Excitement is in the air at UConn. The defending national champion men’s basketball team hit the road Wednesday evening ahead of their first game in the NCAA tournament.
With high fives amid a chorus of cheers and the UConn fight song, the defending national champions made their way through the crowd. Students buzzing about the team’s chances at winning another title.
“Number one seed in the tournament. Number one team overall. What are we afraid of? We’re going to demolish the East, easily,” Noah Keaten, a UConn junior, said.
The men’s team was sent off before they play in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Brooklyn. The 1-seed Huskies are heavy favorites against 16-seed Stetson. One student said he expects an electric atmosphere there.
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“I’m hoping to get a good spot and it’ll be a great game. We’re going to kind of destroy them, but it’ll be fun regardless,” Keaten said.
Before getting on the team bus, head coach Dan Hurley let the crowd know his team’s focus.
“Let’s go get you number six! Alright, let’s go UConn!” Hurley said.
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Students say they’re confident the team can pull it off.
“How are we going to lose? Biden said that UConn was going to win. We got the president on our side,” Keaten said.
They say another national championship would help set a new standard for the men’s basketball team.
“It’s going to prove that we actually are the best of the best and that it wasn’t a fluke last year,” Zach Hricko, a UConn junior, said.
The men’s team plays Stetson Friday. Tipoff is at 2:45 p.m.
