The Houston Cougars will look to start their push for the AAC Tournament championship by knocking off the UConn Huskies.
There was no question that the class of the American Athletic Conference during the regular season was Houston. The Cougars ran roughshod over the AAC, going 16-2 in conference play to claim the league’s regular season title, including a sweep of second place Cincinnati.
Houston has been resting since completing that sweep of the Bearcats, winning in Cincinnati in an 85-69 rout. Despite going 29-2 during the regular season, the Cougars are only projected as a no. 3 seed according to ESPN’s Joe Lunardi, so they will look to win the AAC tournament to try and improve their seeding.
The opposition comes in the form of UConn, which won its first round game by defeating South Florida 80-73 yesterday. The Huskies shot the lights out in that one, knocking down 54.3% of their shots, including a ridiculous 13-24 from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Christian Vital led UConn with 25 points, and they will need another big effort if they want to compete with the Cougars today. The two teams met only once in the regular season, and the Huskies were very competitive in that one, falling 71-63 to Houston in Connecticut.
With a shift to a neutral floor, things may not be as promising for the Huskies. UConn has to win the AAC to get into the NCAA Tournament, so knocking off the league’s top seed would certainly help the cause.
How to watch UConn vs. Houston
- Date: Friday, March 15
- Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
- Location: Memphis, TN
- Venue: FedEx Forum
- TV: ESPN2
- Live stream: WatchESPN
A player to watch in this game could be Huskies’ guard Jalen Adams. Adams sat out of the Huskies’ first matchup with Houston due to injury and has looked sharp since his return, including a 19 point effort in the win over South Florida.