Greeting from Gampel Pavilion, where the traveling Huskies have returned from their three-day jaunt in the US Virgin Islands to meet Steve Pikiell’s Stony Brook Seawolves. Pikiell, you may remember, was a guard under coach Jim Calhoun from 1986 to 1991, including the famous “Dream Season” in 1990. Pikiell also coached one year at UConn as a graduate assistant – UConn coach Kevin Ollie’s freshman year.
Stony Brook played yesterday – the first time in more than a decade they’ve played back-to-back games during the regular season – beating Canisius 82-75. They were led by guard Anthony Jackson (21 points) and forward Tommy Brenton who had 14 rebounds.
An obvious point of emphasis for the Huskies is keeping Brenton off of the offensive glass. UConn is working on an impressive streak of being outrebounded in all 5 games this season. Tyler Olander will be looking to rebound from a rough Paradise Jam in which he didn’t record a single rebound in the finals against New Mexico.
UConn will also be working with less depth as sparkplug RJ Evans will miss upwards of 4 weeks with a sternal-clavicular sprain (read: hurt collarbone) and Leon Tolksdorf will not play after spraining his LCL in practice this week. The loss of Evans increases the importance that both Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright play effectively and stay out of foul trouble.
Notes & Observations:
- UConn has struggled to get out on the fast-break so far this season. It would be a good sign going forward if the Huskies can maximum their opportunities to run.
- DeAndre Daniels and Omar Calhoun had been rotating strong games until the finals against New Mexico. It’s important that they continue to evolve into the offensive gameplan and help each other succeed.
- Realignment news: None, stop asking.
Follow along on twitter during the games for updates and post-game for quotes, news and a recap.
