GAME NOTES: The Connecticut Huskies will try to turn around their recent struggles on Monday night when they welcome the Columbia Lions to Webster Bank Arena for a non-conference showdown.

UConn fell to No. 2 Duke, 66-56, at the IZOD Center in New Jersey on Thursday. The defending national champion Huskies have lost four of their last five games and are in need of a spark with their American Athletic Conference schedule on the horizon. They'll host Central Connecticut on Sunday before opening league play at home against Temple three days later.

Meanwhile, Columbia is off to a 6-3 start and has split its last four contests. One of those losses came against top-ranked Kentucky, and the other was by two points against Loyola-Maryland. The Lions were at home against Hofstra on Saturday and claimed an 82-77 victory.

UConn has won seven of nine meetings all-time against the Lions.

Columbia's Maodo Lo scored 23 of his game-high 29 points during the second half against Hofstra. Lo knocked down seven 3-pointers on 15 attempts, with the seven makes representing the second-best single-game effort in school history. He added seven rebounds and two steals to his stat line. Columbia's 82 points against Hofstra marked a season-high. The bench played a big part in that, as the Lions' reserves outscored Hofstra's reserves, 33-4. Steve Frankoski scored 14 points off the bench, while Kyle Castlin finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

Lo is the only Columbia player averaging double figures (17.6) on the season with 17.6 points per game. But the real strength of the team is on the defensive end, where the Lions rank third in the country in scoring defense (50.8). Opponents have shot just 37.4 percent shooting from the floor and 24 percent from the perimeter, the latter of which tops the Ivy League and ranks in the top-10 nationally.

Things have not gone so well for the Huskies over the last five games, with the lone victory in that stretch coming against Coppin State. Ryan Boatright, the team's captain and AAC Preseason Player of the Year, leads the way with 19.3 points to go along with 5.8 rebounds per game. Amida Brimah (12.0 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 2.8 bpg) and Daniel Hamilton (11.9 ppg, 6.1 rpg) are also averaging double figures in the scoring column.

Boatright led all scorers with 22 points against Duke, but the more balanced Blue Devils placed all five of their starters in double figures. Duke also outscored UConn at the foul line, 25-7, to go along with a 40-29 edge on the glass. Still, there were some positives for the Huskies to build on. After all, they did hold the No. 2 team in the nation to 37.5-percent shooting from the floor while also forcing 19 turnovers.

UConn has hit a rough patch, and things won't get much easier here against a Columbia team that has been playing well. Don't be surprised if this one stays fairly tight throughout.