Kevin Ollie has experienced the heated Providence-UConn rivalry as a player and assistant coach.

Now he’ll face the Friars for the first time as a head coach.

When asked if he enjoyed his trips there as a player, Ollie responded: "Not necessarily. They’ll say anything, that crowd.

"It was always good. It was always a competitive game. They had some great teams when I was playing."

Ollie also was asked about freshman Kris Dunn, a McDonald’s All-American guard out of New London.

Check out the attached video of Ollie’s post-practice remarks.

Game time is 7 p.m. Thursday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence. The Huskies have lost five of the last seven games in the series, including three straight on the road.

It also will be a mini-reunion. UConn assistant coach George Blaney’s son, Brian, is an assistant coach on Ed Cooley's staff. PC associate head coach Andre LaFleur is a former UConn assistant.