NEW YORK – The UConn men's basketball team begins its run at the 2025 BIG EAST Tournament on Thursday night. The third-seeded Huskies will take on either six-seed Villanova or 11-seed Seton Hall at Madison Square Garden in a game scheduled to tip some time after 9:30 p.m. The contest will air on FS1 with Gus Johnson, Bill Raftery and Kristina Pink.

Connecticut is the defending champion of the BIG EAST Tournament and has won the crown jewel of conference tournaments a total of eight times - tied with Georgetown for the most in league history. UConn has advanced to at least the semifinals in each of the four tournaments played under Dan Hurley, who holds a 6-3 record in the Tournament and became the second man to win it as a coach and player last year, since returning to the league for the 2020-21 season.

Four Huskies were recently feted by the BIG EAST coaches in the league's year-end awards. Liam McNeeley became the second-straight UConn rookie to be named BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and picked up All-BIG EAST Third Team and All-Freshman accolades. Solo Ball and Alex Karaban both earned All-BIG EAST Second Team selections, and Tarris Reed Jr. won the league's Sixth Man Award.

UConn enters the postseason playing some of its best basketball of the season, winners of four-straight as the calendar has turned to March. The Huskies were last in action for an 81-50 rout of Seton Hall on March 8. Samson Johnson had a huge day on his Senior Day with 14 points and six rebounds in only 18 minutes, while Karaban notched a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double and Ball scored 17.

The high-scoring trio of Ball (14.8 ppg), McNeeley (14.7) and Karaban (14.5) have powered one of the nation's best offenses this season. Hassan Diarra is the straw that stirs the drink and ranks top-25 nationally with 6.1 assists per game and a 2.72 assist/turnover ratio.

In the post, UConn has again found success with a tandem center approach. Johnson has started all but one game this season and is shooting 76.0 percent from the floor, a mark that would break his own program record. Reed Jr. has posted seven double-doubles as a reserve, most in the country, and averages 10.0 points and 7.3 rebounds on 66.8 percent shooting in his first year in Storrs.  The duo along with Karaban all among the top-six shot blockers in the BIG EAST – helping UConn to the national lead with 6.5 blocks per game.

Connecticut is no stranger to the Madison Square Garden stage. Hurley is 14-7 as the UConn head man at the Mecca of Basketball and has won eight of nine in the building. Last season the Huskies won a pair of championships at MSG. The quarterfinal will be their third trip this season, including a win over then-No. 8 Gonzaga there on Dec. 14.

Should the Huskies advance, they would face the winner of #2 Creighton vs. #7 Georgetown or #10 DePaul on Friday night at 9 p.m. on FOX.