By Pete Janny (@pete_janny)
HARTFORD, Conn. — On opening night in Hartford, UConn staggered into the locker room with a 19-point lead against Gardner-Webb, the worst team in the Big South Conference a year ago. Sure, the Huskies newcomers — led by Nik Khamenia, Colben Landrew, and Na’jai Hines — outscored the entire Runnin’ Bulldogs team at halftime. And yet, it still wasn’t close to what fans have come to expect in this proud basketball state.
With all due respect to Jeremy Luther and Gardner-Webb, the scoreboard was going to have look more lopsided than that in favor of the home team.
After struggling with his shot in the first half, Braylon Mullins reintroduced himself with a pair threes and a transiton dunk to open the second half on his way to scoring a game-high 20 points which was backed by Khamenia’s 14. By then, UConn’s lead swelled to 57-30. The final score was 86-46, a 40-point beatdown for the No. 4 team in the land that marked Dan Hurley’s 200th win leading UConn.
Hurley praised Mullins’ toughness while acknowledging he’s still not quite at full strength.
“He was really dealing with some stuff, and he’s going to have to be a real soldier this year just to handle everything that he’s dealing with right now,” he said.
With the starters already proving the point, Hurley was able to get some of the substitutes in down the stretch too to further showcase his balanced team.
Khamenia continued to show off his effortless offensive touch and was the best player on the floor in the first half, scoring nine points over the opening 20 minutes. That set the stage for a Huskies offense that got much better as the night went on after starting 1-for-9 from three-point range.
Colben Landrew is making strides larger and faster than most freshmen. He has no shortage of confidence or efficiency on offense right now, as he poured in 11 points of 4-6 shooting from the field. The four-star recruit out of Mississippi could be the third or fourth-best player already on yet another bonafide national championship contender.
“The guy is just a real talent,” Hurley said of Landrew. “We got the six starters because you have so much quality there. He’s got that special quality. He’s just so physically strong.”
His fellow four-star classmate, Junior County, is a nice plug off the bench and will be a coach’s dream when Hurley opts for smaller lineups. A long 6-foot-5, County brings another ball handler into the mix that is needed with Solo Ball out until further notice.
Among the newcomers who impressed was Oskar Giltay, the 6-foot-11 Stanford transfer off the bench. With Hines slotting in ahead to him, Giltay doesn’t have to do a lot, but he has still managed to make his presence felt early in his Huskies. On Monday night, Hurley’s new centers combined for 19 points, 15 rebounds, and five blocks led by Hines’ 12 and 12.
Hines may get the bulk of the attention, but Giltay is a player to watch and someone who was overlooked coming out of a struggling high-major program. There seems little to no chance that the Huskies were going to find a better backup center than Giltay.
On Monday night, the angry response out of halftime was just what the doctor ordered on a late night in Hartford that may have felt too close to Tuesday morning for some Huskies fans spared by Daylight Savings on Sunday. More importantly, once the clocks hits midnight on the East Coast, the Huskies are less than 72 hours from a verdict in Boston in a rematch of the national championship game against No. 16 Michigan.
From initial observations of this UConn team, the Huskies look smart and discipline and will outwork your offense with their defense. They posted only 10 turnovers to go along with 10 steals in Monday’s demolition while forcing Gardner-Webb into 26 percent shooting and 17 turnovers. UConn, by all intents and purposes, should be a better defensive than a year ago, with no clear weak links. These are earlier positives to build off of with the Wolverines up next.
“The best thing about this team is going to be the balance,” Hurley said after the opening night victory. “We’re still playing with the rotation a little bit. I didn’t sub this game the way I’m going to sub in the Michigan game; I promise you that.”
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