The Huskies are coming off of a week that saw them finish dead last in the Maui Invitational after three straight losses to unranked teams. In one of the biggest drops in recent memory, they went from second in both polls to 25th in the AP and unranked in the Coaches. Other than the tournament, they have played an extremely weak schedule, with no opponent ranking higher than 311th, according to KenPom.
The Bears have played four ranked teams, going 2-2 with wins against Arkansas and St John’s and losses to Gonzaga and Tennessee. They will be playing a UConn team without their leading scorer, Alex Karaban, who is still in concussion protocol. Not only is he the leading scorer, he’s 2nd on the team in assists and third in rebounds. We’re riding with a team that has been battle-tested against a team that is still shell-shocked from their trip to the islands and will be playing without their best player. The Huskies may indeed rally the troops and climb the rankings again this season, but that journey will have to wait at least one more game.