Notes & Quotes: UConn Drops Second Straight to Start the Season

Storrs, Conn. – Jalen Adams sat on the floor with a look of disbelief when the final horn sounded.

The sophomore point guard, like any fan or follower of UConn hoops, certainly didn't envision two straight losses to start the season but after losing to three-point gunning mid-major Northeastern, 64-61, on Monday night the Huskies are 0-2. UConn opens the season 0-2 for the first time since the 1968-69 campaign and will not play at home again until the end of the month.

“I feel embarrassed right now … but we will figure this out,” UConn coach Kevin Ollie said after the game.

T.J. Williams led all scorers with 20 points for Northeastern (2-0) and Donnell Gresham added 13. Alex Murphy collected a game-high 15 rebounds. Terry Larrier finished with 17 points to lead UConn and Jalen Adams chipped in with 15.

Here’s a closer look at what went well and what needs work.

WHAT WORKED

Brimah, Party of Blocks: One of the few things that went right for UConn was its 12 blocks, including eight from Amida Brimah. However, Northeastern countered it by outrebounding UConn 47-38 and scoring 19 points on second chances (17 offensive boards).

Ollie: “Amida played terrific, he was blocking everything.”

And that's it...

WHAT NEEDS WORK

Zoned Out: Northeastern found the perfect way to throw UConn off its game by going to a zone defense. The host Huskies shot 39.1 percent for the game (25-for-64) and just 5 of 21 on 3-pointers as their offense continues to sputter to start the season. Jackson was 2-for-5 on 3s, but the rest of the team was 3-for-16, including Alterique Gilbert’s last-second heave at the buzzer that could have tied it.

Coach Bill Coen: “For us we had two purposes in mind. We didn’t want to get in foul trouble because they have a great penetrating line up. They can really get into the teeth of the defense against man-to-man and we wanted to be able to have our best players available late in the game. We also generally it takes a little bit more time to attack a zone and we certainly wanted to cut the game a bit in terms of possessions, so that was our purpose with the zone.”

Ollie: “We have to figure out how to score. … These guys are better shooters than this. They are in the gym all the time.”

Very Poor Starts: For the second straight game, UConn failed to come out ready to play as Northeastern jumped to a 13-4 lead in the first five minutes and was up 35-31 at the half. In the opening 3:20, Adams was the lone Husky to score as the team shot 14 percent from the field and allowed Northeastern to hit three 3-pointers. Not even a starting lineup change – Jackson and Gilbert started in place of Purvis and Kentan Facey – helped.

Brimah: “That’s the thing, we have to come out ready to play in the first half. We can’t go into the locker room down all the time like that.”

Threes Falling: UConn continues to be way to vulnerable on the perimeter, where Northeastern shot 5-for-17 in the first half and 9-for-28 in the game.

Larrier: “Our defense was good, but they hit a couple three’s that killed us. We have to play tougher and harder on defense when it gets down to the wire like that.

Free Throw Woes: Normally a strength of UConn, these Huskies are almost better off taking contested shots. They finished 46.2 percent from the foul line after making just 6 of 13 shots and their lack of confidence shooting from the field seems to have carried over. UConn is shooting 62.1 percent there after two games.

Larrier: “It’s definitely carrying over. We need to get to the foul line a lot more, but guys got to make free throws and make shots.”

NOTES: Christian Vital left the court before the game with back spasms. He returned to the bench to watch the second half. … The Huskies do not play another home game until Nov. 30 when they host Boston University in the season debut at the XL Center. … Freshman Mamadou Diarra has dressed, but not played in either game this season due to knee issues. He’s the lone newcomer in UConn’s five-man 2016 class not to see the court. “With him not available, it really hurts,” Ollie said. … The Huskies fell out of the top 25 in both polls after its season-opening loss to Wagner.

UP NEXT: Thursday, at Loyola Marymount, 10 p.m. (SNY)