Monmouth-NJ @ Connecticut preview

Connecticut got a career-high 29 points from Christian Vital to defeat Columbia in overtime in its last game. The Huskies look to make it two straight wins when they host Monmouth in Hartford on Saturday.

Playing in front of its smallest home crowd in several seasons, UConn trailed by 15 points in the second half before rallying to force overtime and defeat the Lions on Wednesday. Vital, playing with a bad shoulder, hit eight 3-pointers in the contest to rescue the Huskies from what would have an embarrassing third straight loss. "Our defense was shaky at first, but we really buckled down in the second half," Vital told reporters. "That's what I love about this team. No matter the adversity that we hit, I feel our best chances are going to win the game."

TV: 4 p.m. ET, SNY, ESPN3

ABOUT MONMOUTH (3-4): The Hawks snapped a three-game slide with an 81-73 victory over Albany last game. Monmouth has faced a fairly difficult early schedule with games at Seton Hall and Virginia and it lost a four-overtime contest against Penn on Nov. 25. A dozen players average more than 10 minutes for the Hawks, who are led in scoring by Micah Seaborn, a preseason all-Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference first-team pick, at 13.4 points per game.

ABOUT UCONN (5-2): Guard Alterique Gilbert (shoulder), and forwards Eric Cobb (ankle) and Isaiah Whaley (wisdom teeth) all missed Wednesday's game and remain questionable. UConn got a big boost off the bench from Mamadou Diarra against the Lions as the promising freshman forward got extended minutes and finished with a 11 points and 10 rebounds. Jalen Adams continues to shrug off slow starts and had 11 points last game, and Terry Larrier and Antwoine Anderson each had 14.

TIP-INS

1. Interest seems to be waning among the once-fervid UConn fan base as last week's game against Columbia drew only 3,808 fans.

2. Vital was 8-for-14 from 3-point range versus Columbia and 9-for-15 while scoring 30 points against Boston University earlier this season, but 3-for-22 from beyond the arc in the other five games.

3. Monmouth freshman Deion Hammond is second on the team in scoring at 10.3 points a game and had a season-high 17 against Seton Hall.

PREDICTION: UConn 74, Monmouth 70