UConn is finally playing back on campus after a month of exile as they face those Ivy Leaguers from Cambridge tonight at Gampel Pavilion. The Huskies (11-3, 0-2) look to bounce back against a good Harvard team (13-1, 0-0) after two truly horrendous losses in Texas to SMU and Houston.
The Huskies looked sluggish on defense and generally out-of-sort in both games. We’ll look to see what adjustments Coach Kevin Ollie has made since Saturday. Hopefully, a home crowd will add a spark to UConn’s play. While this game is being played in Storrs, the students are still on winter break, so we likely won’t see the sort of electric atmosphere a packed student section can provide.
UConn has is 16-2 against Harvard overall, including wins in the last nine contests. This is the fifth-straight year UConn and Harvard have faced each other.
Keep an eye on the rotation tonight. Fifth-year senior Lasan Kromah and his stellar defensive skills have been seeing a lot of playing time over the last few games.
Shabazz Napier is still leading the team in scoring (16.0 per game), rebounding (6.4 per game) and assists (5.8 per game). The Huskies are going to look to get him involved early. He was a non-factor on offense in the first half of both losses in Texas. They’re going to need Bazz to play for both halves tonight if UConn is going to end their gross, gross losing streak.
Notes:
- Harvard’s leading scorer, junior Wesley Saunders, will not be playing in tonight’s contest; he’s out with a knee sprain.
- Harvard will have to rely on senior Kyle Casey (11.9 points per game) and sophomore Siyani Chambers to pick up the slack on offense with Saunders out.
- Harvard’s lone loss of the year came at Colorado on November 24th. The Crimson is riding a nine-game win streak.
- The Phil Nolan/Amida Brimah/Tyler Olander trifecta has been something of mystery over the last few games. They have been trading the starting spot, and that hasn’t often matched up with whom plays the most. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled for a Kenton Facey sighting.
- Tonight’s game airs on ESPNU. Apparently, the Huskies have a 20-4 record when their games are shown on that channel. They’re 2-1 this season. So we’ve got that goin’ for us.
