The game with Connecticut will actually be played Thursday at McKale Center, but 蜜柚直播 already recorded a victory of sorts long ago.
That鈥檚 when, back on June 30, 2014, UA and UConn signed off on a two-year series that would have each visit the other鈥檚 home arena.
A real, old-fashioned, cross-country home-and-home series. The kind you don鈥檛 often see much any more, with so many multi-team events and neutral site 鈥渃hallenges鈥 soaking up so many spots on teams鈥 nonconference schedules and making coaches reluctant to travel anywhere else.
The kind that you used to see, say, almost two decades ago, when Jim Calhoun鈥檚 Huskies hosted the Wildcats in 2000-01, beating a Wildcat team without Lute Olson, who stayed home to be with his ailing wife, Bobbi. That game was returned a year later at McKale, with UConn pulling out a 100-98 win in overtime, a rare Wildcat loss on the McKale Center floor.
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That鈥檚 only some of the history behind this series, too. The last time they met, the Kemba Walker-powered Huskies edged UA in the 2011 Elite Eight, when UA鈥檚 surprising resurgence in Sean Miller鈥檚 second season ended after Derrick Williams and Jamelle Horne missed late 3-pointers.
Miller was fired up about adding the series in 2014, just after UConn won its fourth NCAA title, this time under coach Kevin Ollie. While Miller was unavailable for comment before Thursday鈥檚 game, he expressed enthusiasm and appreciation over the Huskies again Monday after the Wildcats beat North Dakota State.
鈥淭here aren鈥檛 a lot of teams who want to play home and away,鈥 Miller said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a national program. They鈥檙e a national championship team. Kevin Ollie is a national championship coach. They鈥檝e won more than once. They鈥檝e won four or five. Everybody respects UConn, including us.鈥
The only problem is, well, UConn hasn鈥檛 quite been UConn lately.
The Huskies put up their first losing season in 30 years last season, going 16-17, and it鈥檚 still uncertain how much better they are this season even as the Huskies are 7-3, with their highest-profile win over a rebuilding Oregon team.
UConn not only returned just two key players from last season, with three players transferring out, and have been able to play former McDonald鈥檚 All-America guard Alterique Gilbert for a total of just nine games between last season and the first 10 games of this one.
It鈥檚 not been easy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely tough because you know what UConn鈥檚 done in the past and you want to kind of live up to that expectation,鈥 said UConn guard Jalen Adams, who leads the Huskies in scoring with 17.3 points a game. 鈥淏ut with this group of guys, if we stay connected and everybody plays their part we can get right back to where we belong in the tournament and get on a good run.鈥
Ollie is taking an upbeat, philosophical look at it all, too.
鈥淥nce you go through a storm you don鈥檛 feel too good about it, but you know life is not going to always be peaceful,鈥 Ollie said. 鈥淏ut through those storms you learn. You learn about the people that surround you. You learn something about yourself and you continue to get yourself better. I think it allowed us to get better.鈥
鈥淚t definitely allowed me to get better as a man and as a coach. I鈥檝e received all those life lessons as a coach and I鈥檝e tried to pass it on to my players. That鈥檚 what it鈥檚 all about. The basketball thing is just one thing. But they鈥檙e gonna have some life issues that鈥檚 going to come up and they鈥檙e going to have to be able to fight through them.鈥
The Huskies will actually get two fights in less than three days this week. Because, apparently, they like home-and-home series so much so that they agreed not only to face UA on Thursday but then go to Auburn for a game Saturday afternoon.
That forces UConn to take a red-eye charter flight after Thursday鈥檚 game so as to get at least one full day at Auburn before Saturday鈥檚 game.
But first, the Huskies will try to rely on a little history with 蜜柚直播. Not only are they 5-0 all-time against the Wildcats, including that 2001-02 overtime win at McKale, but they reached the Final Four three times by winning West Regionals held in the Phoenix area.
鈥淭his fit in great, with the tradition of 蜜柚直播 and the battles we鈥檝e had before,鈥 Ollie said. 鈥淥ur fan base is loving the game especially when they come back to Storrs next year. 鈥 We鈥檙e looking forward to it.鈥
And if, somehow, the Huskies can recreate some of their 蜜柚直播 magic again, a lot of their problems might suddenly seem a lot further way.
鈥淚鈥檓 just looking forward to it,鈥 Adams said. 鈥淲hen we get to a big school like 蜜柚直播, we can get our name back on the map where we belong.鈥