UConn men’s basketball is back in action Friday, as the Huskies welcome UMass Lowell to Hartford in the PeoplesBank Arena regular season opener. While UConn comfortably handled New Haven in its season opener,
head coach Dan Hurley wasn’t thrilled with the team’s overall effort and performance. The Huskies will have another chance to get things right against the River Hawks, and need to get up to speed quickly with a key showdown against No. 8 BYU in Boston just over a week away.
TV: Peacock
Radio: UConn Sports Network, Sirius XM 202, Sirius XM streaming
Odds: Odds were not available at time of publication and will be added when published
Location: PeoplesBank Arena
KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 92, UMass Lowell 62 (99.7 percent win probability)
Series History
The Huskies and River Hawks have matched up twice on the hardwood with both wins going to UConn. The last time the two teams matched up was in 2018 when UConn won 97-75. Christian Vital and Jalen Adams both had 18 points in the win.
Injury report
Freshman Braylon Mullins remains out after spraining his ankle in practice during the preseason. Jacob Furphy is also out right now with a sprained ankle. Tarris Reed Jr. warmed up in the season opener against New Haven but spent the game on the bench in street clothes. He’s expected to be a game-time decision again.
What to Watch For
Foot on Gas
Please don’t let the armchair analysts and keyboard warriors fool you, UConn took care of business against New Haven, winning comfortably and asserting themselves from the opening tip. While the Chargers may be better than advertised, it is fair to say that the effort and execution wasn’t necessarily there for the entire 40 minutes.
That might be due to a few things. New Haven was the worst opponent UConn has played so far after taking on two power conference teams in exhibitions, and while this one was for real, maybe the Huskies let their guard down a little. Hurley also sort of treated the first 20 minutes like an exhibition, trotting out some ~different~ lineups to get everyone some burn. There’s a very good chance that we don’t see some of those lineups again for a very long time, but it was good to spread the wealth early on. That big rotation, coupled with double-digit turnovers, probably led to the solid, but less than ideal, performance.
After Monday’s performance, expect Hurley to dial it up a little bit more Friday night. While this team may be missing two starters, there is still plenty of talent to overwhelm UMass Lowell. And while Hurley won’t run his starters into the ground a la Tom Thibodeau this early on, he will go for the jugular and try to set the tone for the next few games with a dominant win.
After all, this was the man that was apologizing to students after “only” winning by 24 points against the Chargers.
Offensive balance
UConn’s offense was not as efficient as usual against New Haven, but the Huskies still managed to average 1.18 points per possession against the Chargers. Without Reed, UConn relied on its depth all over to give UNH problems. Alex Karaban had a 19-point, 10-rebound double double on only 10 shots, and Solo Ball worked around an OK shooting night to get to 18 points, largely due to going 7-7 from the free throw line. Aside from those two, Jaylin Stewart (11 points) and Silas Demary (10 points) also reached double figures.
The Huskies relied on perimeter offense with Reed unavailable and Eric Reibe mostly serving as a screener. It worked against UNH, as the Chargers had no one to stay in front of the likes of Ball and Stewart and struggled to keep Karaban off the glass. If Reed returns Friday, the big man should get plenty of touches down low and would offer another dimension to the offense. While UConn didn’t shoot great from deep against UNH (34.8 percent), Reeds presence in the post should draw some more focus to the low blocks and open up some more shots on the perimeter
A new-look River Hawks lineup
UMass Lowell comes to Hartford as a bit of a wildcard. After going 22-10 in 2024, the River Hawks had high expectations last season but failed to live up to them. UMass Lowell had a preseason KenPom ranking of 120 last season, but finished the year 244th nationally and ended 17-17. As a result, head coach Pat Duquette completely overhauled the roster, with 10 new players on the team’s 13-player roster. Out of the three returners, just one (Keenan Bey) saw the court last season, as the other two players, Isaiah Walter and Kris Johnson, redshirted. Neither Bey nor the two redshirts saw much action in the River Hawks’ season-opening win over Division III Rivier, as Duquette rolled out five transfers as starters in the season opener. Texas State transfer Austin Green, a 6-foot-8 forward, led the way with 21 points and will be a key focal point for UConn’s defense, with Karaban or Jaylin Stewart likely drawing the main defensive assignment.
