After a brief foray into Texas, UConn (12-2, 1-2) returns to conference play tonight as they host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (10-5, 1-2) at the XL center and try to get back to .500 in the Big East. The Huskies, coming off of a big win over Texas, have a soft week to ease themselves back into the conference grind (they follow up Rutgers with DePaul), and though Rutgers isn't terrible, they've lost three of their last four and the one win came over a struggling Providence team.
I'd like to be able to get fired up for tonight's matchup, but I'll admit its hard to find the energy. If you go by KenPom's numbers, Rutgers is basically Harvard with a worse offense and slightly better defense, and UConn should win this without too much struggle. Now, there are no free games in the Big East, so UConn could certainly get trapped, especially since they're playing in The Morgue, but I doubt it. All I'm looking for is for UConn to use their next two games to build momentum before a huge matchup with Villanova last Monday.
The game tips at 7 at the XL Center. SNY and ESPN3 have your TV coverage. This is your OpenThread. Go Huskies.