“Know your section. Wear your color,” is what UConn men’s basketball posted on social media ahead of Friday night’s matchup against Ohio State. PeoplesBank Arena will be a stripe out as the No. 4 UConn men’s basketball team looks to improve its record to 4-0.
The Huskies (3-0) are coming off a dominant 83-41 win over Dan Hurley’s former team, the Wagner Seahawks. The big story from Monday’s win was the injury of Nik Khamenia. Khamenia came up hobbling after going for a rebound at the halfway point of the first half. Khamenia limped back to the locker room and was ruled out less than 20 minutes later.
The Huskies turned to their veteran guard Silas Demary Jr., who led the team in scoring with 18 points. Demary was among all five starters who reached double figures, which has not happened for Connecticut since Jan. 7 in the 103-98 overtime thriller against Providence.
Although he eclipsed 10 points, Braylon Mullins had an off shooting night on Monday, going 2-for-12 overall. Mullins was seen getting shots up over an hour after the game. The sophomore looks to get back into the swing of things on Friday.
Ohio State (2-1) is coming off an 84-74 victory over Marshall. John Mobley Jr., who led the team in scoring last season, played 35 minutes, scoring a team-high 19 points. The Buckeyes also feature Justin Pippen, son of NBA Hall of Famer Scottie Pippen. The California transfer chipped in nine points in Monday’s win over Marshall.
Ohio State’s lone loss came in the season opener against then-No. 25 BYU. The Buckeyes held the Cougars in check, being down by just three points at the half. However, the second half was much the opposite, as they allowed 60 points, losing the game 94-83.
Second-half defense has been the kryptonite for Ohio State in its first three games, allowing an average of 52.6 points in the final 20 minutes. The Huskies must take advantage of those defensive lapses and blow the game wide open once they reach the second half.
With the injury of Khamenia, UConn can expect more faces to see the floor. Nils Machowski and Egor Amosov saw the floor more on Monday than they did in the first two games. Machowski played 18 minutes, scoring three points on four shot attempts. Those were the first points from the Wofford transfer this season. Splitting time across sparse minutes early in the season makes it difficult for players to catch their rhythm or get fully up to speed. Now that he is expected to have a bigger role, Machowski looks to break out during these next several weeks.
For Amosov, the Russian played 13 minutes, 12 of which came in the second half. He filled the stat sheet with a point, four rebounds, a steal and a block. Hurley has spoken highly of Amosov and now he may get an increased role along with Machowski.
Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and can be watched on TNT.