University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Southern Connecticut State University (EXH.)
Huskies Entertain SCSU In Exhibition Game
11/1/2018 9:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Final Tune-Up Before 2018-19 Season Opener
UConn Athletic Communications
Nov. 1, 2018
STORRS. Conn. – The result of the game won't count in the season record of either team, but Friday night's exhibition game between UConn and Division II Southern Connecticut at Gampel Pavilion (7 p.m.) is an important first step for the new era of UConn men's basketball.
"It's the chance to play a game in front of a crowd, smell the popcorn, get the fans in the seats, run through the tunnel … it's pretty cool," said first-year UConn coach Dan Hurley, who also added a laundry list of what he wants the Huskies to accomplish. "We hope to play well, play incredibly hard, hope to move the ball, play at a high level, hope to win, and get some confidence."
And Southern Connecticut, out of the Northeast-10 Conference, figures to provide plenty of solid competition. Coached by former UConn star Scott Burrell – who will be honored in a pregame ceremony as his UConn No. 24 jersey is placed in the Huskies of Honor on the Gampel Pavilion wall – the Owls from New Haven are the preseason favorite to win their conference title.
"This is a real game for us," Hurley said. "They are quick, aggressive, they can shoot. They'll be scrappy. We're bigger than them, but slower than them – we're going to be chasing them around. There's going to be adversity. It will be interesting to see how our guys handle it. We have to be locked in. We're not good enough at anything to roll the balls out and sleepwalk through. We'll have a real low point if we're not fully engaged."
It will be the second scrimmage against a different opponent for the Huskies, who played a closed scrimmage against Harvard last Saturday, in an empty Gampel. The game against Southern will provide an atmosphere that will be more like the Huskies' season opener on Nov. 8 in Gampel against Morehead State.
And while Hurley is hopeful that the Huskies rise to the occasion of the game atmosphere, he is well-aware that his team is very much a work in progress. Â
"We're going to make a lot of mistakes on defense," he said. "We're going to struggle with execution. We're going to be out of position. But with the pedigree of guys who play at UConn, maybe we can make up for being a step out of position – with our length, athletic ability and pedigree. We're not doing a lot of game-planning for this one and we'll probably be very vanilla because you don't want to put a whole lot of things on film for your first couple of opponents. Our first couple of opponents don't know what we're going to do because I've never coached these guys. So it's a little bit of an advantage for us."
Just the chance to play a real opponent is enough to get UConn guards Tarin Smith and Alterique Gilbert excited.
"It's always fun to play against someone else, finally," said Smith, a graduate transfer from Duquesne. "We've been practicing against each other for so long. I've seen a change in our team personality in things like urgency and toughness. We look forward to showing it tomorrow."
"It's a new start for everybody," added Gilbert, a redshirt sophomore who has recovered from shoulder surgery. "We just want to have fun, create some energy. I think the fans are going to see our energy and effort. We're going to get up and down the court a lot more this year. Pressure defense is Coach's number one thing right now – that's what we do best."
