Men's Basketball Open Thread: UConn vs. Georgetown, 12 p.m. | TV: CBS

First Half Recap

The Huskies started off slowly but quickly picked up and grabbed the lead, pulling away at the end of the half to make it 40-33 at the break.

UConn's offense has looked great, currently shooting 50 percent from the field and from three-point range, with strong ball movement, and discipline. UConn's four best players are all productive and doing what they do best. Rodney Purvis leads all scorers with 11, coming off the bench with Omar Calhoun inserted into the starting lineup.

Gibbs has nine points, making a few nice drives to the hoop and finishing with nice touch- something he had struggled with before. Hamilton appears to have shaken off his cold run, currently 2-4 from the field with two three-pointers on his way to eight points to go along with five rebounds and three assists.

Shonn Miller has seven points and three rebounds. He's had a couple of nice finishes down low and has been strong defensively as well.

If those four can keep it up, the Huskies should be able to take care of business in the second half. UConn is 12-0 when leading at the halftime break.

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One of the Big East's best rivalries will be renewed Saturday afternoon, when UConn hosts Georgetown in the Huskies' final non-conference game of the season.

UConn (13-5, 4-2 American Athletic Conference) needs a win against the Hoyas (12-7, 5-2 Big East) to help improve its NCAA Tournament resume. The Huskies only have three wins against the RPI top 100. The Hoyas are 76th in the RPI, while UConn enters the game at No. 65.

Georgetown is coming off a big win at No. 5 Xavier (No. 5 RPI) Jan. 19. That 81-72 victory was far and away the Hoyas' best of the season, ahead of Syracuse and Wisconsin.

UConn is looking for its third straight win after dropping two out of three early in conference play in the American. The Huskies have defeated Houston (at Houston for the first time in conference play) and Tulane since losing at Tulsa.

The Huskies need to get their stars rolling again if they are going to keep winning. Rodney Purvis has eight points the last two games, while Daniel Hamilton had seven points against Tulane and is 7-for-20 from the field the last two games.

Without Amida Brimah, the offense has struggled, dropping from the top 30 to 96th in offensive efficiency. But the defense has actually improved, now up to 11th in the nation.

UConn trails in the all-time series 35-29, partly because the Hoyas claimed six of the final eight meetings between the two teams, including the last meeting, a double overtime thriller at Gampel Pavilion.

The Huskies and Hoyas are tied for the most Big East Tournament titles in history, each possessing seven. Georgetown won six of the first 10 tournaments, while UConn won seven from 1990 to 2011.

Who will win this renewal of the rivalry? How important is this game in the grand scheme of UConn's season? How do you feel about the Huskies' season at the moment? Who steps up today? Share all your thoughts on today's showdown on our Open Thread below.