STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut men’s basketball team has announced a 12-game non-conference schedule for the 2014-15 season, highlighted by games against perennial national powerhouses Duke and Florida, and an in-season tournament in Puerto Rico.
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The 2014-15 non-conference slate includes six home games, two away games, and four games on neutral courts. In addition, the Huskies will play two preseason exhibition games in early November. Home venues for each game will be announced in the coming weeks.
The 2014 National Champion Huskies will play the first of two exhibition games on Tuesday, Nov. 4, against Division II Southern Connecticut State University. After playing a preseason contest against UConn last year, the Owls went on to have the finest season in school history, finishing with a 30-3 record, 18-2 in the Northeast-10, and reaching the Elite Eight in the NCAA Division II National Tournament. The Huskies’ second exhibition game will be on Sunday, Nov. 9, against Division II Assumption, out of Worcester, Mass., also a member of the Northeast-10.
UConn opens the regular season at home on Friday night, Nov. 14, entertaining Bryant University of the Northeast Conference, which posted an 18-14 record last season.
Following the opener, the Huskies will head for San Juan and participate for the first time in the Puerto Rico Tip-Off on Thursday, Friday, and Sunday, Nov. 20, 21, and 23 at Coliseo Roberto Clemente. UConn first opponent in the tourney will be College of Charleston, 14-18 last year, on Nov. 20 at 12:30 p.m. On Friday, Nov. 21, the Huskies will either meet Dayton, which won 26 games last season and reached the NCAA Elite Eight, or Texas A&M, which won 18 games. On Sunday, the final day of the tournament, UConn will face an opponent from among George Mason, West Virginia, New Mexico, or Boston College. The tourney will be televised on the ESPN family of networks.
Upon returning home, UConn will renew its series against the University of Texas, hosting the Longhorns on Sunday, Nov. 30, at noon on ESPN2. Texas won 24 games last season and reached the third round of the NCAA tourney.
In-state rival Yale, which reached the championship game of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament and won 19 games last season, visits the Huskies on Friday, Dec. 5. Following a nine-day break for final exams, UConn will then play host to Baltimore-based Coppin State on Sunday, Dec. 14.
Four days later, on Thursday, Dec. 18, UConn and Duke will meet for the first time in five years at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, N.J. The Blue Devils won 26 games last year and are projected to add one of the nation’s top recruiting classes.
Columbia, which won 21 games last year and also participated in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament, comes to UConn on Monday, Dec. 22, while in-state rival Central Connecticut makes a visit to challenge the Huskies on Sunday, Dec. 28.
UConn’s final two regular-season non-conference games will take place on the road in January.
On Saturday, Jan. 3, the Huskies will travel to Gainesville to meet Florida. The Gators won 36 games last season, but lost two exciting contests to UConn — in December at Gampel Pavilion and in the NCAA National Semifinals in Arlington. Texas, in front of the largest crowd in college basketball history (79,444).
UConn ends its regular-season non-conference slate on Saturday, Jan. 17, in Palo Alto, Calif., where it will battle Stanford, an NCAA Sweet 16 team last year, at Maples Pavilion.
Game times, home game locations, and television information will be announced at a later date, as will UConn’s complete schedule, including its 18 American Athletic Conference games.
