Know Your Foe: UConn

Georgetown and UConn playing a Saturday game in the middle of Big East play.

Nothing out of the usual here. Aside from the fact that, you know, UConn is in a subpar conference because of their love for football.

Regardless, we talked to Aman Kidwai from The UConn Blog to see what Hoyas fans should expect out of the Huskies on Saturday.

BECB: UConn is in danger of finishing under .500 this season for the first time since Jim Calhoun become head coach in 1986-87. This is a team that people had high hopes for coming into the season. What the heck happened?

AK: The team was replacing a lot of production from last year's team, including Sterling Gibbs, Shonn Miller, and Daniel Hamilton. A slow start would have been expected but nobody could have seen the 0-2 start to the season coming given the lowly competition. After that, UConn lost two of its best players for the season in Alterique Gilbert and Terry Larrier, who both figured to play key roles in replacing that production.

Since then UConn has struggled mightily but has also had some pockets of good play before putting two good games together heading into this one against Georgetown.

BECB: Despite their injuries and other issues, the Huskies are still one of the best defensive teams in the nation, as usual. What's been the reason for this?

AK: It is a cornerstone of the Kevin Ollie philosophy and something which he insists all of his players buy into. It also helps to have 7-footer Amida Brimah protecting the rim.

BECB: Georgetown's Rodney Pryor comes into the game averaging 18.2 PPG, good for third in the Big East. What will UConn do to look to slow him down?

AK: UConn will probably put Rodney Purvis on him, and not just so we can figure out which is the best Rodney. Purvis is the player most capable of defending someone with Pryor's skill set. Because of depth issues, UConn has played a lot more zone than it usually does, so he'll see some other perimeter players rotating onto him as well.

BECB: Who is a player you could see being an X-Factor for the Huskies?

AK: That would also be Rodney Purvis. He has his good games and bad games, but when he's good the UConn offense hums.

BECB: Finally, who wins this game and why?

AK: Despite a rough start, UConn is playing its best basketball right now. Even though that isn't saying a whole lot, it offers enough reason to believe this is a better team than the one which has been struggling so mightily. Still, Georgetown has played a lot of tough teams and the Hoyas have had some solid wins of their own. I think it will be close, but I'll give Georgetown the edge at home.