UConn men’s basketball team finding the right chemistry and other takeaways from the Huskies’ opening win over CCSU
It would be easy, and accurate, to say UConn had a ho-hum win over an overmatched mid-major. But as opening games go, UConn’s 99-48 win over Central Connecticut was far better than most.
The Huskies came out in sync, put it away early and never took their foot off the gas pedal. Often in first games, there is discombobulation early, maybe a 10-point lead at the half, allowing the opponent is allowed to hang around, etc., etc. There mistakes here and there but nothing lackluster about this one.
“We’ve got a lot of guys who believe in themselves and they’re a lot closer,” coach Dan Hurley said. “This group is a lot, lot closer and they understand how the chemistry is going to be.”
The worst thing about this game is the knowledge that UConn has five more like it against mid-majors over the next three weeks. Without a lot of apparent kinks to work out, the Huskies could really have used at least one more high-end nonconference opponent.
Here are some notes, quotes and takeaways from the Huskies opening win.
Floyd’s status
Corey Floyd Jr.’s status is still unclear. The freshman did not dress for Tuesday night’s opener, and UConn offered no update on Wednesday.
Floyd was UConn’s first recruit from the Class of 2022 but took extra courses, graduated from Roselle (N.J.) Catholic last summer and reclassified, enrolling at UConn in August. The possibility of a redshirt season has always been there for Floyd, who is only 17.
Freshman Jordan Hawkins, who was out with a right ankle injury, could make his debut as early as Saturday against Coppin State.
Springs moving forward
Richie Springs got in for six minutes and grabbed a rebound. An academic redshirt in 2019-20, the 6-foot-9 forward played 13 minutes all last season, eight in the Big East Tournament blowout over DePaul.
“I thought Richie should’ve been a lot more assertive,” Hurley said. “I probably should have went to Richie even before Samson [Johnson], because Richie has been practicing really well the last week or so, and that’s a mistake I made. Richie probably earned that fourth forward. They’ll all grow and get a lot better from that.”
Central issue for Sellers
The Blue Devils, building under first-year coach Patrick Sellers, were fighting for loose balls all over the court when when down 40 on Tuesday night.
“I told our guys, ‘We’re going to look back at this game and probably laugh a little bit because our goal at Central Connecticut is, we want to win a regular-season championship in our league, win the conference tournament and get to the NCAA Tournament and potentially win a game,’” Sellers said.
“So if we reach our goals, and our guys continue to work hard, we’re probably going to be playing a team like UConn again sometime in March. So these guys, it was rough on them, but it’s going to help us. I thought we grew a little bit late in the second half, started getting open and setting better screens.”
Programming note
Due to the conflict with UConn’s football game at Clemson on Saturday, which will be on 97.9-FM ESPN in Hartford and the rest of the UConn network at noon, the men’s basketball game against Coppin State can be heard only on The River, 105.9-FM, in the Hartford area.
Mike Crispino, Wayne Norman and Adam Giardino will call the football game. Bob Joyce and Ben Darnell will be on men’s basketball contest.
Dom Amore can be reached at damore@courant.com
