Providence looked like it might’ve had a chance to save its season when it beat St. John’s on the road and then led UConn, No. 4 at the time, by 11 with three minutes left in regulation less than three weeks ago.
But the Huskies came back to win in overtime and the Friars have been in a free fall ever since.
They’ve lost four of their last five games, with a five-point home victory over Creighton sandwiched in the middle. Tuesday’s rematch in Storrs comes after two close losses in a row to the only two teams who were below them in the league standings, Marquette and Georgetown, albeit without Jason Edwards, the league’s leading scorer at 17.2 points per game who’s missed the last four with a foot injury.
UConn had four starters score at least 20 points when it made the trip to Providence on Jan. 7 – all except Solo Ball, who has been dealing with a nagging wrist sprain since his 26-point outing against Butler on Dec. 16. Ball scored 10 points against the Friars and was replaced for Jaylin Stewart, who didn’t fill up the stat sheet but hauled in the rebound that clinched overtime and finished a team-best plus-18 in 27 minutes.
UConn Notes: History nearly repeats itself as Hurley T’d up in OT win over Villanova
Ball seemed to have found a way out of his shooting slump with 24 points and five made 3-pointers on Saturday, and the team will need him at his best with freshman Braylon Mullins unavailable after entering concussion protocol.
“I trust myself, I trust my work,” Ball told The Courant after the 75-67 overtime win over Villanova. “This nagging little wrist injury thing, I’ve had to make adjustments for it. And I’m so glad we have such a great team that it’s easy to go through games where I might not be feeling my best, but we’ve got 14 other guys who are just as capable. We’ve got such a deep team so it makes it so much better.”
UConn made a program-record 18 3-pointers on 32 attempts in that first matchup with the Friars, but its offense has slipped down to No. 38 in KenPom‘s efficiency ratings since.
The turnaround could come Tuesday night against a Providence team ranked No. 203 nationally in defensive efficiency. The Friars give up the most points in the Big East at 86.1 per game.
“We’re 19-1, we’ve won 15 in a row, we’re 9-0 in the league, I mean, the season’s kind of gone great for us,” coach Dan Hurley said. “But my responsibility as a coach is to be concerned about the things that will prevent us from winning the Big East regular season, winning the Big East Tournament and getting to a Final Four, trying to win a national championship. We’re just not playing at that level yet. It’s late January, we’ve got to get this (bleep) tied up within the next weeks or month.”
UConn was back in the practice gym at 6 a.m. on Sunday to get in front of the winter storm that dropped more than two feet of snow in Storrs.
Huskies to watch: Jaylin Stewart, UConn’s bench
If Hurley can get 100 combined points from his starters again, he’ll take it.
Stewart, who played starter minutes, was the only bench player to score in the 103-98 overtime win at Providence when he got a corner 3-pointer to fall at the beginning of the late comeback run. He will most likely find himself back in the starting lineup for the 12th time this season with Mullins’ injury.
“Even when Braylon goes down, J-Stew steps up, makes some great defensive plays, and I don’t think it affects the offense as much. I think we just plug in another guy that’s able to do something that Braylon can do as well,” point guard Silas Demary Jr. said after Saturday’s game. “Guys are always just ready for the moment and I think Stew just stepped in and did what he needed to do to help us get the win.”
UConn’s bench unit hasn’t been very effective since its trip to The Ocean State, averaging only 7.6 points over the last five games.
What to know
Site: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Records: No. 2 UConn: 19-1 (9-0 Big East), Providence: 9-11 (2-7)
Series: UConn leads, 52-31.
Last meeting: Jan. 7, 2026 – No. 4 UConn 103, Providence 98 (OT) at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence
TV: TNT, TruTV – Spero Dedes, Dalen Cuff, Jared Greenberg
Radio: UConn Sports Network on FOX Sports Radio 97-9 – Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman
