And just like that, the No. 2 UConn men’s basketball team’s opening homestand is over. After four games against sub-300 KenPom opponents, things are getting real next week. They’ve had many critics of their early scheduling and its ease, but it’s a bold strategy to question the methods of the back-to-back champs.
As for the game itself, it wasn’t much of a game at all. What started off as a slow burn turned into a fiery blaze and then a bad slog to the end, with the result being the burnt remains of East Texas A&M. The final damage was a 81-46 score, but the sloppiness throughout was the story of the day.
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“Just comically bad second half rebounding,” coach Dan Hurley noted. “So far below standard. Ball security throughout the game–it’s been a long time since we’ve been that bad. To have a negative assist-to-turnover ratio, we’re one of the best passing and ball-security teams in the country. At times we played hard, but once we got up 37 with 12 minutes to go it turned into a debacle. We played so far below the standard.”
UConn wasn't quite as dominant as usual on the glass, outrebounding the Lions by 9, but they made up for it with 11 blocks to the visitors’ 1. The assist numbers were definitely a bit subdued for both sides, with a 18-4 advantage. Perhaps a bit concerning was Connecticut’s 19 turnovers, something that should be more preventable against an opponent of this caliber.
“I’m just frustrated,” Hurley added. “We do this 11 months a year. We start in June, we practice all summer and all preseason. You can have a bad shooting night, but you can’t turn the ball over 19 times in a game like this here. You can’t have that defensive second half defense and rebound performance. When you’ve established such a level of play, you can’t play like that. It’s not acceptable.”
Hassan Diarra was all over the place for the Huskies, in a lot of good ways and some not so good ways. He had 7 points, 5 boards, 3 assists and 2 steals, impacting even more plays on the defensive end than the stats suggest. The less pretty was his 5 giveaways. He was loose with the ball and it rubbed off on the team a big part of their turnover numbers.
“[It was] silly mistakes, being indecisive with the ball,” Diarra attributed to the sloppy evening. “It starts with me. I had 5 turnovers…We didn’t fight human nature, we let our guard down.”
Tarris Reed Jr. had a quiet 9-10 line, a solid game without much flair. Johnson added 8 points and 3 blocks, with the center duo having a decent combined game. Their combined 4 fouls was also an encouraging sight, with those numbers improving since a rough first two games.
The team also enjoyed modest production from their other four starters, with none posting an amazing game. Solo Ball, Alex Karaban, Aidan Mahaney and Liam McNeeley each had between 10 and 12 points (the team-high), without many impressive secondary statistics.
It was positive for fans to see Mahaney hit double figures for the first time this year, though it took all of 10 shots to get there. Ball and Karaban were each also uber-efficient, with the pair combining for 23 points on 11 shots. There were questions about why the two were limited to so few attempts though.
It was a frustrating start to the game for the Huskies, who always appeared to be on the cusp of breaking things open, but in reality it was more of a slow burn. Points were difficult to come by for the Lions, but they didn’t flow for the Huskies either.
Not once in the first half did East Texas A&M score more than two consecutive buckets, but it took a while for Connecticut to take advantage. Up by 9 with 5:30 remaining in the first, something clicked, as Diarra nabbed a steal and flung it to McNeeley for a jam.
From there, the Huskies ended the half on a 16-3 run, which was capped off by a terrific Jayden Ross poster slam that is still making its rounds all over the internet.
Into the second half, things didn’t get any more competitive, with Connecticut picking up right from where they left off. It took fewer than three minutes for the score to balloon out to 30, ultimately settling at 35 with a slow and sloppy finish. The final 12 minutes were hard to watch, with bad mistakes. They did escape though, and anyone who didn’t watch the game won’t think twice about the final margin.
Next up for UConn is the Maui Invitational, which will be their first test. There are several ranked teams that they have potential to play, with their first game against Memphis coming on Monday at 2:30 p.m. ET.
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