I'm not breaking any news by saying last week was a disappointing one for the Huskies. They opened up Big East play with a double-digit loss at Pittsburgh, and followed that up by needing overtime to beat lowly South Florida. The question now is what exactly should we be expecting from this UConn team? Was last week an aberration brought on by youth and can the Huskies return to playing at a Maui-like level? Or, was Maui the aberration and will better Big East opponents be able to stop the Huskies by frustrating Kemba Walker and controlling the post?
I suspect the answer is somewhere in between. The Huskies have shown that at their best, they can hang with anyone in the country. The trick is for them to actually play at their best. This isn't unexpected, as we've said all along, any team with seven freshmen will be prone to inconsistency. Now the Huskies just need to find a way to overcome it.
Tonight would be a good time to do just that as the Huskies travel to South Bend to take on a dangerous Notre Dame team. The Irish had a bit of an up-and-down week, which they started by taking down Georgetown, but finished with a 12-point loss to Syracuse in the Carrier Dome.
Notre Dame is 12-2 and that second loss came to the Kentucky team UConn blew out in Maui. The transitive property doesn't work in sports, but that could be worth noting as a benchmark.
On paper, the two teams seem pretty evenly matched. KenPom has the Irish as the 28th best team in the country (UConn is 32). Going by efficiency numbers, Notre Dame edges out the Huskies offensively, but UConn has a slight upper-hand defensively.
The game tips at 7 p.m. EST. SNY and ESPN3 have your tv coverage. This is your OpenThread. Go Huskies.