Exhibition Game Notes & Preview: Providence vs UConn 10/25/17

Where: Mohegan Sun Arena – Uncasville, CT

When: 7:00pm EDT

How: Fox Sports GO (Jay Alpert & Stu Jackson, Kim Adams, Tarik Turner & Donny Marshall sideline)/WEEI 103.7 FM and Friars.com (John Rooke and Joe Hassett)/FriarTV

Tickets: SeatGeek

Game Notes

• Providence and UConn have played 72 times but this will be the first time the two teams have squared off in an exhibition game. The Huskies lead the all-time series, 44-28. The last time Providence and UConn met was on March 9, 2013 with the Huskies coming out on top, 63-59, in overtime at Gampel Pavilion.
• The game is being played after the NCAA granted a waiver allowing schools to play an extra exhibition game as long as the proceeds are donated to hurricane relief causes. Providence will be considered the home team.
• Providence played their first ever exhibition game on December 4, 1920 against East Greenwich Academy. Providence’s first 9 games were exhibitions and they lost all 9. It would be 6 years later, to the day, that Providence played their first official non-exhibition game.
• Providence is 69-39 all-time in exhibition games. The Friars are 8-0 in exhibitions under Ed Cooley.
• UConn was picked 5th in the American Athletic Conference Preseason Coaches Poll and their junior guard Jalen Adams was named to the preseason First Team All Conference. Adams is the team’s leading returning scorer at 14.4 points/game, leading returning assist-man at 6.1 assists/game and the leading returning stealer at 1.1 steals/game. The Huskies also boast the AAC preseason Rookie of the Year Alterique Gilbert. Gilbert redshirted last season due to injury and was a McDonald’s All-American ranked 32nd nationally in the class of 2016 as a recruit out of Georgia. The Huskies are coming off an injury-plagued 2016-17 season in which they finished with a record of 16-17.
• Providence enters the 2017-18 season coming off their fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and fifth straight season playing postseason basketball. The NCAA Tournament streak is the longest one in school history. The postseason streak is the 3rd-longest in school history behind the 8 season streak from the 1970-71 season through the 1977-78 season and the school-record 9 season streak from 1958-59 through 1966-67. Overall, Providence has now made 19 appearances in the NCAA Tournament and 19 appearances in the NIT.

Game Preview

Providence and UConn are rekindling their rivalry for a good cause on Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena. The Friars and Huskies haven’t played at all since the Big East reconfiguration back in 2013 when the Friars and 6 of their friends split from UConn and the remaining schools, who ultimately formed the American Athletic Conference. There are plenty of storylines, to be sure, heading into this matchup. Makai Ashton-Langford’s commitment to UConn, decommitment and then commitment to Providence has been written about quite a bit already. Additionally, the potential to renew the rivalry for real during the regular season has been a hot topic.

But the framing of this game should be clearly described to everyone as an exhibition for a good cause, something this writer — and Ed Cooley — believe should be a regular occurrence by the NCAA. The other thing to keep in mind is that the coaches may not elect to play their normal players/lineups/rotations. Cooley held both Rodney Bullock and Jalen Lindsey out of the Mal Brown Scrimmage last weekend. There are a few reasons why that could be the case. One good reason is anyone with a ding or nagging injury needs to heal and be ready when the lights really turn on next month. Another one that might be overlooked is that coaches don’t want to put too much on tape before the season begins. Wednesday night is about charity. It’s also about getting a first look at the 2017-18 versions of these teams. Let’s hope everyone keeps those two things in mind.

The rosters for both teams are:

Providence

UConn

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Mike Hopkins

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