No. 2 UConn looks like a team ready to fight at any weight class after a dominant run through the mid-major introduction to the 2024-25 season.
The Huskies (3-0) started their season in workmanlike fashion, barely tested in three games UConn won by an average of 38.7 points per game.
Up next is East Texas A&M on Tuesday in Storrs, Conn., the latest in a stretch of confidence-building contests against inferior opponents.
UConn posted a 90-49 victory over Le Moyne on Wednesday in Hartford in which Alex Karaban scored a game-high 17 points and Liam McNeeley finished with 15.
The Huskies are looking the part of two-time defending NCAA champion. They dominated Le Moyne by shooting 55.6 percent to 35.2 percent from the floor, forging a 17-0 advantage in points off turnovers and a 12-0 edge in fastbreak points.
Tarris Reed Jr. racked up 12 points and 10 rebounds, Solo Ball also had a dozen points and Hassan Diarra poured in 10 in the win for UConn. The Huskies amassed 46 points in the paint and every player that saw court found the scoring column.
Because the Huskies haven’t looked game-ready at tipoff to head coach Dan Hurley, he shifted the rotation to bring Diarra off the bench in a sixth-man role.
“The slow starts are not ideal,” Hurley said. “But the nice thing about having (Diarra) there, and the way he’s handling it — obviously, he could easily be starting these games for us. There’s something very comforting having him over there, the way he changes the game, the way he’s handling accepting that role right now for us.”
Tuesday’s game is the last before the Huskies get a huge uptick in competition at the Maui Invitational starting Monday against Memphis.
Hurley understands that his team is still not the best version of itself before heading to the islands.
“We’ve got a long way to go, defensively, offensively, for where we want to be, just like most teams in the country are experiencing,” Hurley said. “As we’re trying to develop our identity and establish roles and rotations, and exactly how we’re gonna play it.”
East Texas A&M (formerly Texas A&M-Commerce) heads northeast after a 70-68 home win over Southern on Wednesday. The Lions (1-3) snapped a three-game losing streak behind Khaliq Abdul-Mateen’s 18 points and five rebounds and 14 points by Evan Phelps.
Scooter Williams Jr. added 13 points for East Texas A&M, including the deciding basket with 59 seconds remaining. The Lions have won their home opener every season since 2012.
The Lions’ early-season schedule included losses at Iowa (89-67) and Texas A&M (87-55) and next they’ll head to Oklahoma for a Thursday game. East Texas A&M was picked to finish 10th of 12 teams in the Southland Conference preseason poll.
Abdul-Mateen leads the Lions in scoring through four games with a 13.5-ppg average. Williams is second at 12.8 while Demarco Bethea pacing East Texas A&M’s rebounders at 5.5 boards per contest.
