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NCAA Tournament First Round Preview: No. 1 UConn men’s basketball vs. No. 16 Stetson | 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS

March 22, 2024 by The UConn Blog

NCAA Basketball: Stetson at Cincinnati
Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports

The Huskies’ road to repeat begins Friday in Brooklyn.

UConn men’s basketball’s road to repeat begins in Brooklyn. The Huskies, defending national champions, enter the 2024 NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and the favorites to cut down the nets in Phoenix in early April. In order for UConn to back-to-back for the first since Florida did so in 2006 and 2007, the Huskies will first need to take care of business against 16-seed Stetson.

The Hatters will make its Division I NCAA tournament debut in Brooklyn after winning the Atlantic Sun Tournament. Stetson has won nine of its last 11 games and boasts an overall KenPom ranking of 220. The Hatters are solid offensively and led by guard Jalen Blackmon, but struggle on defense, ranking as the worst team in defensive efficiency in the tournament and sit No. 342 overall out of 362 Division I teams.

TV: CBS

Radio: UConn Sports Network

Odds: UConn -26.5, over/under 145.5 (Odds via DraftKings)

Location: Barclays Center — Brooklyn, New York

KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 86, Stetson 63 (98 percent win probability)

Series History

This is the first-ever matchup between Stetson and the Huskies.

What to Watch For

Contain Jalen Blackmon

UConn may be heavy favorites over the Hatters, but Jalen Blackmon is the type of player that could go off and make Stetson a true Cinderella story. Blackmon scored 43 points in the Atlantic Sun title game to lead the Hatters to the NCAA Tournament and is averaging 21.5 points on the season. Blackmon, a 37.1 percent shooter on 3-pointers, is 6-foot-3 and 180 pounds and excels at getting to the free throw line where he is nearly automatic. He ranks 11th nationally with a 90.97 percent free throw percentage. If Blackmon heats up and carries the Hatters to keep things close with UConn, he absolutely cannot be fouled late in the game.

Stephon Castle will likely draw the assignment of guarding Blackmon, with Tristen Newton helping on occasion and Hassan Diarra taking over when Castle is on the bench. Castle and Diarra in particular have bottled up plenty of talented guards throughout this season and will need to do it once again to ensure Stetson does not pull a historic upset.

Team effort

If UConn is able to care of business early on against Stetson, look for Dan Hurley to go deep into the bench earlier than usual to get freshmen Jaylin Stewart and Solo Ball some extra minutes. Stewart broke out in a big way in the final two games of the Big East Tournament, scoring 17 in 22 total minutes, nine of which came against Marquette to break open the scoring and secure the Huskies’ eighth Big East Tournament title. Ball has been relegated to mostly garbage time duty since the middle of conference play, but filled in admirably for Castle when the star freshman was hurt earlier this year. Some extra minutes in what should be a blowout could go a long way to shaking off any tournament jitters and having the two freshmen sharp when they are needed.

Managing championship expectations

For the first time in the Dan Hurley era, UConn heads into the NCAA Tournament with a major target on its back. The Huskies have dealt with this all season after spending multiple weeks at No. 1 in the AP Poll, but the chance for a repeat has ratcheted up the pressure significantly. UConn is hands down better on paper than any team the Huskies will play this weekend in Brooklyn, but to advance to Boston, UConn will have to not lose focus. In a single elimination tournament as chaotic as March Madness, another slow start could mean an early end to an impressive season.

While the path to Phoenix is anything but easy with three teams in the top 10 of KenPom in the region alongside two of last year’s Final Four teams, UConn does not have to go far to Brooklyn or, should they advance, to Boston. It’s about an ideal of a situation as a team can get in terms of travel, but its up to Hurley and the Huskies to try and capitalize and return to the Final Four for a second-straight year.

Filed Under: University of Connecticut

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