UConn men visit Creighton seeking first road win versus a ranked team in nine years
Feb. 10—Given what transpired in the first meeting, No. 21 UConn should expect to be walking into a hornet's nest on Saturday.
It will be difficult for the Huskies to avoid getting stung when it visits No. 23 Creighton for a 2 p.m. Big East game (Ch. 61) at a sold out CHI Health Center in Omaha, Neb.
The Bluejays (16-8, 10-3) will be out for payback after falling 69-60 in Storrs on Jan. 7, their first loss in the series. They're playing their best basketball of the season, winning seven straight to climb into a tie for third place with Providence and move into contention for the regular season title. And they've lost only one game at home this season.
"Creighton is one of the best teams in the country, so that was a great win for us," coach Dan Hurley said. "We've got a huge opportunity on Saturday."
This could be the toughest test out of the final six regular games for the Huskies (19-6, 8-6), who've won three straight. They reside in a tie for sixth place with Seton Hall.
As of Friday, they stood sixth in the NCAA NET rankings.
"We've got a lot of great wins," Hurley said. "We're hoping to end the season on a roll and get our mojo back going into tournament play."
The Huskies will look to sustain their high level of play on display in Tuesday's convincing 87-72 win over No. 10 Marquette. They rediscovered their edge and identity — relentless defense, tenacious rebounding and all-out effort and energy — missing for most of the last month.
"We've got another tough one coming up," reserve guard Nahiem Alleyne said. "We're just going to take the confidence from (Marquette) and bring it on Saturday."
To maintain momentum, the Huskies will need consistent production from their bench. Alleyne injected some life into his team against Marquette, scoring a season-high 13 points. It was his first double figure scoring game since Dec. 10.
"If that's what is happening, that's a problem for the other people," Hurley said.
Another encouraging development is the sparkling play of veteran point guard Tristen Newton, who's scored in double figures in a season-best six straight games and averaging 15.5 points during that span. He's coming off his second triple double of the season.
"It's great to see the hours in the gym pay off," Newton said.
Prior to his recent surge, Newton had his worst game of the season, going scoreless in an ugly home loss to St. John's on Jan. 15.
He's been much more aggressive since then.
"That's just Tristen Newton growing up and deciding that he had to do more, had to play better, had to attack more, had to take matters into his own hands and go out and make plays," Hurley said. "With Tristen playing at this level, with an improved defensive effort by us, it gets us back to looking more like a team that played in the non-conference and in the Creighton home game when we were really good."
It will take even better effort and execution than in the first meeting for UConn to win on Saturday and also earn its first win at Creighton. The Huskies lost their only other two trips there by a combined 10 points.
They've dropped 16 straight on the road against ranked teams, last winning in January 2014 at No. 17 Memphis, 83-73.
The match-up to watch will be in the low post where UConn's Adama Sanogo and Creighton's Ryan Kalkbrenner, two of the top 10 candidates for the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award that honors the nation's best center, reside.
Motivated by some comments that Kalkbrenner made about him last fall, Sanogo came out fired up and scored a knockout on Jan. 7, finishing with 26 points and nine rebounds. Kalkbrenner had just nine points and four rebounds. He came into the game averaging 15.3 points.
No. 21 UCONN at No. 23 CREIGHTON
Location: CHI Health Center, Omaha, Neb.
Tip: 2 p.m. (Fox)
Records: UConn 19-6, 8-6; Creighton 16-8, 10-3
Last game: UConn beat No. 10 Marquette, 87-72, Tuesday; Creighton won at Seton Hall, 75-62, Wednesday
Probable starters: UConn, 6-5 sr. guard Tristen Newton (10.5 pts, 4.2 rebs, 4.4 assists), 6-6 jr. guard Andre Jackson (5.8 pts, 6.2 rebs, 4.4 assists), 6-5 so. guard Jordan Hawkins (16.4 pts, 4 rebs), 6-8 r-fr. forward Alex Karaban (9.8 pts, 4.1 rebs), 6-9 jr. forward Adama Sanogo (17.2 pts, 7.2 rebs)
Creighton, 6-0 so. guard Ryan Nembhard (11.6 pts, 5.2 assists), 6-4 so. guard Trey Alexander (13.3 pts, 4 rebs), 6-7 sr. guard Baylor Scheierman (13.3 pts, 8.3 rebs), 6-7 so. forward Arthur Kaluma (12.4 pts, 6.5 rebs), 7-1 jr. center Ryan Kalkbrenner (15.1 pts, 6.8 rebs, 2.4 blks).
Noteworthy: One of two remaining regular season games versus ranked competition. Huskies 2-3 vs. top 25. ... Series: UConn trails 5-1, winning the last meeting 69-60 on Jan. 7 in Storrs. Huskies won despite shooting 35 percent and being out-rebounded 49-34. Bluejays shot 32.8 percent. ... Creighton picked to win Big East in league coaches preseason poll. ... Top reserve: 6-10 fr. center Fredrick King (4.2 pts, 2.9 rebs). ... Kalkbrenner the defending Big East defensive player of the year. First in the Big East in blocks per game. Bluejays are 16-5 when he is in the lineup. ... Player to watch: Kaluma, who had 14 pts and a career best 16 rebs in the first meeting. ... Creighton ranks first in the nation in fewest fouls per game at 12.8, first in Big East action in scoring defense at 65.2 pts and FG percentage defense at 40.6. ... Hot: Bluejays own more wins (five) over the Huskies than any team since the start of the 2020-21 seasons. Cold: Reserves Nahiem Alleyne and Joey Calcaterra shooting 28.6 percent and 27.6, respectively, in Big East play. ... Huskies are 9-2 when Newton scores double figures. ... UConn 4-4 on the road, Creighton 11-1 at home. ... Up next: UConn has a week break before hosting Seton Hall at noon on Saturday, Feb. 18.
— Gavin Keefe
