The reigning back-to-back national champions are 1-0 after a dominant season-opening win over Sacred Heart University (0-2).
UConn is now 92-30 in season-openers and is 22-1 against non-conference opponents over the last three seasons.
“I hate opening night,” Dan Hurley said. “It’s like the worst day of the year. That’ll be the thing that drives me out of coaching: how you feel when you wake up on opening night and you have no idea what your team’s about to go do.”
Hurley changed the team’s starting lineup from the charity exhibition game against Rhode Island. Instead of Hassan Diarra, the reigning Big East Sixth Man of the Year, in the starting lineup, Hurley decided to put Saint Mary’s transfer Aidan Mahaney in the backcourt.
“I think that’s just a little bit we’re trying to figure out: how we want to start games,” Hurley said. “Jayden Ross would have started this game if he was available.”
UConn started the game hot, beginning with a 7-0 run including a fastbreak steal and dunk by Samson Johnson.
Alex Karaban did not take long to live up to the preseason All-American hype he was receiving. The Southborough, Mass. native had five blocks in the first half, a career-high for him in a game. The last time a player had at least five blocks in a game was Donovan Clingan in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last year against Northwestern, where he had eight rejections. Along with those five blocks, Karaban finished the half with a team-high 13 points and five assists, shooting a perfect 5-5 from the floor, three of those attempts were from downtown.
“I was roommates with Donovan Clingan for two years,” Karaban said on his seven-block performance. “When you’re roommates with the best defender in the country for the last two years, you learn a couple of things from him. So, I’m going to give credit to him for the blocks.”
Only one player on Sacred Heart managed to score double figures in the first half. Amiri Stewart came off the bench for the Pioneers and scored 12 points on 4-8 shooting.
The Huskies led by as many as 15 points in the first half, but the scoring turned up a notch in the second half. Michigan transfer Tarris Reed Jr. scored 11 points and brought down eight rebounds. The St. Louis, Mo. native finished with a double-double in his first regular season game as a Husky, scoring 15 points and 11 rebounds.
“At halftime, I was overthinking a little bit too much, and I got in foul trouble,” Reed said. “But overall, the team picked me up.”
Heading into the game, five-star freshman Liam McNeeley was likely to make his regular season debut in the opener due to a calf strain. He made his debut and did not disappoint. The Richardson, Texas native also had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds on 6-11 shooting.
“I play my best game when I just play and I stop thinking about everything,” McNeeley said, crediting Hurley for putting the team in positions to make plays.
Karaban added two more blocks to his total in the second half to increase his career-high to seven. He finished the game with 20 points on 7-8 shooting, including five from downtown.
“[Karaban] played like an All-American,” Hurley said. “[He] kept us organized in games like this, that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
Sacred Heart finished the game with just two players scoring double figures, with Stewart leading the way with 13 points. Bryce Johnson had 10 points. Tanner Thomas, who scored 22 points in the season-opening loss to Temple, only had six points.
“We have to be more like UConn,” Sacred Heart head coach Anthony Latina said. “The way they share the ball, the way they play together is really a joy to watch.”
Latina’s raving is no hyperbole. The Huskies had 25 assists on 32 made baskets, shooting 51.6% from the field.
“We probably should have shot mid-to-high 50s,” Hurley said. “I think it’s just part of who we are, part of how we play and what we’re going to get better at. We’re going to get drastically better throughout the year.”
Sacred Heart will continue on the road to face Dartmouth College on Saturday afternoon, continuing a road trip that ends on Nov. 21.
The Huskies are now 8-0 against the Pioneers this season and will face the University of New Hampshire to open the XL Center slate of the home schedule on Saturday night.