Tanner Thomas and Sacred Heart will take the court against Alex Karaban and No. 3 ranked UConn on Wednesday night.
Sacred Heart will head on the road in their first men’s college basketball game of the season, taking on the No. 3 ranked team in the country, UConn, at the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. The Huskies and Dan Hurley are looking to complete what only a couple of teams have done in the past — three-peat. They won the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament the last two seasons.
However, Hurley has lost most of his team, bringing back just one starter from last year’s roster, 6-foot-8 forward Alex Karaban. The 38.9 percent three-point shooter will be paired with several bench players taking on big-time role upgrades. The other four projected starters include Hassan Diarra, Jaylin Stewart, Solomon Ball, and Samson Johnson. Diarra was the Big East Sixth Man of the Year last year, while Johnson was one of the most impactful defenders alongside Donovan Clingan.
The team also added projected sixth woman Liam McNeeley, the No. 10 overall recruit in the prior class. He has the opportunity to work in a major role for this squad. The Pioneers are bringing back just one player from their roster last year that averaged over 10 points per game, 6-foot-6 junior forward Tanner Thomas.
Thomas averaged 10.8 points and 5.6 rebounds on 44.4 percent shooting from the floor for the team. They lost their leading scorer from last year, Nico Galette, to Youngstown State, and their two other top scorers graduated. Aidan Carpenter is also projected to have a bigger role as a junior after averaging 9.7 points per game last season.
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