UConn basketball travels to Texas for their first true road game of the season. Read below for a full UConn vs Texas prediction and preview.
While these two programs may not have a long history against one another, they certainly have an entertaining one. UConn basketball and Texas first played each other in 2010 after agreeing to a 4-year home and home series. The Longhorns traveled north to Storrs as the #1 ranked team in the country, but ended up falling to Jerome Dyson and the Huskies. On the return trip to Austin in 2011, UConn’s Kemba Walker pulled off some late-game heroics to steal a road victory. The second half of the series was split with both schools winning on the road and ultimately setting up a tie-breaker at Madison Square Garden last season that UConn basketball won convincingly.
General Information
Teams: UConn (6-3) at Texas (7-1)
Tip-Off Time: 5 p.m. EST
Watch: ESPN
Latest on Texas basketball:
The Longhorns enter this contest coming off a 4-point road victory over NC State in which they had an efficient night from long range going 8-17 on three-pointers. The 5-star freshman Tre Johnson led the team in scoring with 18 points on the night.
Tre Johnson has had a phenomenal start to his first (and likely only) season of college basketball. He has scored at least 16 points in each game with his highest total being 29 points against Ohio State. The Huskies have had some notable difficulties guarding the perimeter to this point in the season which may create some additional opportunities for Johnson.
The Longhorns’ second option is a familiar face to UConn basketball fans, Arthur Kaluma. Kaluma played two seasons for Creighton before transferring to Kansas State and is now finding himself at Texas. In his 4 games against the Huskies, Kaluma averaged just over 9 points and 8 rebounds per game.
Latest on UConn basketball:
The Huskies have stopped their fall and are climbing back up after a fantastic win against No. 15 Baylor this past Wednesday in Storrs, CT. Especially impressive about this win was that the Huskies were without their star forward, Alex Karaban, so not only were they on their heels from Maui but they had to figure out how to win without their pre-season All-American.
Alex Karaban missed the Baylor game due to a concussion but is looking ready to go for when UConn basketball makes the trip to Austin. Another Husky ready to go is 5-star freshman and Texas native Liam McNeeley. Liam being second on the team in scoring and rebounding shows how important he is to UConn basketball and with a little extra on the line in his homecoming game expect him to make a serious impact.
If Wednesday’s win was the Huskies getting back on track, then a win in Austin should solidify to the nation that the Huskies’ goals of making history are still obtainable.
UConn vs Texas prediction: UConn by 2
Texas enters the game with home-court advantage and as 1.5-point favorites, but every day that UConn is removed from Maui is another day that Dan Hurley can right the ship. Plus with Alex Karaban back in the lineup, the hungry Huskies are ready to roll.