UConn men’s basketball heads to Madison Square Garden for the second time this season on Tuesday night, as the No. 5 Huskies take on defending champion Florida in the Jimmy V Classic. UConn is out for revenge against the No. 18 Gators, as Todd Golden’s squad ended the Huskies’ historic 13-game NCAA tournament winning streak and handed Alex Karaban the first NCAA tournament loss of his career.
It’s been an up-and-down season for Florida, which enters the matchup at MSG with a 5-3 record. Like UConn,
the Gators lost to now No. 1 Arizona, and Florida comes to New York City fresh off a nail biter 67-66 loss to now No. 3 Duke. The Gators also dropped a surprising game to TCU, then No. 75 in KenPom, as part of a Thanksgiving multi team event. While Florida has slid in the AP poll after being ranked No. 3 in the preseason, this is still dangerous squad with legitimate repeat hopes. The Gators rank No. 23 in NET and No. 14 in KenPom, with offensive and defensive efficiencies inside the top 25 nationally.
The matchup against the Gators marks a chance for one more marquee win before Big East play begins. With the conference being as unstable as it is, one more Quad One win would be major boost to UConn’s tournament resumé. For reference, the Huskies have already played four Quad One games — not including Tuesday night — in the span of just over three weeks. After Tuesday night, UConn will likely have to wait nearly five weeks for its next Quad One matchup on the road against Seton Hall.
Date/Time: Tuesday, Dec. 9, 9:00 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN, streaming on WatchESPN
Radio: UConn Sports Network, Sirius XM 84, Sirius/XM online streaming
Odds: UConn -4.5, over/under 145.5
Location: Madison Square Garden — New York City
KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 75, Florida 71
Series History
UConn and Florida have faced off seven times, including three in the NCAA Tournament. The Huskies lead the series 5-2 but the Gators knocked out the Huskies, 77-75, in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament on their way to a national championship. They last faced off in the regular season on Dec. 7, 2022 in Gainesville that was won by UConn, 75-54. Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan led the way with 17 points and 16 points respectively.
Tuesday night will also mark UConn’s sixth appearance in the Jimmy V Classic, with the Huskies holding a 1-4 record. UConn’s only Jimmy V Classic win came in 2023 as the No. 5 Huskies defeated No. 9 North Carolina 87-76. Jim Valvano served as a UConn assistant for two seasons from 1970-72 under head coach Dee Rowe.
Inactives report
Tarris Reed Jr. remains a game time decision ahead of Tuesday night’s game. The Michigan transfer was a full participant in practice for the past two days, but still may miss his third-straight game.
What to Watch For
Battle on the boards
Whether Reed suits up for UConn or not, the Huskies will have a tall task keeping the Gators off of the glass. Florida, led by bigs Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, is one of the top rebounding teams in the country and thrives on having them both on the floor together to command the boards. The Gators rank No. 4 nationally in offensive rebound percentage at 42.6 percent, and are amongst the best in the country at limiting rebounds for opponents while on defense.
Having Condon (6-foot-11) and Chinyelu (6-foot-10) makes the Gators a unique team to handle. While UConn held the duo to just 14 rebounds between the two of them in their second round matchup in last year’s NCAA tournament, the Gators still won the rebounding battle 40-35. Now, Condon and Chinyelu are averaging over 20 rebounds a game, and 6-foot-9 wing Thomas Haugh is also averaging 7.6 rebounds per game too.
That size and rebounding skill is hard to match up with, regardless of if Reed plays or not. If Reed can’t go, it’s yet another major test for Eric Reibe, who has blossomed in Reed’s absence and improved rapidly from one game to the next.
“I’m floored by how well and how tough big Eric has been for us,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “Eric has held up and played great. That being said, we’ve had the success we’ve had here because we’ve had two bigs.“
But if Reed is able to go, Hurley may roll the two bigs out together. While it hasn’t been done yet this season, Reibe’s face to the basket skills would allow him to play in the high post or perimeter on offense while Reed commands the block. Defensively, the two would match up well with Condon and Chinyelu and put two of the Huskies’ best rebounders on the floor, likely alongside Alex Karaban — an excellent rebounder in his own right.
“This is a game wherewith a healthy Tarris, you can play the two bigs together,” Hurley said. “Both men are skilled enough that when Tarris is back healthy, you’re going to see them both on the court together more than we played two centers in the past.”
Guarding the Gators
Florida’s offense is similar to Arizona’s, as the Gators rely on using their talented bigs to dominate down low. Aside from Condon (15.1 points per game) and Chinyelu (10.3 ppg), Thomas Haugh is team’s focal point on offense. The 6-foot-9 Haugh also gets his work done mostly inside the arc, but can stretch it out a little, where he is shooting 31 percent. Haugh will be a tough task for the Huskies, as Jaylin Stewart and Alex Karaban will likely be tasked with keeping him in check.
In general, Florida takes a lot of threes but is normally not good at making them. The Gators are shooting just 27.4 percent from three, and shot just 25 percent from three in the loss to Duke. If Reed is unavailable, UConn may go under more perimeter screens than usual and force Florida to make shots from deep. If they don’t the Huskies can clog the paint and give themselves a better chance of chasing after boards against one of the best rebounding teams in college basketball.
Beating the blueprint
Arizona and Kansas have laid out the path to beating UConn. While the Wildcats were more successful at it then KU, the plan on defense is simple in theory — switch every screen, play physically and make UConn run its offensive motions farther out than its comfortable with. That’s all easier said than done, of course, and teams that have been able to do it well have had big, physical guards to complement athletic forwards and centers.
Florida certainly has the frontcourt talent to impose its will defensively, but can the backcourt put the clamps on the Huskies’ guards? Xavian Lee, a Princeton transfer, stands 6-foot-4 but is just 180 pounds, and has struggled transitioning from the Ivy League to high-major basketball. Boogie Fland, Lee’s backcourt mate and once one of the top recruits in the country, is 6-foot-3 and 185 pounds. If these two along with Urban Klavzar (6-foot-1), can’t pressure Silas Demary Jr., Malachi Smith and Jayden Ross when the Huskies are initiating offense, the Huskies might still be able to impose its will on the Gators.
A testament to depth
The Gators do not go deep into the bench, with only seven players playing 10 or more minutes in its last two games. That’s a major contrast from UConn, who had eight players play 10 or more minutes against Kansas and nine against East Texas A&M. Whether Reed can play or not, the Huskies’ bench will be a key factor in whether UConn can emerge victorious. Ross has stepped up tremendously as a de facto third point guard, and Braylon Mullins has quickly acclimated and turned into a microwave scorer off the bench. Meanwhile, Florida leans primarily on Klavzar and 7-foot-1 Micah Handlogten as the team’s key reserves. If the Huskies can be aggressive early and target the likes of Condon and Chinyelu, foul trouble could become a serious issues for the Gators rather quickly.
