The overall No. 1-seed UConn Huskies take on the No. 16-seed Stetson Hatters in the NCAA Tournament first round. This East Regional matchup will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on Friday.
As per usual with top vs. bottom seed matchups, these two programs are on complete opposite ends of the college basketball spectrum. The Huskies are looking to defend their National Title, while the Hatters will be playing in their first-ever March Madness contest. Will Stetson be able to pull off an unthinkable upset?
A Word On the Stetson Hatters
Stetson qualified for the NCAA Tournament by knocking off Austin Peay in the ASUN title game. While the contest was a 94-91 nail-biter, the Hatters hardly have an unconvincing resume. The Floridian program finished tied for second in the regular-season standings with an 11-5 record. They also own a Quad 1 victory over UCF, an 85-82 contest back on Nov. 26. On top of that, they’ve won nine of their last 11 contests.
Stetson is led by coach Donnie Jones, who was an assistant at Florida when it won back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007. Now, he’ll try to prevent UConn from becoming the first team to do the same since then. As for the roster, the squad is headlined by guard Jalen Blackmon. The Grand Canyon transfer is scoring 21.5 points per game on 43.4 percent shooting. Huskies coach Dan Hurley even had some high praise for him:
“Blackmon’s one of the better guards that we’ll play against this year.”
The moment Stetson found out it’s NCAA Tournament destination! The Hatters are a no. 16 seed and will match up with no. 1 overall seed UConn this Friday in East Region. @StetsonHatters #MarchMadness2024 pic.twitter.com/eiavnPcB7k
— Jessica Eley FOX 35 (@FOX35Jessica) March 17, 2024
The UConn Huskies Present a Historic Challenge
While Stetson has shown plenty of promise, it hasn’t yet faced an opponent on UConn’s level. Hurley’s Huskies are the cream of the crop, running away with both the Big East regular-season and conference titles. They rank second in the NET and first in KenPom while also ranking first in adjusted offense. The defending champions are led by a dynamic backcourt in the form of guards Tristen Newton and Cam Spencer. Newton leads the team with 15.2 points and six assists a game, while Spencer averages 14.5 points on an unconscious 48.8-percent shooting clip.
How do Stetson and UConn Match Up?
When it comes to comparing high-major vs. mid-major teams, it’s unfair to use rankings and metrics. Of course, the bigger program will always have the advantage on paper. It’s best to read between the lines and look at each squad’s play styles, strengths, and weaknesses. The Hatters identify as an offensive team, shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 37 percent from long range. They also rank 42nd in the country with a 54.5-percent effective field goal percentage, just 2.6 percentage points behind UConn.
However, the Huskies simply sport more depth. The entire starting lineup averages double-digit point totals, while guard Hassan Diara shoots 37.5 percent from deep off the bench. While Stetson also has multiple double-digit scorers, Blackmon leads the team by a wide margin. The team’s second-leading scorer is Belgian international Stephan Swenson, with 13.8 points a contest. This suggests that the Hatters may be too much of a one-man band to compete with UConn’s long list of shooters. With that being said, this is March, and anything is possible.
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Joshua is a diehard Yankees, Jets, Knicks, Rutgers, and Tottenham Hotspur fan. He started his journalism career as the Sports Editor for the Rutgers University newspaper. When he’s not watching a game or writing about one, you can find him in an art-house movie theater or writing a screenplay.
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