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Which teams will give UConn men's basketball the biggest challenge in 2024-25 season?

Joe Arruda, Hartford Courant on

Published in Basketball

HARTFORD, Conn. — Since January 2023, any loss the UConn men’s basketball team has suffered has been an outlier.

The Huskies got out of a Big East rut during that month and ascended into a dominant team come tournament time. Last year, after losing three NBA players, UConn handled business in the nonconference – aside from a four-point loss at Kansas with Cam Spencer hobbled and without the eventual fourth overall draft pick, Stephon Castle – and took just two additional losses as the team was again at its best when March came around.

In the NCAA Tournament, last year’s 37-3 Huskies were one of the most dominant champions of all time.

Now, losing four more NBA players and two lottery picks, coach Dan Hurley rebuilt a roster that can contend for a third consecutive title. But this year’s Huskies aren’t “bulletproof” – not yet, at least – and there are plenty of talented teams lined up to give them their best shot.

Top Challengers: Non-conference

UConn is 21-1 against non conference opponents in the last two regular seasons. Add in both NCAA Tournament runs and the Huskies are 33-1 against teams outside of the Big East, with great success beginning and ending each of the last two campaigns.

This year’s slate begins with four games against low-major opponents before UConn flies out for the Maui Invitational, where it will start with Memphis and play an additional two games – the second being against either Colorado or Michigan State and the third either Auburn, Iowa State, Dayton or North Carolina, depending on how the bracket shakes out.

Another so-called ‘buy’ game is set for shortly after the Huskies return from Maui, followed by a trio of ranked games against Baylor, Texas and Gonzaga – the Huskies’ top challengers in the non conference portion.

Here’s a look at the teams that will be the Huskies’ biggest challengers this year.

Baylor

Coach: Scott Drew (2021 national champion) 2023-24 result: 24-11, lost in NCAA Tournament second round. Preseason rankings: AP No. 8, KenPom No. 11 Game: Dec. 4 at Gampel Pavilion. Key players: V.J. Edgecomb (6-5, Fr., G); Jeremy Roach (6-2, Gr., G); Norchad Omier (6-7, R-Sr., F); Langston Love (6-5, R-Jr., G)

Like UConn, Baylor lost four of its five starters following the 2023-24 season. But Scott Drew and his staff brought in a haul that is highlighted by five-star freshman V.J. Edgecombe, who had a UConn offer, former Duke point guard Jeremy Roach and Norchad Omier, who played against UConn in the 2023 Final Four while he was at Miami. Baylor freshman point guard Robert Wright III was teammates with Liam McNeeley at Montverde Academy last year.

The Bears have made three consecutive second round exits in the NCAA Tournament since their 2021 title, but look to have a team that should break that streak this season.

Texas

Coach: Rodney Terry 2023-24 result: 21-13, lost in NCAA Tournament second round. Preseason rankings: AP No. 19, KenPom No. 18 Game: Dec. 8 at the Moody Center in Austin. Key players: Jordan Pope (6-2, Jr., G); Tramon Mark (6-5, Sr., G); Arthur Kaluma (6-7, Sr., F); Tre Johnson (6-6, Fr., G)

UConn beat Texas by 10 points last season at Madison Square Garden behind a dual-effort from Alex Karaban and Samson Johnson. It will be a bit of a homecoming for Liam McNeeley when the Longhorns roll out a roster in Austin with six newcomers among their top seven players. Jordan Pope and Tramon Mark are both scorers from Oregon State and Arkansas, respectively, and Arthur Kaluma is a former Big East foe who played two years at Creighton before going to Kansas State last year.

With so many scorers entering the program, the natural question for Texas is how its defense will stack up.

Gonzaga

Coach: Mark Few 2023-24 result: 27-8, lost in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Preseason rankings: AP No. 6, KenPom No. 9 Game: Dec. 14 at Madison Square Garden. Key players: Ryan Nembhard (6-0, Sr., G); Nolan Hickman (6-2, Sr., G); Khalif Battle (6-5, Gr., G); Graham Ike (6-9, R-Sr., C)

One of the most experienced rosters in college basketball, Gonzaga lost just one starter in Anton Watson, their top on-ball defender, who lead the Bulldogs with 20 points when they played UConn in Seattle last year. Ryan Nembhard, the former Creighton point guard, Nolan Hickman and Graham Ike all return after playing significant roles last season. And senior Michael Ajayi joins from Pepperdine as a sure scoring threat.

Gonzaga doesn’t quite have the top-end talent it did when it made the national title game in 2021, but the Bulldogs seem to have a good chance at making another run with their depth and offensive firepower.

Top Challengers: Big East

Only three Big East teams made the 2024 NCAA Tournament after UConn cruised through conference play with a record 18 wins to just two losses (at Seton Hall and Creighton), and claimed the league’s regular season and tournament titles.

 

“We’ve had considerable dialogue with members of the selection committee and within the conference in the aftermath of the selection, and we feel very confident that the strength of our rosters and our schedules this year will lead to our usual (amount of bids) next March,” Big East Commissioner Val Ackerman said at Big East Media Day this month.

UConn was followed by Creighton and Xavier – which was not an NCAA Tournament team last season – as the top three in the league’s preseason poll. Marquette and St. John’s rounded out the top five with a noticeable gap before Providence and Villanova.

The top teams to watch out for based on their roster and recent results against UConn:

Creighton

Coach: Greg McDermott 2023-24 result: 25-10 (14-6 Big East), lost in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. Preseason rankings: AP No. 15, KenPom No. 12 Games: Jan 18 at Gampel Pavilion, Feb. 11 at CHI Health Center in Omaha Key players: Ryan Kalkbrenner (7-1, Sr., C); Steven Ashworth (6-1, Sr., G); Pop Isaacs (6-2, Jr., G)

There were key departures from Omaha in Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman, but Ryan Kalkbrenner returns for a fifth season of college basketball and so does Steven Ashworth, who played a huge part in the Bluejays’ rout of UConn in Omaha last season. That first win in Omaha (0-4) remains elusive for UConn and Hurley, who went viral for jawing back at a fan as the court was stormed last season.

New wings in Pop Isaacs (Texas Tech) and Jamiya Neal (Arizona State) and their adjustment to the team will be critical early in the season, but questionable bench depth may remain a concern by the time the Bluejays visit Storrs in January.

St. John’s

Coach: Rick Pitino (1996, 2013 national champion) 2023-24 result: 20-13 (11-9 Big East), missed NCAA Tournament Preseason ranking: KenPom No. 19 Games: Feb. 7 at Gampel Pavilion, Feb. 23 at Madison Square Garden Key players: Kadary Richmond (6-6, Gr., G); R.J. Luis Jr. (6-7, Jr., F); Deivon Smith (6-0, Sr., G); Zuby Ejiofor (6-9, Jr., F)

Rick Pitino was a splash, and then he made one. After a rollercoaster first year at St. John’s, Pitino went out and got one of the top players in the transfer portal in Seton Hall guard Kadary Richmond. Now Pitino, who’s had his season ended by the Huskies the last two years but played them close each time, has a player who led the Pirates to wins over the eventual champs in each of the last two seasons. Like last year, it may take some time for the transfer-laden Johnnies to get into full form.

“(UConn) coming to the Prudential Center (last year) was a big moment for me, knowing I had the chance to beat the defending champs,” Richmond said at Big East Media Day. “When you play against them, you kind of can feel that they’re the real deal whether it’s a close game or a blowout. They deserve what they got these past two years.”

Xavier

Coach: Sean Miller 2023-24 result: 16-18 (9-11 Big East) Preseason rankings: KenPom No. 33 Games: Dec. 18 at the XL Center, Jan. 25 at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati Key players: Zach Freemantle (6-9, Gr., F); Dayvion McKnight (6-0, Gr., G); Ryan Conwell (6-4, Jr., G)

Xavier, a team that beat UConn twice during the 2022-23 season, took a 43-point drubbing at the XL Center that had coach Sean Miller later saying, “They beat us so bad that you wondered if you would ever be able to play basketball or win a basketball game again.” His feeling about that roster was clear as he cleaned house with 10 players departing this offseason and seven experienced transfers coming in. The Musketeers only have one freshman, a walk-on, on their roster this year.

The national media is high on Miller’s rebuilt roster, but returning a healthy version of Zach Freemantle will be a major factor in how their season goes.

Other Big East teams of note: Marquette, Seton Hall, Providence

Marquette lost two cornerstone players in one of the nation’s best point guards, Tyler Kolek, and center Oso Ighodaro, and would be expected to have an off year. But Kam Jones will be a major factor and Hurley, whose respect for Shaka Smart and the Marquette program is clear, voted the Golden Eagles No. 1 in the Big East Preseason Poll.

Seton Hall lost nine players after winning the NIT and brought in eight transfers and two freshmen without having superior NIL money to offer. But coach Shaheen Holloway has proven to get the best out of his players and Hurley’s alma mater has gotten the best of UConn when they meet in New Jersey.

Providence returns a potential Big East Player of the Year candidate Bryce Hopkins if he is able to return to form following the knee injury that took him out of the season early last year. Devin Carter, who won Player of the Year for his instrumental role in the Friars’ season, was drafted as a lottery pick and will be a difficult player to replace.

Kyle Neptune hasn’t had the easiest time at Villanova, but the Wildcats are beginning the season as KenPom’s 20th-ranked team despite missing the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two years. Veteran big man Eric Dixon returns, but the Wildcats lost four starters and 68% of their scoring, over 70% of their 3-pointers and assists.

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