The UConn Fast Break - 12/23/2023 (St. John's Preview)

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UConn looking to avoid a losing streak against St. John’s

UConn men’s basketball is hosting St. John’s tonight in Hartford.

Dan Hurley’s squad lost a rough one in its Big East debut Wednesday and needs to come through in this one to avoid a 0-2 start to conference play. They’ll probably have to do it without one of their best players, Donovan Clingan, who’s missed the last few practices due to an ankle injury.

The Huskies went 1-1 against St. John’s last year, losing in Connecticut and winning at Madison Square Garden. This year, the Johnnies have a new head coach, someone who’s quite familiar with UConn in Rick Pitino, the former Louisville, Kentucky, and Providence head coach. Pitino faced Hurley’s Huskies in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament as the head coach of Iona, after which he said that UConn has all the pieces to be a national champion.

Pitino is well-traveled and, clearly, he’s no dummy. He even grabbed one of the pieces of that Husky national championship team, Nahiem Alleyne, for his rebuilding project.

This will be a tough test in prime time.

TV: FOX (Gus Johnson, Jim Jackson)

Radio: UConn Sports Network - 97.9 FM (Wayne Norman, Mike Crispino)

Odds: UConn -10.5, over/under 148 (odds via DraftKings)

KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 81, St. John’s 69 (86 percent chance)

Matchup Review

Statistically, UConn has a heavy advantage in most major categories.

This was also the case going into the Seton Hall game, and UConn may not be at full strength, but it’s still worth pointing out the Huskies’ major advantages in free-throw rate, eFG%, and defensive rebounding percentage.

There are only a few categories where St. John’s has an edge, holding a small advantage in offensive rebounding percentage (an area of concern for Hurley in the last game), and a decent advantage in forcing turnovers.

via TeamRankings.com

Clingan’s gotta rest those legs

While losing the Big East opener is cause for concern, especially losing by 15, the greater worry lies around Donovan Clingan’s health.

The sophomore center left the Seton Hall game with a sprained ankle with 16:31 remaining in the second half and UConn trailing by five. The big man was having a good outing, with 14 points by that point but his departure turned the Huskies into a different team.

Clingan’s had two recent foot injuries, one in the preseason and one during the season. If he sits out this St. John’s game and, say, the next game against DePaul on Jan. 2, that would mean two weeks of rest before the next game after that, at Butler on Jan. 5.

Hopefully, something like that will be enough since the Huskies need Clingan down low to be at their best. Samson Johnson was -20 in the last game, scoring just two points with two rebounds against Seton Hall.

Weekly Rewind

 Men’s Basketball

UConn loses 75-60 at Seton Hall - An unexpectedly rough performance in the Big East opener.

Disappointment in New Jersey - Hurley took personal accountability for the dud against SHU.

Takeaways from the Seton Hall loss - Clingan’s health, the roster’s depth, and shooting woes are all concerning issues.

UConn defeats Gonzaga – Taking care of business in Seattle.

Gonzaga Takeaways – The Huskies were dominant against the Zags. 

UConn in the NBA – Lots of great stuff from Jackson, Hawkins, and Sanogo. 

Women’s Basketball

Tiffany Hayes retires from WNBA – The former Husky announced that she’ll still play overseas. 

Ayanna Patterson out for 2023-2024 - The sophomore will miss the remainder of the season after surgery.

Huskies dominate Cardinals – No.17 UConn has an impressive 86-62 win against No.18 Louisville. | Photos 

Louisville Takeaways ($) – Our thoughts on what worked for the Huskies in their dominant showing against the Cardinals. 

UConn blows past Butler – The Huskies defeated the Bulldogs 88-62 in impressive fashion. | Photos

UConn crushes Toronto Metropolitan – The Huskies earned an impressive 111-34 win in Aaliyah Edwards’ homecoming. 

Hockey

Matthew Wood makes Canada World Juniors Team – Wood will become the sixth UConn player to participate in the World Juniors tournament. 

Football

Malik Dixon Williams will remain at UConn – Despite entering the transfer portal, the starting safety announced that he would be staying as a Husky. 

National Signing Day – The Huskies officially signed their high school recruits, along with some jucos and transfers.

Baseball

Big East preseason poll out – UConn is projected to win the Big East in the preseason poll while three Huskies made the preseason all-league team.

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UConn, Great Pic

A little pre-game ceremony for Paige Bueckers’ 1,000th career point, and a couple from the game and also from Wednesday night’s loss at Seton Hall.

Parting Thoughts

One of hockey’s hidden gems is the IIHF World Junior Championship, commonly referred to as World Juniors. The 10 best under-20 teams in the world face off each year in a tournament that often starts the day after Christmas, as does this year’s event in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The venue alternates between North America and Europe, with games all day. Typically, scoring is high and the games are usually fast-paced and exciting.

This year, UConn fans have a rooting interest, as Matthew Wood became the first Husky picked to represent Canada. He’s the sixth player in program history to play in the event, after Adam Huska (Slovakia, 2016 and 2017), Tage Thompson (United States, 2017), Jachym Kondelik (Czechia, 2019), Vladistov Firstov (Russia, 2021) and Yan Kuznetzov (Russia, 2021).

Canada, which has won the last two events, is in Group A with Sweden, Finland, Germany and Latvia. The first game is on Dec. 26 at 8:30 a.m. ET against Finland.

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