Jackets head to No. 19 UConn in final non-conference game

STORRS, CONNECTICUT - In the midst of a three-game road swing, Georgia Tech plays its last non-conference game of the regular season Saturday when it visits 19th-ranked Connecticut for a 4 p.m. nationally-televised (ESPN) game at Gampel Pavilion.

The Yellow Jackets beat UConn 65-52 at the Georgia Dome lastseason.

Tech is 11-10 for the season and 4-4 in the ACC, having won four of its last five games since an 0-3 conference start, including an 89-83 win at Wake Forest Wednesday night. The Jackets have won three straight road games in that stretch, the first time they have accomplished that since the Final Four season of 2003-04, and find themselves in a tie for sixth place in the ACC standings with NC State.

Tech is 5-4 on opponents' home courts this season, 3-1 in ACC road games. At home, the Jackets are 1-3 in conference play, with the three losses coming by a TOTAL of five points.

Connecticut, 17-5 overall and 7-3 in the Big East, has reeled off six straight wins beginning with an 89-73 win over Marquette on Jan. 20. Three of those wins over come on the road, including a 63-61 triumph Wednesday night at Syracuse, and the Huskies hold third place in the Big East standings.

Tech has played a strong schedule thus far, posting a schedule strength rank of No. 7 according to this week's RPI rankings (Collegiate Basketball News). The teams Tech lost to have a combined record of 163-61 (through Thursdday's games), including losses to five top-25 teams who have a combined mark of 96-17.

Series vs. Connecticut

Saturday's game will be the first between the two teams on either school's campus. Georgia Tech leads the series 2-1, with all three prior meetings played at neutral sites, including a 65-52 Georgia Tech win last season at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

The other two contests both occurred during the 2003-04 season. Tech knocked off the Huskies, ranked No. 1 in the nation, 77-61, in the semi-finals of the Preseason NIT at Madison Square Garden on its way to the tournament title. UConn returned the favor with the highest stakes of all on the line, an 82-73 win in the NCAA Tournament national championship game at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas.

Matt Causey is the only current Tech player to have faced Connecticut that season; he was a freshman playing for Georgetown. He went scoreless in 11 minutes in the teams' only meeting. Only five current Tech players participated in last year's game at the Georgia Dome.

Common opponents -- UConn lost 73-67 on Jan. 5 at Notre Dame, a team Tech defeated, 70-69, on Nov. 19 in the Paradise Jam. The Huskies won, 68-63, on Jan. 26 at Indiana, a team the Jackets lost to, 83-79, on Nov. 27 in Bloomington.