No. 4 UConn gets back to work on Tuesday night vs. DePaul
Jan. 1—STORRS — When the basketball drops on Tuesday night, UConn will play its first game of the new year as the No. 4 ranked team in the country.
But the Huskies are still a work in progress.
Following Monday's practice, coach Dan Hurley pointed to a few areas where the Huskies need improvement.
"Leadership and toughness...," Hurley said. "We lost a lot of leadership and we lost a lot of toughness and then obviously depth, too. I would say those are three things for my New Year's resolution. I want leadership. I want toughness. And I want more players to be playable so we can have a deeper team."
Coming off a holiday break, UConn (11-2, 1-1 Big East) returns to action for the first time since Dec. 23 on Tuesday when it hosts DePaul (3-9, 0-1) at 6:30 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion.
Hurley isn't concerned about his team being rusty from the holiday break. The Huskies have been practicing hard since Wednesday, with an emphasis on the defensive end.
"It was good to be able to do some work with Donovan (Clingan) out," Hurley said. "We didn't have much time in between Seton Hall and losing Donovan and playing the St. John's game. To lose one of the most impactful players in the country, this has at least given us a little bit of time to practice.
"... When you take (Donovan) off the court, it changes our offense and changes our defense. Our margin for error is going to be very, very slim until the big guy gets back and he's healthy and lean and looking like last year's Donovan."
Tuesday will be UConn's second game with junior Samson Johnson at center instead of Clingan, who's expected to be out a couple more weeks with a foot injury. Clingan is making progress, according to Hurley.
In his first start of the season on Dec. 23, Johnson had his best game as a Husky in a 69-65 win over St. John's, finishing with a career-high 16 points and four rebounds.
"I'm feeling good," Johnson said. "I feel like I've got some momentum now."
UConn knows it will have to play better in January than it did in its first two Big East games — a road loss at Seton Hall and a hard-earned win versus St. John's — if it is going to contend for the Big East regular season title.
The Big East is as competitive as ever, with only Providence and Villanova undefeated in league play at this early stage.
Basically, DePaul is still DePaul.
Picked to finish last in the Big East preseason coaches' poll, the Blue Demons are off to a 3-9 start. They lost their only league game to Villanova, 84-48, on Dec. 23. They're ranked last in the Big East in scoring offense at 66.9 points per game and scoring defense at 75.4 points.
Two of DePaul's non-conference losses came against Iowa State and at Texas A&M.
"They have a lot of new pieces...," Hurley said. "They played a tough schedule. ... It's not easy. He's an excellent coach. (Tony Stubblefield) is trying to rebuild a program that's been down for a while.
"But they have talented players. We were bad the last two games and didn't play very well. The Seton Hall game was a down moment for us and we should have performed better (against St. John's)."
Still, DePaul, which went 3-17 in league play last season, shouldn't pose a threat if UConn is on its game.
It has potential to be the type of game that Hurley can go deep into his bench, something that hasn't happened much this season.
Hurley would like to be able to plug in players like freshman Jayden Ross, freshman Jaylin Stewart and sophomore Apostolos Roumoglou in the rotation, but not unless they can be counted on to contribute.
"There's not a lot of young players playing in college, especially at the better places," Hurley said. "But we need at least one of those three guys on the court, if not two of them."
The Huskies also need work in the areas of leadership and toughness.
"Honestly, it's not good right now," forward Alex Karaban said. "We need to do a better job. ... Everything needs to improve toughness-wise. And leadership-wise, I need to do a better job as well as Tristen (Newton), Donovan, Hassan (Diarra). Really all the veteran guys have to do a much better job of using their voice and putting themselves out there on what the team needs to do."
After hosting DePaul, UConn plays its next two games on the road, visiting Butler Friday and Xavier on Wednesday, Jan. 10.
As defending national champs, the Huskies have to be ready.
"We're going to get everyone's best game the entire year," Hurley said. "We've generally gotten that even when we were down the first couple of years because we're still UConn and we had the four championships and all the history.
"That's a new experience for all of us."
No. 4 UCONN vs. DEPAUL
Location: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs
Tip time: 6:30 p.m. (FS1)
Records: UConn 11-2, 1-1; DePaul 3-9, 0-1
Last game: UConn beat St. John's, 69-65, Dec. 23; DePaul defeated Chicago State, 70-58, Saturday
Series: UConn leads 17-1, winning both meetings last season 88-59 at home and 90-76 on the road.
Probable starters: UConn, 6-5 graduate guard Tristen Newton (16.2 pts, 6.9 rebs, 5.6 assists), 6-6 graduate guard Cam Spencer (14.8 pts, 3.8 rebs), 6-6 fr. guard Stephon Castle (8.1 pts, 4.1 rebs), 6-8 r-so. forward Alex Karaban (14.2 pts, 5.9 rebs), 6-10 jr. center Samson Johnson (6.4 pts, 3.8 rebs
DePaul, 6-2 grad guard Chico Carter, Jr. (13.5 pts, 3.4 rebs, 4.3 assists), 6-6 so. guard Elijah Fisher (9.8 pts, 4.3 rebs), 6-7 so. forward Jaden Henley (5.9 pts), 6-8 sr. forward De'Sean Nelson (10.1 pts, 4.5 rebs), 6-9 sr. forward Jeremiah Oden (11.8 pts, 4.1 rebs)
Noteworthy: UConn has won 16 straight in the series. ... DePaul's three wins came vs. South Dakota (72-60), Louisville (75-68) and Chicago State. ... Since joining the Big East in 2005, Blue Demons have had only one winning league season, going 9-7 in 2006-07. ... Top reserve: 6-3 sr. guard K.T. Raimey (7.8 pts, 2.8 rebs). ... Hot: UConn first in the Big East in field goal percentage at 49.7, assists per game at 17.9 and rebounding margin at 10.5. Cold: Huskies 9th in league in 3-pt FG% at 32.7 and 11th in FG% defense at 35.1. ... Injury news: Donovan Clingan (foot) out. ... Spencer shooting 44.6% from 3-pt range, third in the Big East. ... Hassan Diarra needs one block to set a career high. ... Up next: UConn visits Butler Friday night at 6:30 in Indianapolis.
