UConn Men's Basketball Readies for Final Tune-Up

It’s no secret Kevin Ollie loves players that are versatile, and this year’s UConn squad is filled with them. However, the Huskies are still in the learning stages as they grind through preseason practices.

“It’s going to be fun,” UConn sophomore point guard Jalen Adams said. “We can put (Kentan Facey) at the five, anyone at the five, Terry (Larrier) at the four. It’s going to be fun. We can get up and down, we just have to figure the little things out and little details defensively and we’ll be ready to go.”

The Huskies, who are ranked 18th in the Associated Press preseason poll, have their final tune-up before the season starts when they host Scott Burrell’s Southern Connecticut State squad at 1 p.m. Saturday at Gampel Pavilion. UConn opens the regular season on Nov. 11 against Wagner. Game time is 7 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion.

UConn got a big lift from its bench – notably freshman Vance Jackson with 15 points in its first preseason win, 83-68, in the exhibition opener against the University of New Haven. The bench scored 34 points with 26 coming in the second half.

“When coach O calls my name, I got to be ready to play,” said Jackson, who seemed relaxed on the floor in his UConn debut. “I got all my nerves out at First Night.”

While the offense came together in the second half against UNH, the defense was subpar, especially with guard Danny Upchurch dropping 33 points in the Huskies.

“He gave our defense a challenge and we shouldn’t have allowed out defense to let him have 33,” Jackson said.

The Owls lack size like UNH did, but have some strong guards, including senior Michael Mallory (23.0 points per game). The backcourt should be a good test for Adams, senior Rodney Purvis and freshmen Alterique Gilbert.

“We are going to play some great guards coming down the pike,” Ollie said. “And we have to do a better job. … Jalen got to take the initiative, Purv got to take the initiative, whoever is going to have the ace of spades has to take it upon themselves to real stop them.

“We have to shore up our defense.”