Injuries are the main storyline for both Providence and No. 11 UConn entering a Big East matchup between those teams on Sunday in Storrs, Conn.
Providence (7-7, 1-2) is hopeful senior forward Bryce Hopkins can play. Hopkins, who sustained a knee injury last January that required surgery, made his 2024-25 debut Dec. 3 against BYU, but tweaked his knee during a victory over DePaul on Dec. 10 and hasn’t played in the past three games. The Friars are 0-3 during that stretch.
“He’s getting a lot closer,” Providence coach Kim English said. “He’s feeling better and better each day. He just came down on it against DePaul and it swelled up. Everything structurally is fine. He’s just working to have less and less pain each day.”
Hopkins is averaging 17.0 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the three contests he played in this season. He averaged 15.5 points and 8.6 rebounds per game last season before his knee injury.
“Bryce had a catastrophic knee injury on Jan. 3 (of 2024) — catastrophic,” English said. “And when he’s back we’re not going to risk re-injury there. He’s doing everything in his power to get back. He had a good day (Monday), about half the practice, and hopefully he’ll do more (this week) to get ready for Connecticut on Sunday.”
Other than Hopkins, Jayden Pierre (12.6) and Bensley Joseph (11.3) are the only Providence players scoring in double figures.
UConn (11-3, 3-0) freshman Liam McNeeley injured his right ankle during the second half of Wednesday’s 81-68 victory at DePaul. He was seen wearing a boot on that foot after the game.
UConn coach Dan Hurley said he doesn’t expect McNeeley to play Sunday. McNeeley is second on the team in both scoring (13.6) and rebounding (5.8).
Although Alex Karaban is UConn’s top scorer (16.6), Solo Ball made 7 of 9 3-pointers and tossed in a game-high 22 points during the victory against DePaul.
“So much of what we’re gonna become is based on how these sophomores (Ball, Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross) develop,” Hurley said. “I’ve said that a bunch. Solo, he’s gonna have games where he makes five, six, seven 3s like this. This is not surprising.
“I think we’re a really good offensive team. I think we have championship potential as an offensive team, but if our defense and rebounding don’t get there, we’re not going to win any championships.”
Providence will be trying to end a three-game losing streak. The Friars turned the ball over 22 times in Tuesday’s 78-50 home loss to Marquette and are averaging 13.1 turnovers per game this season.
“Been talking about that,” English said. “It’s very frustrating … the turnovers with two point guards on the court. And because we have two small guys, we’re not getting it off the glass. One less guy that’s going. So that has been very disappointing. Yes.
“Disappointing effort (against Marquette) and we have some stuff to figure out as a group. Who we are. How we’re going to respond to the adversity. We gotta keep searching. We will. It’s a process.”
UConn enter the game Sunday having won seven in a row. The Huskies have a 7-0 record at home this season.
–Field Level Media
