Third-ranked UConn will look to win its 30th straight home game against a non-conference opponent when it hosts Le Moyne on Wednesday in Hartford, Conn.
UConn coach Danny Hurley said he will be looking for a better effort than the one his team put forth in Saturday night’s 92-53 victory over New Hampshire. The Huskies (2-0) held just an 11-point halftime lead in that game.
“I said to those guys in the locker room, âYou won by 39 points, but the reality of the situation is that game was below brand for us for a considerable amount of time,'” Hurley said. “The standard is high here. That was clearly a below-standard performance for us in a number of ways, in particular on-ball defense. … I thought there were some good things, but for the most part it was a frustrating game.
“We’ve got some young guys who are gonna get better defensively who right now are not good defensive players. These games early in the year are important to learn lessons and develop and get better.”
Senior forward Alex Karaban has led the Huskies in scoring in each of their first two games. He had 20 points in a 92-56 season-opening victory against Sacred Heart and 17 versus New Hampshire. He’s averaging 5.5 assists and 5.5 blocks per game.
“Alex is playing the way a Big East Player of the Year is supposed to be playing from a statistical standpoint, an efficiency standpoint, but he’s also been super vocal and doing everything we want him to do right now,” Hurley said.
Le Moyne (1-2) is in its second season as a Division I program. The Dolphins moved from Division II to the Northeast Conference before last season.
Le Moyne opened its season with an 86-82 loss to Syracuse and a 97-75 setback to Cal State Northridge before rebounding to record a 107-73 victory over Division III SUNY Poly on Saturday.
Injuries have prevented Le Moyne from having its complete team available for a game this season. Guard AJ Dancler missed the Dolphins’ first two games, and guard Robby Carmody — who began his career at Notre Dame — played in the loss to Syracuse but has missed the past two games with a leg injury. In addition, fifth-year guard Darrick Jones Jr. missed the Syracuse game, but came off the bench against Northridge.
“At the end of the day we have to do a better job defensively and we know that,” Le Moyne coach Nate Champion said following Saturday’s win. “We have to continue to get better as a team defensively and buy-in to that mindset.
“(UConn is) a really good team. Hopefully we’ll be ready to go. Hopefully we can perform at a high level again.”
Dwayne Koroma, a 6-foot-8 forward who started his career at Iona after being recruited by Rick Pitino, led the Dolphins with 17 points and six rebounds against SUNY Poly.
“I think we’re building the right culture here,” Koroma said. “I think we have a super-selfless group of guys. Everybody plays for each other.
“A lot of (people) didn’t expect us to have the performance we had against Syracuse, either. It doesn’t matter if we’re banged up or not, we’re going to play as hard as we can and try to come out with a win.”
