The No. 4 Huskies are back in Hartford on Friday night, and this one comes with a little extra shine. UConn welcomes Ohio State to PeoplesBank Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip in a BIG EAST-B1G matchup that will air on TNT with Brian Anderson, Grant Hill and Andy Katz on the call.
The arena is set up for a STRIPE OUT, with fans told before the game whether their section should wear BLUE or WHITE. It’s also a Husky Happy Hour in Hartford, with $4 domestic beers, $4 fountain sodas and $4 slices of pizza available from doors opening at 6 p.m. until tip-off.
UConn comes in at 3-0, a start that has become familiar under Dan Hurley. It’s the Huskies’ eighth 3-0 opening in nine seasons with Hurley at the helm.
Ohio State arrives with momentum of its own after winning its last two, and the Buckeyes are ranked as a top-30 team by Torvik and Haslam. They’re also the second of seven opponents in the current Kenpom top-35 on UConn’s non-conference schedule.
The matchup also adds another chapter to a series that has been around for a while. UConn and Ohio State have met seven times since 1983, with the Huskies holding a 3-4 record.
Their first meetings came in a home-and-home before UConn’s modern rise, and Ohio State swept those games in the 1983-84 and 1984-85 seasons. The teams then crossed paths three straight times in postseason play.
UConn beat the Buckeyes 72-67 in the 1988 NIT Championship, a result that helped launch the Jim Calhoun era in Storrs. Ohio State answered in the Second Round of the 1992 NCAA Tournament in Cincinnati, knocking off the 9-seed Huskies as the 1-seed.
Then came the 1999 Final Four, where UConn won 64-58 to punch its ticket to its first national title. The most recent home-and-home split the difference, with each team protecting its own floor in 2015-16 and 2016-17.
UConn’s last outing was a lopsided one. The Huskies opened on campus Monday night with an 83-41 win over Wagner at the M&T Bank Center at Harry A.
Gampel Pavilion. Silas Demary Jr. set the tone in a balanced performance, finishing with 18 points, four rebounds, four assists and a career-high six steals.
He was part of a defensive effort that produced 14 steals, UConn’s most in a game since 2021. The Huskies forced 26 turnovers and held Wagner to 33.3 percent shooting.
Jayden Ross added 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting, Nik Khamenia scored 11 in just seven minutes before leaving with an injury, and Na’jai Hines and Braylon Mullins each finished with 10. Mullins also had four assists, while Hines contributed eight rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Through three games, Mullins is UConn’s leading scorer at 17.7 points per game. Six Huskies are averaging at least nine points, with Demary Jr. next at 14.7 points per game to go with 6.3 rebounds and a team-high 5.3 assists.
Khamenia is averaging 10.7, Colben Landrew 10.0, Hines 9.7 and Ross 9.3 while shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three. The Huskies have also been a force on the defensive end, ranking among the national leaders in scoring defense at 54.7 points per game, field goal percentage defense at 34.2 percent, turnover margin at +8.0 and rebound margin at +7.3.
Ohio State has steadied itself after an opening-night loss in Las Vegas to No. 25 BYU.
The Buckeyes followed that with home wins over Youngstown State and Marshall, the latter coming Monday. John Mobley Jr. leads the way at 19.3 points per game, and he’s one of four Buckeyes in double figures.
Amare Bynum and Andrija Jelavic both average 15.0 points, and Jelavic also leads the team with 7.3 rebounds per game.
In Other News...
UConn Just Added Another Massive Piece To Its Loaded 2027 Class
UConn keeps stacking size for the future, and the latest addition is Jack Thelen, a four-star center from Maple Grove High in Minnesota who stands 7-foot-1. Thelens commitment gives Dan Hurley and the Huskies another imposing interior prospect to build around in the 2027 recruiting class, adding to a group that already has serious national buzz.
Thelen becomes the fourth recruit in UConns 2027 class, which 247Sports currently ranks third in the country. His path to Storrs also adds a little extra intrigue, since he had previously been committed elsewhere before reopening his recruitment and landing with the Huskies, a sign that UConns pitch continues to resonate with elite big men. [Read more 🡒]