Win Over Marquette Means UConn Might Earn Crucial 7-Seed In NCAA Tournament
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The UConn Huskies may have just greatly enhanced their chances of going on a deep run in the NCAA tournament.
By beating Marquette on Wednesday night, Dan Hurley’s Huskies established a path to avoiding an eight- or nine-seed in March Madness, which would be enormous, as communicated by The Field of 68 founder Rob Dauster during a Wednesday night “Top Dogs” Field of 68 podcast.
“The enormity of this win cannot be overstated when it comes to talking about what UConn’s potential is to make noise in the month of March,” Dauster said.
“This gets UConn a step closer to the (seven-seed) … I am not sure they are out of the (eight-seed versus nine-seed game) just yet. … The Huskies want to make sure they win at least one, if not two games in the Big East tournament.”
“The reason why it’s so important to get out of that (eight versus nine) game? You don’t have to play Duke, you don’t have to play Auburn, you don’t have to play Houston, you don’t have to play Florida … you don’t have to play any of those teams in the second round of the dance.”
Junior forward Alex Karaban and his 21 points versus Marquette were the main forces driving a victory for the Huskies on Wednesday over the Golden Eagles, but UConn’s rebounding was huge, too. The Huskies beat Marquette 44-29 on the glass.
Before the all-important Big East Tourney kicks off at Madison Square Garden next week, UConn will host Seton Hall on Saturday for the final game of its regular season.
The Huskies take a 21-9 overall record into the contest, which will be played at Gampel Pavilion at 2:30 p.m. ET.
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-6cddf44b9a81eadb9d1a4c19c1b3db49.jpeg "Colin Keane")
Colin Keane is a contributing journalist for "UConn Huskies On SI." Born in Illinois, Colin grew up in Massachusetts as the third of four brothers. For his high school education, Colin attended St. Mark's School (Southborough, MA), where he played basketball and soccer and served as student body president. He went on to receive a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from Villanova University. Colin currently resides in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "UConn Huskies On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org