HARTFORD - The No. 5 UConn men's basketball team (9-1) closes one of the fiercest non-conference schedules in program history on Friday night when it welcomes Texas (7-3) to PeoplesBank Arena. The contest will tip at 8 p.m. and air on FOX with Jason Benetti and Bill Raftery on the call.
Friday night in Hartford is a STRIPE OUT. Fans attending should be sure to check your section and determine if you should wear blue or white.
UConn is currently on a five-game winning streak, last topping No. 18 Florida by a score of 77-73 on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden. The Longhorns were last in action on Monday with a win over Southern, UT's third triumph in its last four contests.
The Huskies are 8-3 all-time against the Longhorns in a series dating back to 1993. The Friday night meeting marks the conclusion of a home-and-home series started in Austin on Dec. 8 of last season - a 76-65 victory for Connecticut. It will be third meeting in three years between the sides, including a UConn win in the 2023 Empire Classic title game on Nov. 20, 2023 at MSG. UConn is 3-1 against Texas in Connecticut and took the lone prior meeting in Hartford.
In the top-20 win over the Gators on Tuesday the Huskies were paced by a game-high 19 points out of leading scorer Solo Ball, who checks in averaging 15.0 per game on the year. Tarris Reed Jr. returned to the lineup against UF and scored 12 points with five rebounds. The senior big man has missed four games this season while posting averages of 14.8 points and 7.6 rebounds in 22.9 minutes per game.
Alex Karaban is UConn's second-leading qualified scorer and its unquestioned leader. The four-year starter averages 13.4 points, 5.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 1.2 blocks per game. He leads the BIG EAST logging over 33 minutes per game and has posted a shooting line of 50.5/43.5/84.2. Silas Demary Jr. is the fourth Husky averaging double-figures with 10.0 per game along with a team-high 5.1 assists a night.
UConn ranks top-10 nationally in scoring defense (61.7 ppg) and grades out as a top-15 offense in the country per major metrics. The Huskies lead the country in Quad 1 wins this season with four and have played five Quad 1 games, most in America. Over the last four seasons the Huskies are 27-11 against ranked opponents, most wins and best record of any program in that span.
Texas is led in scoring this season by Matas Vokietaitis averaging 15.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game on 67.5 percent shooting. Dailyn Swain, who the Huskies have faced five times in his career while at Xavier, averages 15.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and a team-high 3.5 assists per game. Jordan Pope is the third Longhorn in double-figures with 12.5 points per game while Lassina Traore paces the squad with 7.0 rebounds per game. Texas ranks among the national leaders with 89.1 points per game and a 50.6 field goal percentage.
Following the non-con finale, UConn is back in Hartford to open BIG EAST play on Tuesday, Dec. 16 against Butler.
