MILWAUKEE – The UConn men’s basketball workforce noticed what happened in Providence on Wednesday.
Marquette didn’t appear like a contender for last place in the Big East when it led the Friars by as many as 27 factors within the second half and left Amica Mutual Pavilion with a 22-point win. It made the Golden Eagles’ path to a surprising last-place end a bit extra sophisticated. They might climb as excessive because the No. 7 seed within the Big East Tournament with a win in opposition to UConn on Saturday within the regular-season finale for each and a series of other results across the league going their approach.
“They’re dangerous,” coach Dan Hurley mentioned. “It’s a tough game, it’s a scary game. But then I think they’re a scary team for people in New York (in the Big East Tournament), too. They’re just so much better than they were when we saw them the first time.”
For UConn, a win secures at least a share of the regular-season championship, which might be this system’s twelfth and break a tie with Villanova for probably the most in league historical past regardless of a seven-year absence.
The Huskies didn’t have any bother with Marquette after they met at Gampel Pavilion in early January.
UConn held the Golden Eagles, who had misplaced 5 in a row at that time, to simply 32.2% taking pictures from the sphere and led by as many as 23 factors in a 73-57 win. Solo Ball, who’s had a few of the finest video games of his profession in opposition to Marquette, led the best way with 17 factors regardless of solely making one 3-pointer because the groups each shot 5-for-24 from past the arc. Ball made seven 3-pointers on 9 makes an attempt when the Huskies visited Milwaukee final yr.
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“This game that we’re going into right now is a championship. Everything’s on the line. That’s all that we’re thinking about,” Ball mentioned. “For myself, I think I need to just make sure I’m always in the flow of the game. … Running off screens, being physical, getting rebounds, diving on the floor, just doing what it takes, doing the little things that Coach has been talking about this whole week with me and the rest of the group as well.”
The Huskies have gotten each opponent’s finest shot all season. It ought to be anticipated once more on Saturday because the Golden Eagles acknowledge wing Chase Ross and stretch middle Ben Gold on Senior Day.
“They’re gonna want to leave with a win,” mentioned Alex Karaban, who had the identical feeling when he led the Huskies previous Seton Hall in his ultimate recreation in Connecticut on Saturday. Karaban is trying for the second Big East regular-season title of his profession.
“It’s extremely hard to do. This is a championship that we’ve been working for since mid-December when we played Butler first,” he mentioned. “That’s something we’ve been working extremely hard for. Teams can get hot, teams could get cold, teams go through injury spurts and (the regular-season title) is really, who’s the toughest team? Who’s the most resilient? Who’s willing to stay together? Winning a regular season championship, it’s really hard to do and I think it’s really impressive to win.”
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Top freshmen meet once more
Nigel James, the Marquette level guard, has one of the best numbers of any freshman within the Big East. His workforce’s success, and the play of UConn’s Braylon Mullins and Villanova’s Acaden Lewis, is all that’s holding him from operating away with the league’s freshman of the yr award.
“Obviously (James is an) explosive player, steal your ball on defense, constantly attacking on offense,” Hurley mentioned. “(Coach) Shaka (Smart’s) really invested in a lot of these young players. You can see what he’s building and how much they’ve really improved since the first time we saw their team.”
James had a team-high 15 factors on 5-for-18 taking pictures from the sphere within the first matchup. It wasn’t an awesome taking pictures night time for Mullins, both, as he completed with seven factors on 3-for-10 taking pictures, simply 1-for-7 from past the arc. Hurley would love to see extra from his star rookie down the stretch of what might be his ultimate yr in faculty.
“You’d like to see him get more shots,” Hurley mentioned. “When you look at a scenario of our workforce now. … It’s sort of just like the 2024 workforce’s steadiness. You’re gonna have video games the place you solely get eight or 9 pictures, you’ve acquired to be environment friendly, you’ve acquired to be a two-way participant, you’ve acquired to be on the backboard. That’s why we recruited him, as a result of he was a basketball participant and a man who desires to win. He was by no means a stat man or a ‘me, me, me’ man. That’s what makes the child so particular and why we’ve had the success we’ve had.
“That kid, he won’t say two words. He’s one of the best shooters in the country but he’s on the court with Silas (Demary Jr.), who’s also talented, and Solo Ball, who’s also talented, and Karaban and centers who could score. These guys have got to be efficient on the shots they get.”
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What to know
Site: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee.
Time: 12:30 p.m., Saturday.
Records: No. 4 UConn: 27-3 (17-2 Big East), Marquette: 11-19 (6-13)
Series: UConn leads, 14-8.
Last assembly: Jan. 4, 2026 – No. 4 UConn 73, Marquette 57 at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.
TV: FOX – Tim Brando, Donny Marshall
Radio: UConn Sports Network on FOX Sports Radio 97-9 – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman
