UConn set for first major test with No. 6 Michigan: 'They will be the best team we've played this year'

After Michigan blew out Notre Dame in a 93-54 win last Saturday in Detroit, Geno Auriemma sent a congratulatory text to Wolverines head coach Kim Barnes Arico. As the two chatted, the conversation eventually turned to the upcoming matchup between their teams.

“I'm not looking forward to Friday,” Barnes Arico, who spent 10 years at St. John’s from 2002-2012, said.

“I'm not either,” Auriemma replied. “Maybe we ought to just have a couple of drinks, go gamble a little bit and call it a day.”

Despite the coach’s wishes, the two teams will in fact take the court against each other in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase. Michigan is a program on the ascent, led by a group of dynamite sophomores who collectively lead the team in every category. After knocking off Notre Dame, the Wolverines vaulted up eight spots to No. 6 in the AP Poll, making this UConn’s first (and potentially only) top-10 matchup of the regular season.

The Huskies are in for their biggest challenge so far.

“They will be, for sure, the best team we’ve played this year by a long shot,” Auriemma said.

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