Men’s basketball gameday: UConn at Tulane

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UCONN at TULANE

When: Sunday, 4 p.m.

Where: Devlin Fieldhouse

Records: UConn 18-12 (9-8 AAC), Tulane 12-17 (4-13 AAC)

TV: ESPNU

Radio: UConn/IMG Sports Network, 97.9 FM-ESPN Hartford, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WICC-Brideport (600 AM), WINE-Danbury (940 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM), WILI-Willimantic (1400 AM)

KEEP AN EYE ON

Full “strength”: UConn arrived in New Orleans on Saturday evening veritably “teeming” with eight scholarship players and walk-on Temi Aiyegbusi. That’s about as full a roster as the Huskies have had in a while, due to injuries, suspensions, etc.

Alterique Gilbert, whose back spasms made him a near-gametime decision for Thursday’s win over Houston, is doing better, according to Dan Hurley.

“He was much better (Saturday) than he was (Friday),” said the UConn coach. “The back is still an issue, but I think he’s feeling much better going into this game than the Houston game.”

Teshaun Hightower (5) and the Tulane men’s basketball team will host UConn on Sunday. Teshaun Hightower (5) and the Tulane men’s basketball team will host UConn on Sunday. Photo: David Grunfeld / Associated Press Photo: David Grunfeld / Associated Press Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Men’s basketball gameday: UConn at Tulane 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Hurley added that leading scorer Christian Vital has a bit of a quadriceps issue, but fully expects him to play in his 100th consecutive game on Sunday.

“Any conference game, on the road, especially, is a hard game,” said Hurley. “We just have to show up with our edge. Our margins are thin, no matter who we’re playing. We don’t have tons of depth, we’re not an imposing team. We’ve got to be on, at both ends of the court.”

One more try: This will be the last chance Tulane gets to beat UConn, at least as a member of the AAC. UConn is 8-0 against the Green Wave, including a 67-61 win in Storrs on Jan. 8. Tyler Polley notched his first career double-double with 19 points and 11 rebounds in that one, which proved to be his final game of the season. A couple of days later in practice, Polley tore the ACL in his left knee.

Tulane didn’t win a single AAC game last season under Mike Dunleavey, Sr., but are 4-13 in the AAC in Ron Hunter’s first season at the helm, including home wins over Cincinnati and SMU.

“They had a good chance to beat Memphis,” Hurley noted. “They’re a very good offensive team, their matchup zone can cause you problems, and they have very good individual offensive players.”

New Orleans/Storrs connections: There are a surprising amount of connections between Tulane and UConn.

Tulane grad student Christion Thompson played for three seasons under Hurley at Rhode Island. Junior and leading scorer Teshaun Hightower and Gilbert were teammates as eighth-graders on the Lithonia Middle School team in 2012, which won the DeKalb County championship in Georgia.

Meanwhile redshirt sophomore Jordan Walker is a close friend of UConn’s Sid Wilson. The two are members of the “Jelly Fam” New York basketball community. Walker was also a teammate of UConn freshman Richie Springs on the New York Lightning AAU team. Springs is sitting out the season as an academic redshirt.

PROBABLE STARTERS

UCONN

Player Pos. PPG Jalen Gaffney G 3.9 Christian Vital G 16.0 James Bouknight G 13.2 Isaiah Whaley F 5.9 Josh Carlton C 7.7

TULANE

Player Pos. PPG K.J.Lawson G 13.3 Jordan Walker G 7.8 Teshaun Hightower G 16.0 Kevin Zhang F 4.8 Christion Thompson G 13.9