MBB: Another Ranked Opponent for Huskies
HARTFORD, Conn. – The UConn men's basketball team goes after a season sweep of nationally-ranked Marquette Tuesday night at the XL Center but will have to cool off a hot team to make it happen. The game time is 6:30 p.m. (FS1).
The Huskies (15-6 overall, 6-4 BIG EAST) defeated Marquette, 78-70, on Dec. 21 in Milwaukee, but the Golden Eagles (16-7, 8-4) have won eight of their last nine games to rise to No. 18/19 and into third place in the BIG EAST standings.
The No. 24/23 Huskies will be out to snap a two-game skid, the first time all season they have lost two games in a row. Leading the way for UConn will be grad student guard R.J. Cole, who tops the team in scoring (16.4) and assists (4.5). Sophomore Adama Sanogo is the second-leading scorer (14.9) and leads the team in rebounding (8.1). Add in senior Tyrese Martin (13.2 PPG) and UConn boasts the top-scoring trio in the BIG EAST Conference.
Completing the Huskies' usual starting lineup are grad Isaiah Whaley (7.7 PPG, 5.1 RPG) and sophomore Andre Jackson (7.1 PPG, 7.6 RPG). The starting unit has a record of 11-2 this season.
Marquette redshirt freshman forward Justin Lewis is the team's leading scorer (16.6) and rebounder (7.9) and has become a Player of the Year candidate. Grad student Darryl Morsell is the Golden Eagles' other double-figure scorer (13.5), but Marquette has plenty of other scorers, as the team averages 75.1 PPG in BIG EAST games. In the conference, the Golden Eagles are shooting a solid .472 overall, .393 from three-point range, and an outstanding .799 from the foul line.
Marquette will be the second of three straight-ranked opponents for UConn, which fell to #12 Villanova last Saturday and travels to Cincinnati to take on #25 Xavier on Friday.
Source: UConn Athletics
