UConn men’s basketball (26-3, 16-2) will look to build off of its best performance in conference play, as the Huskies host Seton Hall (19-9, 9-8) in their final home game of the season in Storrs on Saturday.
The Pirates are ranked No. 54 in KenPom, with the No. 184 offense in the country, No. 11 defense, and rank 23rd in the NET.
They’re the only Big East team truly on the NCAA Tournament bubble, probably on the outside looking in right now. Still, Shaheen Holloway’s group has taken massive leaps this year after being picked to finish last in the league by many. Seton Hall has had a defense that ranks near the top of the country all year and has been competitive in nearly every game this year because of it.
UConn sits at No. 6 in the AP Poll and No. 9 in both KenPom and NET. The Huskies have the 11th-most efficient defense in the country, but struggled through a rough four-game stretch in early February on that side of the ball. As mentioned, the Huskies picked up their signature Big East win earlier this week by dismantling St. John’s in Hartford by 32 points, holding the Red Storm without a field goal for the final 17:28 of the game.
The Huskies did their part in tying the Red Storm in the loss column with a Big East regular-season title on the line, but would need to finish ahead of them should they want to be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament due to tie-breaker rules that favor St. John’s.
Last time UConn played Seton Hall, the Huskies snapped their four-year curse of losing in Newark, escaping a ferocious second-half push from the Pirates to come out on top. They’ll be going for the sweep on Senior Day, as Alex Karaban, Tarris Reed Jr., Malachi Smith, Dwayne Koroma, and Alec Millender.
Date/Time: Saturday, February 28, 12:00 p.m.
TV/Stream: FS1, FoxSports.com
Radio: UConn Sports Network, Sirius XM 201, Sirius/XM online streaming
Odds: TBD
Location: Gampel Pavilion – Storrs, Connecticut
KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 71, Seton Hall 57
Series History
The Huskies and Pirates have played 75 times in their history with UConn holding a 51-24 advantage. The Huskies are 7-5 since rejoining the Big East in 2020, making this one of the most competitive league matchups of the Dan Hurley era. In their last meeting on January 13, 2026, UConn won 69-64 as Reed Jr. tied his season high with 21 points while Karaban and Braylon Mullins were also in double figures.
Availability report
Jaylin Stewart was out for UConn’s last game with right knee inflammation. We’ll know more when the injury report comes out.
What to Watch For
We have a new bar.
What went down in Hartford earlier this week is something that you probably won’t see again for a long, long time. UConn broke St. John’s, a team that had won 13 straight coming in. The Red Storm missed their final 24 shots to close the game, something that hadn’t happened at the Division I level – let alone a Top 15 team in the country – in over eight years.
It would be ridiculous to have Wednesday be the new standard, but we now know that it’s possible. When UMass Lowell came into PeoplesBank Arena in November and surrendered 110 points in a loss, at least they were able to muster 47 on the offensive end. The lowest total by a Big East opponent was 54 points back in December against DePaul. Now it’s 40, coming against a team that may still end up as the top-seed in the Big East Tournament.
Hurley has said since the Villanova game that his team is acting like the postseason has already started. Based on their recent performances in Philly and Hartford, it looks like they’re stepping up to deliver.
Senior sendoffs
Five Huskies will be honored for Senior Day on Saturday morning before the game: Alex Karaban, Tarris Reed Jr., Malachi Smith, Dwayne Koroma & Alec Millender. Karaban is the only one to spend his whole career with the program, but Reed will also have spent his last two years of college in Storrs.
Koroma and Millender committed to UConn last year as end-of-the-bench veterans. Both saw some playing time earlier in the year, particularly Koroma when Reed was injured. They both made an appearance in the St. John’s game on Wednesday as Koroma scored his first points since December with a pair of free throws and a dunk.
Smith also joined the Huskies this offseason. He could have gone somewhere to be their starting point guard, but he opted to come to Storrs in a reserve role. There have been ups and downs this year, but he is still a crucial piece towards what the Huskies want to accomplish.
Reed transferred from Michigan after his sophomore season, with big shoes to fill after Donovan Clingan declared for the draft. He’s been an excellent player for the Huskies and is still scratching the surface of his potential. He arguably had the best game of his UConn career on Wednesday with 20 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks while he held Zuby Ejiofor to six points and Bryce Hopkins only scored eight on 14 shots. Hurley mentioned countless times that this year’s team goes where Reed goes, proving just how valuable he is to the construction of the roster.
Then there’s Karaban. The four-year Husky will leave Storrs as the winningest player in program history and is six points away from 10th in the all-time scoring list. Hurley has repeatedly credited Karaban with changing the culture of the program and the Massachusetts native is constantly garnering praise from opposing coaches, and who are we to disagree?
Fixable mistakes
When UConn won on the road at Seton Hall for the first time since 2021, it certainly wasn’t how they scripted it. They went 3-17 from three, missed 10 missed free throws, and turned it over 17 times. Fortunately for the Huskies, the Pirates were near equal in these categories, slightly worse in some. They went 1-16 from deep, also missed 10 free throws, and turned the ball over 14 times.
The Huskies have cleaned up these miscues for the most part, particularly the shooting, ever since. From beyond the arc, they haven’t shot worse than that ever since and have hit 10+ threes in five of 11 games. They’ve been north of 70% at the foul line seven times since going 62% from the line in Newark. The turnovers have been up and down, but after that Seton Hall game, UConn’s eighth straight with double digits, they had less than 10 in the ensuing four games that followed.
It’s no secret that Seton Hall is going to turn you over and force you into some tough and bad shots, it’s a hard-nosed defense, but UConn should have enough to come out on top.
First to 60?
Both UConn and Seton Hall rank in the Top 15 in points allowed per game in the country. The first matchup ended up in the mid-60s, but that included a crazy surge at the end of the game by Seton Hall and some additional free throws. In the Hall’s last game, it beat Georgetown 51-47 in Newark. The Pirates are much more comfortable in a low-scoring game.
The Husky offense is much improved since that mid-January clash, but so is the Pirate defense. This one could easily come down to the first to reach 60 ends up winning. UConn is no stranger to playing top defenses, going 4-2 against KenPom top 20 defenses. Seton Hall, on the other hand, is 0-2 against them.
Bubble Watch
As mentioned, Seton Hall is the only Big East team as of now that either isn’t comfortably in the field of 68 (UConn, St. John’s, Villanova) or without a doubt needs to win the Big East Tournament (the other seven) to punch their ticket. The Pirates’ bubble is close to popping, but seeing how weak the cut line is around the country this year, there is still certainly a path for them to get in, even if they can’t win on Saturday. Win in Storrs and, well, that honestly may be enough compared to some of the teams that are around them in all of the bracketologies on social media.