Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun sees tonight’s game against Providence College as a must-win for his Huskies.

KRT / Michael Perez

PROVIDENCE — If you ask Jim Calhoun and his Connecticut Huskies, they feel they’re probably one win away from feeling very good about themselves. They hope tonight is the night.

The Huskies (11-4) don’t really have a signature win or an ugly loss. They’ve dispatched a slew of nondescript opponents and fallen short against four very good ones. Those results have placed UConn in a position to make a move towards the national rankings and, ultimately, the NCAA Tournament. But as the weeks fall off the calendar, the time for big wins is at hand.

“I think we’re a few inches away,” said Calhoun, “but starting with Providence, we need some wins to show we’re good. You can only go so long with saying ‘We’re close.’ We need some positive feedback.”

The problem, of course, is that Providence’s Friars feel very much the same as the Huskies. PC and UConn are tied in the Big East with 2-2 records and their seasons can go either way. Win a few in a row and both teams would be sitting pretty. Lose a few straight and a bit of panic will set in.

“I think we can beat anyone in the league but, conversely, Providence can beat us and a lot of people,” said Calhoun.

UConn’s road to the make-or-break part of its schedule has been an interesting one. A year ago, Calhoun brazenly predicted greatness for a team that had lost four NBA first-round draft picks (Rudy Gay, Hilton Armstrong, Marcus Williams, Josh Boone) and a second rounder (Denham Brown). But with no leadership and a flood of inexperience with no star power, the Huskies slumped to 17-14 and out of both the NCAA and NIT for the first time since Calhoun’s first season in Storrs (1987).

Now the Huskies are a year older and a year wiser. Guards Jerome Dyson and A.J. Price have shone in their second collegiate season. Hasheem Thabeet, the 7-foot-3 center from Tanzania, is beginning to dominate some games and opponents now know that sophomore forward Stanley Robinson is on the floor. Add in the ‘old’ man of the team in junior Jeff Adrien and Calhoun’s Kiddie Corps is quickly maturing.

“They’re a year older and a lot better,” said PC coach Tim Welsh. “Last year they were the youngest team I’ve ever seen, really. This year, Jim’s said they had a lot to live up to and they all had to show him something and they certainly have.”

The Huskies made good charges at both Memphis and Gonzaga early this season but fell short. In Big East play, they won at Seton Hall before falling 20 points behind at Notre Dame and losing a comeback bid, 73-67. Saturday at Georgetown, Calhoun sat in the locker room with a stomach infection that evening as his team played its best game of the season. The Huskies led the Hoyas with a few minutes left but couldn’t halt a rally that was capped by only the second 3-pointer in 7-2 center Roy Hibbert’s career.

“We’d had four losses and none of them are really explainable,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun, like Welsh, says he’s ready for anything tonight. “More things have happened in our Providence games over the years than any other [series],” Calhoun said. “. . . Syracuse might be our biggest rival because we’ve played championship games with them but in retrospect the Providence games have always been competitive and wild.”

kmcnamar@projo.com