Iona @ Connecticut preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 16, 2018 ) Connecticut 0, Iona 0

After finishing below .500 last season, Connecticut is bent on forging an identity -- one it hopes will propel the team back to the NCAA Tournament. Coming off a suffocating defensive performance in their first home game in two weeks, the Huskies will vie for their sixth win in eight contests when they square off against visiting Iona on Wednesday night.

Connecticut registered 13 steals and forced 28 turnovers in a 64-40 drubbing of Maine on Sunday, the most miscues by an opponent since 2000. “That’s probably the most important thing for us this year, defensive pressure," sophomore guard Brendan Adams said. "We have a lot of depth, so we can kind of run guard and run bigs in and out, just keep pressuring on the ball.” It will mark the second game for freshman sensation James Bouknight, who averages 13.8 points in less than 19 minutes per game. Iona, which has made three consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances, dropped its first two games before rebounding with wins over Stetson and Kennesaw State in the MAAC-ASun Challenge.

TV: 7 p.m. ET, SNY (Connecticut)

ABOUT IONA (2-2): Senior forward Tajuan Agee leads the Gaels in scoring (17.0 ppg) and rebounding (9.0) after putting up a pair of double-doubles in the last two games, but there is a local tie of interest to the matchup. Senior guard E.J. Crawford, Iona's second-leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, grew up down the road in Hartford and was a teammate of Christian Vital -- UConn's top scorer -- in prep school. "I’m going to go in there like it’s just another game -- even though it’s a little bit more," Crawford said.

ABOUT CONNECTICUT (5-2): The Huskies have four players scoring in double figures while Adams and Alterique Gilbert are at 9.9 points, with the latter breaking out of a dreadful slump by scoring 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting versus Maine. “It was just good to see the ball go in,” said Gilbert, the team's leader in assists per game (3.9) who was 14-for-63 (22.2 percent) from the floor in the first six contests. Vital, who is averaging 14.6 points, also leads the team in rebounding (8.1), steals (3.3) and free-throw shooting (96.7).

EXTRA POINTS

1. Bouknight, who was suspended for the first three games, is shooting 63.6 percent from the floor.

2. Iona lost nine of its first 11 games last season before rebounding to win the MAAC championship.

3. UConn C Josh Carlton has scored in double figures five times.

PREDICTION: Connecticut 77, Iona 64