Score: UConn

Series History

The Huskies and Wildcats have played 79 times in their history, with…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/preview-no-5-uconn-men-193300903.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-02-20 19:33:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.