Busting Brackets
Fansided

Big East Basketball: UConn, Seton Hall remains in hunt of 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) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
10 of 12
Next
Big East Basketball James Bouknight Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Big East Basketball James Bouknight Connecticut Huskies (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) /

3. UConn Huskies (7-1, 4-1 Big East)

Back in the AP Top 25 Poll on Monday for the first time in over four years, the UConn Huskies managed to record a three-game sweep during their Midwest road trip.

Last week, the Huskies found themselves trailing by 18 points in the early stages of the second half against Marquette, only to come back to close the game out on a 42-13 run to win at Marquette 65-54.

Even when UConn’s star sophomore shooting guard, James Bouknight (20.3 ppg, 5.3 rpg), struggled from the floor against Marquette, shooting just 3-for-12 and scoring a season-low six points, his teammates were able to pick him up.

Senior forward, Tyler Polley (10.4 ppg), recorded his career breakout game stepping up against the Golden Eagles. Polley scored a career-high 23 points while sinking five three-point shots. Ever since last Tuesday’s game at Marquette, Polley has been on a tear, averaging 18 points per game and shooting 13-for-24 from the perimeter (54.2 percent) during his last three games.

During UConn’s last two games, things got even tougher when Bouknight was ruled out against Butler and DePaul due to an elbow injury. Things will be even more difficult now for the Huskies, as Bouknight had surgery on his left elbow and has been ruled out indefinitely.

With the unfortunate news of Bouknight’s injury, UConn will need more players to step up.

That’s where junior guard, Tyrese Martin (10.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg), has been able to emerge as a second scoring option this season. Martin scored 15 points against Butler and 18 points against DePaul to help the Huskies complete the road sweep.

The Huskies’ strength this season lies within their defense which is Top 30 nationally and first in the conference allowing their opponents to score just 61.8 points per game. Forcing turnovers was a key to victory on Monday at DePaul. The Huskies tallied 16 steals as a team with Martin adding a career-high five steals and junior point guard, R.J. Cole (9.6 ppg, 3.8 apg), tallying four steals.

UConn’s only loss this season was by two points in overtime against Creighton. At that time, the Huskies were returning from a lengthy pause which included no games within a 17-day span. Bouknight dropped a career-high 40 points against Creighton, while Polley did not play against the Blue Jays.

On Saturday against Butler, sophomore forward, Akok Akok, returned to the court for his first minutes in action in almost 11 months due to a torn Achilles tendon last season.

UConn had been getting slept on by many this season and will be even dangerous if Bouknight is able to come back fully healthy and if Akok can return mostly to his old form last season. Akok led the American Athletic Conference in 2019-20 with 2.6 blocks per game as a freshman.

The Huskies have a much-needed week of rest before hosting St. John’s on Monday. UConn’s revenge game on the road against Top 10 ranked Creighton will take place on Saturday, January 23rd.

Home/Big East