No. 4 UConn wasn’t exactly thrilled with the way it played in its season opener against New Haven on Monday night.
Yes, the Huskies still won, pocketing a 79-55 triumph against a team making its Division I debut. The issue was with the energy, as it wasn’t at the level one expects from an elite program against an opponent it should have little trouble with.
“That was a painful game to coach,” Dan Hurley said in his postgame interview. “Because we played better in two exhibitions versus teams (Boston College and Michigan State) that are significantly better than New Haven is, but credit to them.”
UConn will try to make up for it Friday night when it welcomes UMass Lowell to Hartford, Conn.
The River Hawks are coming off a 107-55 win over Division III Rivier despite having 12 new players on the roster.
But head coach Pat Duquette likes what he has even though he’s working with basically a new team.
“I’m really enjoying working with them and being around them, but it’s just been a different experience for me and my coaching staff to really have so many new guys and have to teach this way and start from scratch,” Duquette told reporters before the season.
As for UConn, the Huskies got a great effort from Alex Karaban in their opener as he recorded a double-double of 19 points and 10 rebounds. Solo Ball added 18 points and five rebounds. Jaylin Stewart (11) and Silas Demary Jr. (10) also scored in double figures.
The Huskies will be without guard Braylon Mullins due to an ankle injury but could get Tarris Reed Jr. back from a hamstring injury.
Hurley is confident the Huskies will shake off the sluggish start to the year and use the New Haven game as motivation heading into the next contest.
“I think the team will get a lot better from this,” Hurley said. “It’ll be a wake-up call.
“I love the team,” he added. “I think the team is going to be awesome. It’s going to be great to get Tarris back and it looks like Bray is doing a great job with his recovery, recovering faster because he’s such a gamer. But I think this team is going to be awesome this year, and (Monday against New Haven) sucked.”
The River Hawks are coming off a 17-15 campaign, their third straight winning season, and were led by senior forward Austin Green in the opener as he recorded a double-double with 21 points and 13 rebounds. Green is in his first year in Massachusetts after playing at Texas State.
Karaban will play a key role again for the Huskies this season after earning second-team All-Big East honors a year ago. He averaged 14.3 points and 5.3 rebounds per game while also dishing out 2.8 assists per outing. Karaban eclipsed 1,000 career points at UConn last year.
With Karaban as part of the equation, the Huskies should be a solid rebounding team. They held a 40-25 edge on the glass against New Haven.
