UNCASVILLE, CT—Sometimes, it’s just good to be back. It doesn’t matter that we’re just six months removed from the Huskies’ most recent win, the 2024 national championship, for those who forgot. It also doesn’t matter that there’s still three more weeks until the season starts. It’s just good to be back.
That was the feeling from the fans, but it wasn’t necessarily mutual for UConn coach Dan Hurley.
“Yesterday I was nervous, as nervous I’ve been going into a scrimmage,” he mentioned postgame. “I thought we were gonna lose today…by 15.”
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That was hyperbole and it didn’t happen, but in a charity scrimmage down south at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, CT, it was apparent that this game was being played in October. There were a bevy of early errors from the Huskies, but that’s to be expected when you have a game this early in the year.
There’s no reason to fret if you’re a Husky fan though, championships are notably won in April, not October. Either way, the Huskies finished the contest with an unconcerning margin of 27, winning 102-75. But that score didn’t do the game justice.
“It was fun, it was fun to play at Mohegan, get the jitters out,” the former Rhode Island coach noted. “We knew we’d do well offensively. Some of the things that concern me about the team, fouling, rebounding. We’ll fix that. We will not look like that moving forward. It was special to share the court with Rhode Island and share the arena with Rhode Island fans. Thank you.”
UConn massively outshot the Rams 55% to 37%, but one of the biggest things that kept URI in the game was their offensive rebounding. They finished the game with an 18-14 advantage in the department and a lack of connectivity from the Huskies showed at times.
Connecticut had a really nice night stroking it from beyond the arc though, hitting 13 of their 28 tries from that territory. That was one of the biggest factors that helped them separate from Rhode Island and is something that Hurley is thrilled about going forward. He even noted that these Huskies could be better at shooting than the 2024 championship squad.
“I think we’ve got better shooting overall,” he said of this year’s team. “We’ve got shooting all over the place.”
Player performances are always a bit untrustworthy this early in the year, but they’re not nothing. Sophomore Solo Ball got very little run last year after Stephon Castle came back from an injury, but he showed promise before that. And he was arguably the best Husky on Monday. Ball recorded a team-best 18 points on 3/6 shooting from deep, and those misses were his only ones. Plus, he only played 20 minutes.
“What you saw from Solo, we’ve been seeing everyday,” Hurley noted. “We look at some of the things he did freshman year, it's reminiscent of [Jordan Hawkins’] freshman year”
Ball had a unique opportunity this summer to capitalize on a lot of attrition on the team. It’s only driven him to be better.
“[The opportunity] only made me want to work 10 times harder,” Ball said. “I’ve focused on my defense. I want to become a guy who can help the team win.”
Aidan Mahaney also had himself a great game, showing everyone what made him a top-tier transfer. He didn’t start, but his 17-point outing on 3/5 three-point shooting gives him a good argument to do so at some point. But perhaps a sixth man role suits him. Having a sparkplug who can rattle off 9 points in two and a half minutes is definitely a nice piece to be able to take off the bench, creating a relentless headache for the opposition.
“You can tell it’s different here,” Mahaney mentioned of UConn and his second half spurt. “It’s been a great experience for me. You get it going a little bit, big credit to the coaches for instilling confidence in me. It’s an exhibition game, gotta keep it going.”
A Husky who surprised nobody was Alex Karaban, who did Alex Karaban things. 13 points, 8 boards, 4 assists. Just another day at the office for the two-time champion.
Also effective was Hassan Diarra, who only managed 4 points, but dished out 9 assists in a pure point guard performance. His two steals and general defensive effort shouldn’t be surprising too, with this statline needing to become a regular occurrence if the Huskies want to do special things.
Freshmen Liam McNeeley and Ahmad Nowell had vastly different roles with the former starting and scoring 10 points and the latter as the 10th man with a limited role this year. But both shined in their own ways.
McNeeley didn’t look fully comfortable, and showed it in the pregame ceremonies.
“He was too amped up,” Hurley noted of McNeeley. “Like Tony Robbins breathing. He was too hyper, he needs to calm down. He played well though.”
Nowell started his run off with one of the worst possible sequences: a lazy turnover and a foul at the other end. He didn’t lose determination or confidence though, hitting consecutive triples a moment later.
Sophomores Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross were also solid, but perhaps a bit less amazing than some folks might have hoped. But still, it’s only October.
Hurley also discussed a desire to clean up some of the play at the center position. There were positive moments from Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed Jr., but there were also some areas of improvement.
“Obviously Samson’s so explosive with what we do offensively, he puts so much pressure on the other team,” Hurley said. “The defense and rebounding thing, we've gotta get that figured out. Then the low-post defense thing, whether we start trapping it out like Houston and take a page out of Coach [Kelvin] Sampson's book… We've got to look for a remedy there.”
The start of the game had a slightly deceiving push and pull nature, with the Huskies showing a burst of promise, then regressing back to the Rams’ level. Ball had a great first few minutes, with similarly promising flashes from Karaban and Mahaney.
McNeeley notched his first bucket but didn’t do much else early. With Connecticut up 10-2 early things looked like they were going to turn into a blowout. Then Rhode Island came back to lead 17-16. The game seemed poised to develop into a blowout again when UConn led 26-19. The Rams again came back to lead 29-26.
The preseason rust and jitters really showed for UConn in the first half, as former Husky Javonte Brown gave them the business. The result? A measly 44-40 lead at the half, with a lone bright moment coming from a Samson Johnson poster dunk. And the score doesn’t reflect how rusty the effort was.
"There were some encouraging things that I can't find because I'm pissed," Hurley told the broadcast at halftime.
The second frame started just like the first one did, with a surge and energy, especially from Ball. But this time, they didn’t stop. Ball scored at will and then came the Aidan Mahaney freight train, who recorded 9 of the Huskies’ next 11 points, a sequence that led to a 17-point Connecticut lead and a URI timeout. That’s much closer to what everyone expected.
Nowell hit back to back threes, Reed Jr. showed off a few post moves and the game was just about over with 10 minutes to play. Another nice burst from Ball came on a pair of plays when he hit a triple and converted an old-fashioned 3-point play. That was the unofficial marking of the game’s finish, with UConn running away with a 27-point victory.
Either way, for every positive and negative, it’s just October 14th. You can’t take too much from the effort, but the team looks promising. There are aspects to refine and plenty to build on. But knowing Hurley and co., they’ll be much more polished come November and further.
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