NEW YORK – The No. 18 UConn men's basketball team (7-3) closes its regular season non-conference slate with a huge test on Saturday night, facing No. 8 Gonzaga (7-2) in the Basketball Hall of Fame Series New York City at Madison Square Garden. Tip-off from the World's Most Famous Arena is set for 8 p.m. in a FOX Primetime Hoops showdown with Jason Benetti and Jim Jackson on the call.

UConn will be making its debut at 4 Penn Plaza this season, a year after going 7-0 at MSG. The trip to the Mecca of Basketball will be one of three this season, with Connecticut set to return to 'Storrs South' on Feb. 23 vs. St. John's and of course for the BIG EAST Tournament in March.

The top-20 match-up on Saturday night is part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Series, a 'return' game after the Huskies and Bulldogs squared off in Seattle last season. UConn won that contest, 76-63, to run their record in the all-time series to 5-2. New York City will be the seventh destination for the series which dates to the 1999 Elite Eight. The sides actually met twice in the calendar year of 2023, with UConn also taking down Gonzaga in the 2023 West Regional Final in Las Vegas.

The Huskies are riding a three-game winning streak into Manhattan, bouncing back to notch quality wins last week over then-No. 15 Baylor and at Texas. Gonzaga dropped its last contest in an overtime heartbreaker to Kentucky, but owns quality wins already this season over Baylor, Arizona State, San Diego State and Indiana.

UConn got preseason All-American and captain Alex Karaban back for Texas on Sunday and he did not miss a beat, posting his first career double-double with 21 points, 11 rebounds, four assists, two blocks and two steals. This season Karaban leads the Huskies in scoring with 16.5 points per game while stuffing the stat sheet with 5.0 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 2.0 blocks per game. His 48.1 percent mark from 3-point range is one of the best in the country.

Also atop the scoresheet for Connecticut is Solo Ball, in the midst of a breakout sophomore campaign in which he is averaging 12.9 points per game and has scored in double-figures in all 10 contests. Last season Ball averaged 3.3 per game and hit double-digits only twice. Reigning BIG EAST Freshman of the Week Liam McNeeley adds 12.4 points and 5.9 rebounds per game, while big man Tarris Reed Jr. is the fourth Husky in double-figures with 11.0 points per game and adds a team-best 8.2 rebounds per contest.

Connecticut boasts a consensus top-five offense per every major metric, shooting 50.4 percent from the floor and averaging 20.2 assists per contest. Samson Johnson is averaging double-figures over his last five contests and shooting a staggering 82.9 percent from the floor. Hassan Diarra moved into the starting lineup in late November and has flourished as a distributor, handing out 6.8 assists per game as a starter.

Gonzaga is one of the top teams in the nation this season, checking in at No. 8 in the AP Poll and top-five in Kenpom, NET and Torvik. Graham Ike leads a balanced Gonzaga offense (No. 2 in Kenpom offensive efficiency) with 15.3 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, one of five averaging double-figures. Ryan Nembhard, who has played in six career games against UConn including his time at Creighton, adds 10.9 points and an NCAA-best 10.7 assists per game.

The Huskies will have very little respite after the conclusion of their non-conference gauntlet, opening BIG EAST play on Wednesday, Dec. 18 against Xavier at the XL Center.