Providence (7-7) vs. UCONN (11-3)
January 5, 2025 2:00 pm EDT
The Line: UCONN -13.5; Over/Under: +139.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Providence Friars and the UConn Huskies meet Sunday in college basketball action from Gampel Pavilion. Here’s a UConn vs Providence prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best UConn vs Providence pick.
Providence Friars Betting Preview:
Providence kicked off their season with a nice five-game win streak, but things quickly fell apart in the record column after that. Those victories came courtesy of Central Connecticut, Stonehill, Hampton, Green Bay, and Delaware State. Following the 5-0 opening run, the Friars fell to Oklahoma Davidson, Indiana, and Rhode Island (with wins over BYU and DePaul) during a 2-4 stretch. Since then it’s been three more losses. Providence has fallen to St. Bonaventure, St. John’s, and Marquette in that trio for a .500 run through 14 games thus far.
In the Marquette matchup back on New Year’s Eve, the Friars came out of halftime looking up at a pretty hopeless 47-20 deficit on the scoreboard. Things didn’t get any better than that in the second, but Providence did slow the bleeding on a 31-30 run from there in a 78-50 blowout defeat. The only one on the team in double-figures was Wesley Cardet, who came off the bench for 11 points and four rebounds. Jayden Pierre led the starters with his nine points and six assists, while Corey Floyd added eight points with seven boards and one assist.
UConn Huskies Betting Preview
Over on the UConn side, they’ve had a wild season so far. The Huskies came out of the gate with four straight wins over Sacred Heart, New Hampshire, Le Moyne, and East Texas A&M and everything seemed to be going fine. UConn hit the skids with three consecutive neutral-court losses however, dropping to Memphis, Colorado, and Dayton in that trio. UConn has since shown some resiliency with a string of seven straight wins since November 27, though. Those victories have come versus Maryland Eastern Shore, Baylor, Texas, Gonzaga, Xavier, Butler, and DePaul in succession, giving the Huskers an 11-3 run through 14 games of the season.
Matched up against DePaul on New Year’s Day, the Huskies were ahead by a comfortable margin 43-22 by halftime. UConn cruised in the second half with 38 more points and came away with an 81-68 victory. Leading the team in scoring was Solo Ball with 22 points and six rebounds. Alex Karaban added 18 points with seven rebounds and three assists, while Samson Johnson put up 10 points, three boards, four assists, and two steals. Leading the bench scorers for the Huskies was Aidan Mahaney with his seven points and four assists in 16 minutes.
Why the Connecticut Huskies will win
- Connecticut has won each of its last 27 games at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion against non-AP-ranked opponents.
- Providence has lost each of its last four day games.
- Connecticut has won the first half in each of its last 27 games at Harry A. Gampel Pavilion against non-AP-ranked opponents.
Why the Providence Friars will win
- Providence has won each of its last seven Sunday day games against the Big East Conference.
- The road team has won the first half in each of Connecticut’s last three games.
UConn vs Providence Prediction
I’ll just stay with UConn here. That said, I’m probably not going near it. It’s tough trusting the Huskies cover-wise this season, even with the recent success in the win column—they’ve had some close calls along the way. In any case, UConn did well against DePaul after a huge first half in their last outing, eventually shooting a nice 48.4 percent from the field and 48.3 percent (14-of-29) from outside. The 35 rebounds and 22 team assists helped as well, but the Huskies got a little sloppy with the turnovers (13 for 12 Blue Demons points). Still, that makes 76 or more points in seven straight games (all wins) for UConn, which is an encouraging trend including a pair of games against ranked teams (Baylor and Gonzaga).
As for Providence, they shot a meager 34 percent from the field in their latest loss versus a very good Marquette team and coughed up 22 turnovers for 27 Eagles points along the way. The Friars have given up 72 or more points in three straight games (all losses) so UConn shouldn’t have too many issues finding room to score on Sunday. That said, I’m still likely staying away from this matchup. UConn should be in control the whole way, so they may call off the proverbial dogs late and let Providence back into cover territory.
