UConn men’s basketball to open 2024-25 season against Sacred Heart, according to reports

UConn men’s basketball’s quest for a three-peat will reportedly begin with an in-state opponent, according to Bryan DeNovellis of the Tri-State Basketball Podcast.

The Huskies, DeNovellis reported, will host Sacred Heart in their 2024-25 season-opener on Nov. 6 at Gampel Pavilion.

It would be the eighth matchup between the two programs and the first since 2019, Dan Hurley’s second season in Storrs. UConn is 7-0 all-time against the Pioneers, who finished third in the Northeast Conference with a 10-6 record in league play last season.

Sacred Heart, entering its 12th year under head coach Anthony Latina, is joining Fairfield and Quinnipiac in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) starting this fall.

UConn, which has built a roster to compete at the top of the sport again despite losing four starters to the NBA Draft, will also reportedly host New Hampshire again on Nov. 9 before getting into the teeth of another loaded nonconference schedule, which hasn’t been fully announced. In a series that dates back to the 1906-07 season, UConn leads the Wildcats 95-25 and won the 120th matchup last season, 84-64, a Huskies win that broke North Carolina’s record for consecutive double-digit wins over nonconference opponents (24).

The Huskies will play three games in the Maui Invitational (which includes Auburn, Colorado, Dayton, Iowa State, Memphis, Michigan State and North Carolina) from Nov. 25-27 before hosting Baylor on Dec. 5, then travelling to Texas on Dec. 8. The team will return to Madison Square Garden, where it went 7-0 last season, for a return game against Gonzaga on Dec. 14.