NCAA Basketball: Kansas and Baylor rise, Tennessee falls in latest top 25 power ranking
By Joey Loose
19. Connecticut (19-7)
These Huskies were playing some fantastic basketball to start the season, jumping out to a 14-0 start and rising in the metrics and rankings. Big East play has been far less kind, including a stretch where the Huskies won just two of eight games. The last couple of weeks have been a little better, though this past week was certainly another mixed bag.
On Tuesday night, the Huskies got their most impressive win of the conference season, taking out a Top 10 Marquette squad with an 87-72 win at home. A great all-around offensive effort saw Tristen Newton (12 points, 12 assists, 10 rebounds) with a triple-double and Jordan Hawkins with a 20-point performance. Connecticut couldn’t quite run their winning streak to four games, falling 56-53 at Creighton on Saturday. Adama Sanogo had a nice performance with 17 points and 10 rebounds to help them outrebound the Bluejays, but it just wasn’t enough in another classic matchup between these two teams.
At 8-7 in Big East play, Connecticut is certainly a step or two behind where many expected them several weeks back. Make no mistake, this team can be a force and a factor in the postseason; their performance against Marquette proved that. It’s hard for anyone to win when the offense struggles as they did over the weekend. Their only outing next week is a home date with Seton Hall, looking to avenge a road loss from exactly one month prior.