Gameday: UConn seeking redemption at No. 15 Creighton

UConn men’s basketball came into this season with lofty expectations — despite seeing its three best players leave for the pros alongside two key bench contributors — and has found a way to exceed them.

The Huskies were expected to be good, but not this good.

On Monday they were unanimously named No. 1 in the AP Poll, a first in program history, after blowing the doors off of then-No. 4 Marquette. Purdue, the other team previously receiving No. 1 votes, lost to Ohio State on Sunday.

Bracketologists are slotting the Huskies as the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, as Dan Hurley’s squad is heavily favored to take home everything: the Big East regular season, the Big East tournament, and the NCAA Tournament crowns.

“From third in the [Big East] preseason poll to number one,” Hurley noted. “Any time you can do something that hasn’t been done at a place like UConn, you've had a special run, but no one's thinking about that.”

Three days after they triumphed over now-No. 7 Marquette, the Huskies are in Omaha, Nebraska for their second meeting with Creighton, a team that Hurley hasn’t beaten on the road, dropping both matchups in 2022 and the road trip in 2023. Creighton also knocked UConn out of the Big East Tournament in the 2021 semifinals.

In the first meeting this season at Gampel Pavilion, the Huskies took control early on their way to a big win. Bolstered by the return of Donovan Clingan from injury, they held Greg McDermott’s high-flying squad to 48 points on the night.

UConn has won every game since as it takes a 14-game winning streak into tonight’s contest. The Huskies have been No. 1 in the AP Poll since right before that Jan. 17 meeting with Creighton and have held onto the belt for six weeks.

The Bluejays were picked ahead of UConn in the Big East preseason poll, with Hurley noting the significant gap between second-place Creighton and third-place UConn in his pre-game interview on Monday.

“This rivals Kansas for us in terms of toughest road game of the year,” Hurley said. The Bluejays are ranked 13th in KenPom (18 Offense, 24 Defense) and hold an 11-2 record at home this season, with one of those losses coming in overtime.

The Huskies have a 3.5-game lead on second-place Marquette in the Big East standings and a four-game lead on Creighton and Seton Hall, who are tied for third place. UConn’s realistic clinching scenarios begin this Saturday against Villanova.

Remaining Schedule

Sat, Feb. 24 - Villanova (Gampel Pavilion)

Sun, Mar. 3 - Seton Hall (Gampel Pavilion)

Wed, Mar. 6 - at Marquette

Sat, Mar. 9 - at Providence

Gameday Links

College Gameday Coming to Storrs on Saturday

Kevin Ollie named interim head coach in Brooklyn

Paige Bueckers returning to UConn for one more year

UConn baseball starts season with a bang

UConn vs. Creighton Preview

TV: FS1 (Kevin Kugler and Bill Raftery)

Radio: UConn Sports Network

Odds: UConn -3, over/under 146 (odds via DraftKings)

KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 73, Creighton 71 (57 percent win percentage)

Creighton has three dangerous scorers in Baylor Scheierman, Trey Alexander, and 7-footer Ryan Kalkbrenner, who are all averaging over 17 PPG. Utah State transfer Steven Ashworth has provided a decent boost; he’s fourth on the team in scoring and second behind Alexander with 4.2 APG.

In the first meeting with UConn, all three of Creighton’s top scorers were under their current average, while Scheierman and Alexander had rough shooting nights and Kalkbrenner was relatively contained at 11 points.

The Bluejays are one of the best shooting teams in the country, sitting third in eFG%, and also good at avoiding turnovers. Defensively, the team is quite solid as well, coming in at 17th in opponent eFG%, 20th in opponent offensive rebounding percentage, and first in free-throw rate allowed.

Those defensive strengths go up against UConn’s offensive strengths, as the Huskies are one of the best shooting teams in the country as well, fifth in eFG%, and 12th in offensive rebounding percentage. UConn didn’t have its best shooting performance in the first meeting but held it down on the glass and also kept turnovers down.

Steph Castle will most likely mark Alexander, while Alex Karaban will be on Scheierman, and Kalkbrenner versus Donovan Clingan will be the matchup to watch.

Matchup Stats

UConn holds an edge in most offensive categories, particularly offensive rebounding and free-throw rate. Creighton is good at preventing teams from getting to the line, but otherwise also overmatched defensively in the statistical matchup.

via TeamRankings.com