Providence Friars (14-6) vs. Connecticut Huskies (18-2)
January 31, 2024 8:30 pm EDT
The Line: UConn Huskies -13.5; Over/Under: 141
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The Providence Friars and the UConn Huskies meet Wednesday in college basketball action from Gampel Pavilion. Providence enters this matchup at 14-6 on the year following a win over Georgetown on Saturday. As for UConn, they’re fresh off a win voer Xavier that improved the Huskies to 18-2 overall. Let’s get into our Providence vs. UConn prediction. Check back all season long for free college basketball picks at Sports Chat Place.
Providence Friars
The Friars only lost two of their first 13 games this year versus Kansas State and Oklahoma. Providence would then fall to Seton Hall, Creighton, St. John’s and Xavier in succession before racking up three straight victories over DePaul, Seton Hall and Georgetown afterwards.
Back on Saturday versus Georgetown, the Friars took a 37-33 edge into the second half. Providence hit a 47-43 run the rest of the way in an 84-76 victory. Devin Carter was the team’s top contributor on 29 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists in 31 minutes of work.
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UConn Huskies
Over on the Huskies’ side, they went 10-2 over their first 12 games of the season. The losses came to Kansas and Seton Hall. UConn has beaten St. John’s, DePaul, Butler, Xavier, Georgetown, Creighton, Villanova and Xavier in succession over the last eight games since then.
Matched up against Xavier on Sunday, UConn didn’t have any issues. The Huskies jumped out to a dominant 48-22 edge by halftime, then cruised on a 51-34 stretch from there for a blowout victory 99-56. Tristen Newton was the leading team scorer on 22 points, four assists and four rebounds.
ANDREW’S FREE PROVIDENCE VS UCONN PREDICTION
I’m going to stay with UConn. That’s mostly because the Huskies have been playing so well at home lately. UConn is coming off a dominant effort over Xavier with 58.5 percent shooting, 41 rebounds and 28 team assists. The Huskies’ last four games as the home team have been victories 85-56, 80-67, 62-48 and 99-56. There hasn’t been a close home matchup since a 69-65 win over St. John’s back on December 23.
Providence has their work cut out for them here, but they’ll be able to hang around if they play well. The Friars have scored 84 or more points in two of the last three games. Points will be at a premium on Wednesday though, and I don’t think Providence wil quite keep the cover pace.
