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Big East Basketball: Creighton, Villanova lead latest power rankings

By Salvador Lopez

NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: The Big East logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Xavier Musketeers and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center on February 1, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
NEWARK, NJ - FEBRUARY 01: The Big East logo on the floor before a college basketball game between the Xavier Musketeers and the Seton Hall Pirates at the Prudential Center on February 1, 2020 in Newark, New Jersey. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /
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Big East Basketball James Bouknight Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
Big East Basketball James Bouknight Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images) /

4. UConn Huskies (3-0)

  • Wins: vs Central Connecticut State (102-75), vs Hartford (69-57), vs USC (61-58 Neutral)
  • Next Game: Friday 12/11 at 7 pm ET vs St. John’s

After victories over Central Connecticut State 102-75 and Hartford 69-57 in their first two games, UConn won a hard-fought battle 61-58 in their first challenging matchup of the season against USC.

The Huskies defense was the story of its win over USC on Thursday, limiting a USC offense that entered its matchup at 53.5 percent shooting to just 35.8 percent shooting from the floor on Thursday.

Sophomore guard, James Bouknight (18.7 ppg, 6.3 rpg) is a rising star that has been the catalyst of UConn’s offense. Bouknight has been impressive to start this season and is looking like a potential All-Big East First-Team selection and first-round draft selection if he keeps on breaking out. Bouknight led the Huskies on Thursday with 18 points, making three three-point shots, while also going a perfect 5-for-5 at the free-throw line.

With the steps that Bouknight has taken to a terrific start to this season, fellow teammate senior forward Isaiah Whaley (10.7 ppg, 7.3 rpg) has also made tremendous improvements upwards during his UConn career. In 2018-19, Whaley had an extremely disappointing season, averaging a low 0.8 points per game and just 1 rebound per game.

This season, Whaley is a defensive force leading the number two team nationally in blocks per game. Through three games, UConn currently is averaging seven blocks per game as a team. Whaley posted back-to-back games against Hartford and USC with five blocks, while currently being Top 10 nationally in blocks averaging 3.7 blocks per game.

Head coach Dan Hurley has used two great transfer pickups to benefit UConn this season. Junior point guard, R.J. Cole (11 ppg, 3.7 apg) was a solid pickup from Howard. Junior guard Tyrese Martin from Rhode Island (8.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg) is an excellent rebounder for his 6-foot-6 size. I expect Cole and Martin to keep on improving throughout the season as they learn under Hurley.

The Huskies have a deep roster with nine players who are currently averaging over 12 minutes per game. Hoping to return at some point this season to provide even more depth in UConn’s frontcourt is 6-foot-9 forward, Akok Akok, who missed the end of last season due to an Achilles injury.

UConn had two games that have been cancelled so far due to COVID-19 against Vanderbilt and North Carolina State. Both of these games would have been against power conference competition in the non-conference slate.

As of now, UConn’s next game is scheduled for Friday, December 11 at home against St. John’s, when the Huskies will open up Big East Conference play at home.

With a deep roster for the Huskies this season that has two key impact transfers and two new four-star recruits to the roster, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Huskies break into the Top 25 rankings at some point this season.

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