The No. 6 UConn Huskies take on the Georgetown Hoyas in a Big East Tournament college basketball matchup. The game tips off at 8:00 p.m. ET at Madison Square Garden.
The Huskies are listed as 14.5-point favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, with the total set at O/U 127.5 points. Below is my full preview, prediction and pick for this Big East Tournament college basketball matchup.
UConn vs. Georgetown prediction, preview
It was a dreadful regular season for the Georgetown Hoyas, who finished tied for last place in the Big East. However, Ed Cooley got his team to play its best basketball of the season. The Hoyas upset DePaul in the first round of the Big East Tournament, then pulled off a real stunner by beating the No. 3-seeded Villanova Wildcats in the quarterfinals. Georgetown is now two wins away from stealing a bid to the NCAA Tournament. However, those two wins likely need to come against the clear-cut two best teams in the conference, UConn and St. John’s. Before even thinking about who they could face in the Big East title game, however, the Hoyas need to take on the No. 6 team in the nation and two-time national title-winning head coach, Danny Hurley.
It has been an interesting season for the UConn Huskies. They are the best team in the Big East and have been a top-10 team for most of the season. However, they ended up with the No. 2 seed in the Big East Tournament after losing their regular-season finale to Marquette. That was another loss in a troubling trend for the Huskies. Despite being so disciplined and fundamentally sound, there is a worry that they could lose a game like that in the NCAA Tournament because of their lack of an elite scorer. The Hukies are incredibly well-balanced, with five players averaging over 11 points per game. However, it isn’t clear who Dan Hurley wants with the ball in their hands down the stretch. That is something the other top teams in the nation have that UConn lacks. Only time will tell if it ultimately leads to their downfall.
UConn vs. Georgetown pick
My best bet for this game is on Georgetown to cover the 14.5-point spread. The Hoyas have won back-to-back games as underdogs and are peaking at the right time. While it is highly unlikely that Georgetown ultimately pulls off a third-straight upset, the Hoyas should at least make it tough on UConn. They certainly gave the Huskies a hard time in both of their regular-season matchups. Very early on in Big East play, UConn went to Georgetown and won by just two points. In the reverse fixture in Storrs, Georgetown played UConn tough again, with the Huskies only winning by four points.
The Huskies play a very methodical brand of basketball. They rank 309th in the nation in adjusted tempo. While they can throttle teams, as they did in the previous round against Xavier, it is much harder to blow a team out when playing at that pace. Georgetown has no problem playing slow, as it ranks 232nd nationally in adjusted tempo. This should be a slow-paced back-and-forth game. It should look similar to the two regular-season games, with UConn coming out on top, but Georgetown keeping it close.
