dpHARTFORD – The No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team embarks on the 2026-27 regular season on Monday night when it plays host to Gardner-Webb at PeoplesBank Arena. Tip-off is set for 9 p.m. and the contest will air on Peacock and NBC Sports Network with John Fanta, Donny Marshall and Caroline Pineda on the call.
The Huskies are beginning the 124th year of men’s basketball on Monday night, first taking the court in 1900 and competing in all but three seasons since. The six-time national champions have been college basketball’s most successful program over the last three decades, with national titles in 1999, 2004, 2011, 2014, 2023 and 2024.
The 2026-27 season at UConn will mark the ninth with head coach Dan Hurley at the helm. Hurley, who recently agreed to a two-year contract extension to a deal that now runs through 2032, is 199-75 at UConn and 350-180 overall in his 17th year as a collegiate head coach. He is the youngest active head coach to reach three Final Fours and is one of three* active coaches with multiple national titles.
UConn is 93-30 all-time in season openers and a perfect 8-0 under Hurley. Monday night will mark the third all-time meeting with Gardner-Webb after an unlikely two-games-in-five-days stretch against the Runnin’ Bulldogs early in the 2007-08 season. The Huskies took both of those match-ups, a 78-66 victory in the 2K College Hoops Classic Semifinals at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15 and an 89-72 triumph in Hartford on Nov. 20.
Connecticut is coming off a perfect 3-0 run in the preseason slate in October. In wins vs. Syracuse (73-53), at Michigan State (78-70) and home to Purdue (76-53) the Huskies turned up the heat on the defensive end, holding the three high-major foes to 34.4 percent shooting from the field and a 14.1 percent mark from 3-point range. UConn recorded a +3.0 turnover margin, was +3.7 on the glass and totaled a +17.0 scoring margin. Silas Demary Jr. and Nik Khamenia led a balanced offensive charge with 13.0 points per game apiece, as the Huskies had three leading scorers in the three contests. Khamenia led the Huskies with 8.3 rebounds per game and Demary Jr. dished out a team-best 3.7 assists per contest. They were joined in double-figure scoring by Colben Landrew (12.0 ppg) and Na’jai Hines (11.3 ppg).
UConn, which checked in at No. 4 in the Preseason AP Poll, was tabbed as the BIG EAST’s preseason favorites for the second-straight season. Demary Jr. was named BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year, Landrew earned Preseason Freshman of the Year, Braylon Mullins was a Preseason First Team All-BIG EAST pick and Na’jai Hines a Preseason Second Team selection.
On the national stage, Demary Jr. has been lauded as a Preseason All-American by CBS Sports and Sports Illustrated while receiving votes in the Associated Press honors. Mullins also received AP All-America votes and was named a First Team All-American by Blue Ribbon Report. Demary Jr. and Mullins were both named to the NABC Preseason Player of the Year Watch List, making UConn one of three program’s nationally with multiple honorees on the 20-man list.
Following the opener on Monday night the Huskies head to Boston for a National Championship game rematch against Michigan in the TNT Sports Hall of Fame Series Boston presented by Amica Insurance on Friday, Nov. 6 at 8 p.m.
