UConn Basketball: Takeaways for Huskies in a big win against Buffalo

NEW YORK, NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 15: Christian Vital #1 of the Connecticut Huskies takes the ball down the court in the second half of the game against Syracuse Orange during the 2k Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 15, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

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NEW YORK, NEW YORK – NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Dan Hurley of the Connecticut Huskies is ejected from the game against the Iowa Hawkeyes during the championship game of the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on November 16, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /

Better Defensive Effort

Buffalo was in the top 30 in the country for points per game entering the day and UConn gave a great defensive effort limiting them to just 68 points. Back to back games where UConn really got after it on the defensive end and it really showed.

Uconn forced Buffalo into nine turnovers and had seven blacks. Buffalo had done a really good job of taking care of the ball this season but there were a lot of good things we saw from UConn that don’t show up on the stat sheets.

Part of the defense is getting rebounds and UConn gave up way too many offensive rebounds in this one. 13 offensive rebounds for Buffalo lead to a number of second-chance points that they had no business getting. UConn has to block out and crash the boards hard.

Carlton can’t afford to get in foul trouble, he was a menace in the paint tonight and there’s not a ton of proven depth behind him. He did well tonight on both ends of the floor posting a double-double and adding four blocks.

The defense is getting better as the season goes along so let’s hope that trend continues, Xavier hasn’t shot the ball all that well but Uconn still needs to close out hard and fast on the shooters and keep up the good effort on defense.

Only 12 fouls for an entire game of basketball is also really impressive.