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Seton Hall Preview: Seniors To Be Honored in Regular-Season Finale
A handful of Huskies are playing their last college game ever in Connecticut.
Aman Kidwai
March 08, 2025
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From basketball to baseball to hockey, we’ve got you covered with all the recent happenings and storylines from in and around Storrs.
Photo: Ian Bethune
Headlines
It’s March
Best Month of the Year. The calendar has officially flipped. The winter months are no more: March Madness is coming. As is tradition, the Huskies came alive this week. They beat Providence 75-63 on March 1 in a career day for Tarris Reed Jr. before a big mid-week win over Marquette. All signs point to Reed Jr. being the Huskies’ X-factor with the conference tournament on deck.
Dating back to the 2022-23 season, UConn men’s basketball is 17-1 in March, with Marquette responsible for the lone loss in the 2023 Big East semifinal game.
UConn beat the Golden Eagles on Wednesday, officially sweeping the season series against Shaka Smart’s squad to put themselves in a prime position to hold the No. 3 seed heading into the conference tournament. The 72-66 win was the Huskies’ third straight, their first stretch of three consecutive wins or more since they started rattled off eight in a row following their 0-3 run in Maui.
Alex Karaban led the way with 21 points, including a dagger three with 25 seconds remaining to put UConn ahead by four.
Long flights and losing nights for UConn Baseball
The baseball team’s dreary start to the season continues, now just 2-7 through its first nine games. There have been some surprises, but Jim Penders’ team has struggled to put together a winning weekend ahead of its series with Miami (FL) starting Friday.
The Huskies swapped coasts this past weekend to participate in the Dodger Classic. The first two games, both losses against USC and UCLA, revealed some glaring issues with the pitching staff. But the Huskies were not deterred, stealing a win over then-No. 14 ranked Vanderbilt on their way back to Connecticut.
Seton Hall Preview
TV: 2:30 PM on FOX
Location: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut
KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 75, Seton Hall 58 (94 percent win probability)
UConn is heavily favored going into this game and also needs the win a bit more than last-place Seton Hall, whose season ends today. The Huskies need to avoid letting this one stay close at all like the last meeting with the Pirates, a disastrous finish that gave Shaheen Holloway’s squad one of its two Big East wins on the year.
Dan Hurley’s squad appears to be healthy, the starters have been clicking, and some of the bench guys are rounding into form as well. Perhaps this is the day an Aidan Mahaney or Jaylin Stewart has the standout bench performance we’re looking for.
By the metrics, UConn is much stronger offensively and defensively. Karaban, Hassan Diarra, and Samson Johnson will be honored before the game as part of the Senior Day festivities. This is most likely their last regular-season contest in a Husky uniform.
Via TeamRankings.com
Weekly Rewind
Men’s Basketball
Podcast – Cautious optimism as we head into March.
McNeeley wins Big East Freshman of the Week – The freshman phenom earned the award for the seventh time this season.
What to expect from Tarris Reed Jr.? – Dominant performances from the Michigan transfer against Georgetown and Providence have raised this team’s ceiling.
Win over Providence – Reed set career highs in points (24), rebounds (18), and blocks (6).
Notes and Quotes: Providence – UConn is trending in the right direction in March.
Win over Marquette – The Huskies now control their own destiny for the No. 3 seed ahead of their final game of the season Saturday. | Photos
Notes and Quotes: Marquette – Despite the leaky roof delay, there’s more work than needs to be done aside from Gampel’s ceiling.
Women’s Basketball
Diana Taurasi announces retirement – The women’s basketball legend has called it quits after 20 seasons in the WNBA.
Win over Creighton – The Huskies captured their 12th regular season Big East title in as many years. | Photos
Win over Marquette – Prior to the senior day celebration, Paige Bueckers and Sarah Strong combined for 36 points to take down the Golden Eagles. | Photos
Bueckers wins player of the year, again – The senior captured her second-straight Big East Player of the Year award. Three other members of the program got some hardware, including Sarah Strong (Freshman of the Year), Ashlynn Shade (Rookie of the Year), and Geno Auriemma (Coach of the Year, shared with Cara Consuegra of Marquette).
What made Taurasi great? – Geno walks through his memories of a Husky legend.
The regular season championship still means something – Despite 12 in a row, there is still worth in being crowned Big East regular season champs.
Future plans for current players – Azzi Fudd’s future remains uncertain, but Caroline Ducharme reassures she’ll be back.
Senior Day – Each senior’s journey has been different, but one constant remained: each other.
Tournament X-factor ($) – Ice Brady is back from a shoulder injury, hoping to make an impact in the Huskies’ postseason play.
Podcast - Putting the regular season in the rearview.
Ducharme’s journey back – The junior returns after missing 63 games over a span of 461 days.
Baseball
Dodger Class yields one win – USC and UCLA outmatched the Huskies, but UConn got their second win of the year over ranked Vanderbilt.
Miami Preview – Here’s what to expect ahead of the HookC’s trip to Coral Gables.
Surprises in the early season – Some early standouts have helped negate a tough start to UConn’s season.
Hockey
Win over Northeastern – A 7-1 trouncing of Northeastern kicked off March for the men’s team.
Podcast ($) – “I don’t know, sometimes the puck just goes in,” Mike Cavanaugh said of the win over Northeastern.
Bracketology ($) – Icebus is in for the NCAA tournament; the only question is where.
Women’s hockey claims three Hockey East awards – Coach of the Year, Goaltender of the Year, and Rookie of the Year all belong to the Huskies.
Highlights
The end of Taurasi’s 20-year WNBA career is deserving of a trip down memory lane. Revisit the best of her UConn days with eight minutes of her top March Madness moments.
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