University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Villanova
UCONN MBB CHALLENGES NO. 12 VILLANOVA
2/3/2022 9:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball
UConn Athletic Communications / Feb. 4, 2022
The UConn men's basketball team continues its busy and challenging February with a trip to Philadelphia to take on No. 12/12 Villanova on Saturday at noon (FOX) at the Wells Fargo Center.
The No. 17/17 Huskies (15-5 overall, 6-3 BIG EAST) will play eight more games in a span of 23 days for the rest of February, including five against teams currently ranked in the Top 25.
UConn had won five straight conference games before bowing to Creighton Tuesday at the XL Center. The Huskies will be out to get back on the winning side of the ledger on Saturday against a Villanova team (16-6, 9-3) that is also coming off a league loss after winning three in a row.
UConn is led by three double-figure scorers – grad R.J. Cole (16.0), sophomore Adama Sanogo (15.0) and senior Tyrese Martin (13.2) – and two top-level rebounders, Sanogo (8.4) and sophomore Andre Jackson (7.8).
In conference games, the Huskies have a plus-7.9 points per game advantage over opponents and a plus-7.2 advantage in rebounding. UConn is shooting .422 overall and allowing opponents to shoot .397.
Villanova has been ranked in the Top 25 throughout the season, much of the early-season in the top 10. The veteran Wildcats are led by grad student Collin Gillespie, the BIG EAST preseason Player of the Year, who tops the team in scoring (17.1) and assists (3.0). Sophomore Eric Dixon is the leading rebounder (6.5).
Villanova shoots a solid .435 overall and .362 from three-point range, plus an outstanding team free throw percentage of .825.
UConn and Villanova have met 68 times in a series that dates back to 1941. Nova leads the series, 37-31, and has won the last four meetings between the teams. The last time the Huskies notched a win over Villanova was in the second round of the 2014 NCAA Tournament at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, N.Y., as UConn was on its way to the NCAA Championship.
