UConn basketball sloppy in 81-46 victory over East Texas A&M.
UConn has completed their final “tune up” before the Maui Invitational next week. It wasn’t perfect, but UConn managed to coast to another victory 81-46 over East Texas A&M. Dan Hurley was not satisfied postgame, describing the performance as “comically bad.”
Sloppy play plagued UConn throughout the game, highlighted by the 11 first half turnovers committed. However, their defense was outstanding, limiting the Lions to 25.4% shooting from the field, UConn’s second lowest opponent field goal percentage in the past three seasons.
Here are three takeaways from the game before UConn’s trip to the Maui Invitational.
Foot on gas 😤@keybank pic.twitter.com/qsI7qaFi1x
— UConn Men’s Basketball (@UConnMBB) November 20, 2024
Takeaway #1: Turnovers, turnovers, turnovers
UConn basketball put together an uncharacteristic performance from what fans have been accustomed to the past two seasons. Having 19 turnovers compared to 18 assists is not UConn basketball which Dan Hurley alluded to postgame.
It’s easy to get away with mistakes early in the season against low major opponents but this will not be sustainable against higher level of opponents. UConn will have an excellent test against Memphis in their first round matchup in a loaded Maui Invitational Tournament next week.
Takeaway #2: Ahmad Nowell flashes his potential
A forgotten player in this deep UConn basketball roster is Ahmad Nowell. The freshman came in and provided a nice spark off the bench. He has had limited minutes this season but has shown a lot in just a short amount of time.
He was all over the floor tonight, contributing 3 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 points in 10 very productive minutes. Don’t be surprised if Ahmad Nowell continues to gain more and more minutes this season.
Takeaway #3: The guards need to facilitate better
It’s games like these that UConn misses Tristen Newton’s steady presence. During their back to back title runs he was the engine that ran the offense and could dictate the tempo of the entire game. Losing a player like that would make any offense struggle and UConn is looking to find answers early in the season.
Dan Hurley said postgame “we’re not seeing it the way Andre Jackson saw it, and Tristen saw it, and Cam saw it, and Steph saw it.” It’s been evident so far this season that Aidan Mahaney and Hassan Diarra haven’t been as effective at running the system the same way it’s been done in the past.
Something just looks off with the offense. The ball is struggling to find its way to open shooters and UConn has not been able to generate as many open looks. Alex Karaban had only five shot attempts and Liam McNeeley only shot a single three point shot. The guards have to be better at getting the shooters and bigs easy baskets for the team to reach it’s ceiling.
Next up for UConn (4-0): vs. Memphis (3-0) on Nov. 25 at 2:30 p.m. EST
Next up for East Texas A&M (1-4): @ Oklahoma (3-0) on Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. EST