Providence’s Geoff McDermott, left, is locked in a battle for the ball with Marquette’s Jerel McNeal during the Friars’ loss in Milwaukee earlier this month.

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AP / Morry Gash

PROVIDENCE — As a rule, it is painfully difficult to win road games in the Big East. Except when Providence College plays the University of Connecticut, that is.

Going on the road is the devilish part of college basketball, the test that separates the average teams from the good ones. It’s also the fork in the road that ultimately forces teams to follow a path toward disaster, the NIT or the Holy Land otherwise known as the NCAA Tournament.

This season, road teams are 7-22 in the Big East. A year ago, they won just 34 percent of the time.

Whether it’s a trip to Georgetown or Cincinnati, Notre Dame or DePaul, coming away with a win is difficult.

Yet, in what can only be described as a bizarre fluke, the Friars and Huskies don’t seem to have a problem winning on each other’s homecourt. For the last six seasons, the road team has won when PC and UConn renew a rivalry that stretches from 1928. PC has won on UConn’s campus in Storrs and at the Hartford Civic Center. The Friars beat UConn when it was ranked fourth in the country and headed to the 2004 national championship with Emeka Okafor, Ben Gordon and a bench full of future NBA draft picks. The upset sparked the infamous Jim Calhoun outburst over why he hadn’t recruited PC star Ryan Gomes. A year ago, both teams were conference also-rans when PC’s Herbert Hill and Sharaud Curry helped wiped out an 11-point halftime deficit and pull away for an 84-72 win in Hartford.

UConn has waltzed into the Dunkin’ Donuts Center and beaten the Friars plenty of times, with droves of their fans in tow. But the games are always compelling. The Huskies beat the Friars handily in 2006, but survived a double-overtime classic to get the job done in ’05.

The latest installment of the series tips off Thursday in Hartford. Is it PC’s turn to keep the six-year pattern alive or is UConn ready to restore some normalcy and protect its home court?

“It’s UConn. We’ll be ready,” Friars forward Geoff McDermott said. “We’ve won two in a row and we want to keep it going.”

The two Big East wins Providence owns both came at home, and there’s the rub. PC is always good at home. The Friars are 8-0 this season and have won 24 of their last 27 games at The Dunk over the last two seasons, but the road is another matter. PC finished 2-6 in each of the last three seasons in road Big East games. Not surprisingly, the Friars missed out on the NCAAs all three years.

“You’ve got to be mentally strong and find a way to win on the road,” Friars coach Tim Welshs said. “The teams that win on the road are the ones that do well. You have to be iron-tough on the road.”

Both of Welsh’s two NCAA teams in his nine years at PC built winning road records within the Big East. In fact, they also won outside league play away from home. Both finished with eight road victories, the most at PC since Ernie DiGregorio and Marvin Barnes led the Friars to the NCAAs in 1972.

PC is 0-3 on the road this year, losing at Rhode Island, Marquette and DePaul. This Friars team is led by a group of juniors who have struggled on the road. Over their careers, the class is 4-14 in Big East road games.

“Travel is wear and tear. People forget that the league is a lot different with travel than it used to be,” said Welsh. “We used to go to Boston College and half our fans would be up there with us. We’d go to Connecticut, to New York, to Seton Hall, and the fans would be a quick little bus ride away. Now you’re going to the Midwest a lot. We have to go to Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, DePaul, Marquette. Those are all hellacious trips. That’s tough travel. It’s not a nice three-hour bus ride to the LaGuardia Marriott.”

Welsh added that the extra miles aren’t an excuse. He’s stressing to his players that they’ve been through the grinder at Notre Dame, Pitt and St. John’s before. Veteran teams need to respond, and that’s the challenge he’s issued this week.

The teams that find a win to win away from home are clearly a cut above.

Last season, just three teams (Georgetown, Pittsburgh and Louisville) finished with winning road records in conference play. Not surprisingly, each received a high seed in the NCAAs. The 13-1 Hoyas are the only league team with more than one road win this season, and they were aiming for a third last night at Pittsburgh.

Providence will have its first road win in its sights Thursday in Hartford.

If form follows, the Friars just might get it.

kmcnamar@projo.com