University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Villanova
No. 5 UConn Visits Villanova In South Philly
2/20/2026 1:24:00 PM | Men's Basketball
PHILADELPHIA – The No. 5 UConn men's basketball team (24-3, 14-2 BIG EAST) returns to action on Saturday evening for a showdown near the top of the BIG EAST standings at Villanova (21-5, 12-3 BIG EAST). Tip-off from Xfinity Mobile Arena in South Philly is set for 5:30 p.m. and will air on TNT/truTV with Spero Dedes, Grant Hill and Andy Katz on the call.
The Huskies enter the weekend a half-game back of St. John's atop the BIG EAST standings, currently 1.5 up on Villanova. The Huskies have compiled an 8-1 record on the road this year and are 25-8 in true away games since the start of 2023-24.
Connecticut is going for a regular season sweep of Villanova and has won seven of the last eight meetings in the series between longtime league rivals. It will mark the 80th all-time meeting with the Wildcats holding a narrow 40-39 all-time lead. In the first meeting this season on Jan. 24 in Hartford, UConn survived a 75-67 overtime thriller behind 24 points from Solo Ball and Alex Karaban's 17 with eight rebounds.
UConn was last in action on Wednesday night, falling at home for the first time in nearly three months in a 91-84 setback to Creighton. Braylon Mullins scored a career-high 25 points in the defeat and was 6-of-11 from 3-point range, while Silas Demary Jr. posted 17 points, nine assists and three steals. Tarris Reed Jr. was the third Husky in double-figures and notched his fifth double-double of the year with 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Ball leads the Huskies with 14.4 points per game, one of five UConn regulars averaging double-figures. Reed Jr. is second on the squad with 13.7 points per game and adds team-highs of 7.7 rebounds and 2.0 blocks, shooting a league-leading 63.6 percent from the floor. Demary Jr. is the BIG EAST's top assist man, dishing out 6.5 helpers per game along with 11.5 points and 4.5 rebounds. He and Karaban were named this week to the Naismith Player of the Year Late-Season Team, making UConn one of five programs nationally with multiple members of the team.
Karaban does it all for the Huskies with 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game on 47.5 percent shooting from the field and a 40.8 percent mark from 3-point range. Mullins has emerged as a regular starter in BIG EAST play after missing six early contests and adds 12.5 points and 3.6 rebounds per game. In conference action the frosh is second in the league with a 40.9 percent mark from three.
Villanova was last in action on Tuesday night with a 92-89 overtime victory at Xavier. It was VU's sixth-straight win after the UConn victory in Hartford last month. Acaden Lewis led the Wildcats with 21 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the win and Duke Brennan added a double-double. Lewis is VU's second-leading scorer this season with 12.7 points per game along with a team-best 5.3 assists per contest, while Brennan averages a double-double with 12.3 points and 10.7 rebounds a night. Tyler Perkins leads VU in scoring at 13.7 points per game and Bryce Lindsay is the fourth Wildcat averaging double-figures with 12.3 per game.
UConn's stretch run continues after Saturday's showdown when it hosts No. 17 St. John's on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in Hartford.
