Madison Square Garden – New York, NY
Tip-off: Monday, 7:00 pm ET
Line: N/A

Connecticut will be looking to get back to .500 with a win over Syracuse at Madison Square Garden on Monday.

It hasn’t been a great start to the season for UConn, as the team is just 3-4 SU and 0-5 ATS in all of its lined games. The Huskies didn’t necessarily have championship aspirations this season, but there’s no way they thought it would be this bad. Fortunately for Connecticut, it’s still very early in the season. This matchup with Syracuse will be a big one, as this is a rivalry game that could carry some weight in March if the Huskies can turn around their season. This matchup will forever be remembered for the five overtime game played between these teams in 2009. Syracuse won that game 127-117 and it’s safe to say that no matchup between these teams will ever live up to the excitement of that one. For Syracuse, however, this a winnable game and the team could definitely use just that. The Orange lost to Wisconsin last week, so they’ll need to rattle off a few victories in a row in order to get their spot back in the rankings. Syracuse has gotten the best of this head-to-head series with Connecticut recently. Over the past 10 meetings, the Orange are 7-3 SU but the Huskies are 6-4 ATS in those games. The teams last met on Nov. 26, 2015, and the Orange won that game 79-76 as six-point underdogs.

Connecticut is off to a lousy start to the season, but this team is still capable of turning things around. The Huskies have talent on this roster, and they’ll look to show that on Monday night. If UConn is going to come away with a win in this one then G Jalen Adams (18.0 PPG, 5.4 APG, 5.0 RPG, 1.3 SPG) will likely need to put on a show for the Huskies. Adams has been excellent this season, as he is making an impact in a number of different ways. Adams is an insanely efficient scorer, as evidenced by his 49.5% shooting from the floor and 44.4% shooting from three. He is also, however, a gifted passer, and he’ll need to get his teammates some easy buckets in this one. G Rodney Purvis (11.3 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 3.1 APG) will need to find a way to be effective in this one, though. Purvis is in a serious shooting slump to start the season, as he is hitting just 35.5% of his field goals and 29.5% of his threes. Purvis is usually a reliable shooter, so he should be able to get it going soon. Defensively, C Amida Brimah (7.0 PPG, 5.7 RPG, 3.1 BPG) is the team’s most important player. Brimah doesn’t add much offensively, but he is a seriously gifted rim protector. Look for him to do a good job of keeping ‘Cuse players out of the paint on Monday.

Syracuse could use a victory in New York on Monday night and the team will need a nice performance from F Tyler Lydon (10.3 PPG, 7.1 RPG, 1.0 BPG) in order to win this game. Lydon has struggled from the field this season, shooting 41.4% from the floor. He has, however, hit 39.3% of his threes. He should continue to knock down the deep-ball, but Syracuse needs him to finish around the rim on Monday. G Andrew White III (17.0 PPG, 4.1 RPG, 1.3 SPG) will also need to be effective for the Orange in this one. White III has contributed immediately after transferring from Nebraska. He is a crafty scorer that can hit the three. Look for him to find some success against this Connecticut team on Monday. Another guy that should be able to score the basketball in this one is G Tyus Battle (7.4 PPG). Battle entered the starting lineup for Syracuse last game and responded to the promotion by scoring 19 points. He did it efficiently too, as he was 6-for-7 from the floor and 4-for-5 from three. If he can live up to his potential then Syracuse should take off flying.