University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Arkansas Pine Bluff
#5 Huskies Back At Gampel To Take On UAPB, Saturday
12/8/2023 12:05:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STORRS – The No. 5 UConn men's basketball team (8-1) is back in action for its final home non-conference tilt of the season on Saturday afternoon when the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions (4-6) visit Gampel Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 12 p.m. on FS2 with Dave Sims and Vin Parise on the call.
UConn returns to Gampel Pavilion 2-0 in the building this season and winners of 21 of its last 22 contests in Storrs. Overall head coach Dan Hurley is 41-6 (.872) at Gampel during his tenure at Connecticut. The meeting with Arkansas-Pine Bluff will be a first in the respective program histories, marking the third first-time opponent for UConn this season.
The Huskies are coming off an emphatic win in their last outing, taking down No. 9 North Carolina, 87-76, in a top-10 showdown at the Jimmy V Classic in New York. Cam Spencer (Davidsonville, Md.) led UConn with 23 points and added seven rebounds and six assists to help dispatch the Tar Heels, while Alex Karaban (Southborough, Mass.) chipped in 18 points and nine rebounds.
Spencer and Karaban are among the five Huskies averaging double-digits this season. All-America candidate Tristen Newton (El Paso, Texas) leads UConn in scoring, rebounding and assists with 17.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.1 assists per game. Spencer is second on the team in scoring with 15.9 points per game and Karaban adds 14.4 per game.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff most recently dropped back-to-back contests to Oklahoma and Gonzaga in its last two outings. The Golden Lions boast a high-scoring offense that puts up 85.6 points per game, but UAPB also allows opponents to score 88.1 per game on 49.1 percent shooting. Kylen Milton leads the way with 20.4 points per game and shoots over 40 percent from 3-point range, as does second-leading scorer Rashad Williams who pours in 18.2 per game.
The Huskies are looking to continue several key trends that have led to early season success. UConn has out-rebounded all nine of its opponents and ranks sixth in America with a +13.8 rebounding margin. UConn is also top-10 nationally in assists per game with 18.7 helpers per contest and is among the national leaders in field goal percentage, blocked shots, assist/turnover ratio and scoring margin.
Following the match-up with the Golden Lions the Huskies head West to take on No. 7 Gonzaga in the Continental Tire Seattle Tip-Off at Climate Pledge Arena. The rematch of the 2023 West Regional Final is set for 10 p.m. (ET) on Dec. 15.
