Opponent Preview: Connecticut

Indiana will square off against Connecticut in the 2019 Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Dec. 10. The Huskies are in their second season under head coach Dan Hurley, and even though both programs are historic, Indiana and Connecticut have only played each other six times previous.

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Key losses: Jalen Adams, Tarin Smith

Key returners: Christian Vital, Alterique Gilbert, Josh Carlton, Tyler Polley

Newcomers: James Bouknight, Akok Akok, R.J. Cole, Jalen Gaffney, Richard Springs

2018-19 record: 16-17 (6-12 in AAC)

2018-19 result: Loss to Houston in second round of AAC Tournament

Series: 6-2 Connecticut

Since winning the National Championship over Kentucky in 2014, Connecticut’s program has taken an unexpected downward turn and Kevin Ollie is no longer the head coach after seven rollercoaster seasons.

Dan Hurley, whose coaching career culminated to Rhode Island’s Second Round appearance in the 2018 NCAA tournament, is leading the program now. He took the Rhode Island program from an 8-21 season in 2012-13 to 28-6 in 2017-18 with a regular season Atlantic 10 title, an appearance in the conference final and a bid into its second consecutive NCAA Tournament. Former Indiana guard Stanford Robinson was part of both the NCAA Tournament teams.

Despite the fall after Shabazz Napier and co. left the program, there is reason for Connecticut to be optimistic. Hurley recruited a top-20 Class of 2019 to Connecticut that included one of the top prospects in the Northeast in Brooklyn’s James Bouknight, as well as top-100 forward Akok Akok. The Huskies also added Howard transfer guard R.J. Cole, who will sit this season out.

While losing Jalen Adams, who averaged 17 points per game, is a major loss in production and consistency on the court, Connecticut didn’t lose many of last season’s key contributors and added more talent. Christian Vital shoots 45 percent from the floor and 41 percent form three, making him the most dynamic scorer on the roster, and he also brought down 5.6 rebounds per game last season, making him the do-it-all guard to replace Adams. Josh Carlton added 9.0 points and 6.2 rebounds per game on 61-percent shooting as a sophomore last year as well.

The experience and potential for growth are reasons to be optimistic, but the pessimism lies in the American Conference performance last season in Hurley’s first year. Connecticut made its way through its non-conference season playing some tough teams, like Syracuse, Iowa, Villanova, Florida State and Arizona, and of those games, the Huskies won one – against Syracuse in Hurley’s third game as head coach. Entering conference play at 9-4, there appeared to be some preparation made on Connecticut’s end to hold its own in AAC games.

That was not the case. Connecticut finished 6-12 in conference play, losing as many as six in a row. It’ best conference win was against Wichita State, which finished its season 21-15 overall, 10-8 in conference, and missed the Tournament. That win and two wins over South Florida, one in tournament play, represented the only wins against teams that finished above the Huskies in the conference.

Its win against Syracuse, who was rated No. 15 at the time, is what the program clings to heading into the 2019-20 season. That win came in Madison Square Garden, where Connecticut went 1-2 last season, including a loss to Iowa. The Garden is where the Huskies will play Indiana in the 2019 Jimmy V Classic too, so the Hoosiers might have their work cut out for them.

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