UConn Men’s Basketball Releases 2018-2019 Non-Conference Schedule

By Megan Gauer

UConn men’s basketball’s non-conference schedule for the 2018-2019 season was released Thursday. The schedule is highlighted by games at Madison Square Garden against defending national champions Villanova and former Big East rival Syracuse.

Of the thirteen games, nine will be played at home, either at Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center while three of the four away games will be played at Madison Square Garden. The final road game is in New Jersey, the furthest the Huskies will travel prior to conference play. The first half of the season will be light on travel, ahead of a conference schedule with trips.

The Huskies will open the season at home on Nov. 8 against Morehead State, the first of two games in the 2K Classic. They will play the second game at home against UMKC on Nov. 11. Both games will be played on-campus at Gampel Pavilion.

Then, they will head to the Big Apple for the final rounds of the 2K Classic, where they will face Syracuse on Nov 15. They will then play either Oregon or Iowa in the final game on Nov. 16, depending on the prior day’s results.

UConn then heads home for three more home games in November against Cornell (Nov. 20), New Hampshire (Nov. 24) and UMass Lowell (Nov. 27). They’ll open December with a match-up at home against the Arizona Wildcats on Dec. 2. This is the second game of a home-and-home series after the Huskies played at Arizona last December.

Dan Hurley’s squad will play Lafayette at home on Dec. 5 before heading to the Prudential Center in New Jersey for a match-up with Florida State in the Never Forget Tribute Classic on Dec. 8. The team will then head back to Connecticut for two more home games against Manhattan on Dec. 15 and Drexel on Dec. 18.

The final game of the Huskies’ non-conference schedule will be played back at MSG against the 2018 national champions Villanova. This is a part of a three game series with the Wildcats, the first game of which was played at the XL Center last year.

The location of the home games (Whether at Gampel Pavilion or the XL Center) and times of the games will be announced at a later date. Additionally, any pre-season exhibition games will also be announced later.