UConn Basketball: 3 takeaways from opening night win over Central Connecticut

The Depth is Real

I’ll be curious to see if and how the starting lineup evolves throughout the season. Keep in mind, Jordan Hawkins sat out with an injury. I wanted to play close attention to some of the substitution patterns and lineups since Hurley has rolled out some curious ones at times, but now everyone on the roster has a virtual clone.

It’s hard to put out a bad lineup on a team this deep. The Huskies had five players score in double figures and 3 others contributed at least 8 points. Ten different players scored and 13 different players saw at least a couple of minutes of game time.

Jalen Gaffney was first off the bench for RJ Cole and impressed throughout. He finished with 10 points, 3 assists, 3 steals, and just 1 turnover in 19 minutes of action. Next off the bench was reigning Big East Sixth Man of the Year Tyler Polley. Everyone wants to see Polley be more than a shooter, and, to his credit, he did a little bit of everything last night. On a team this deep, you don’t need anyone to force this issue and I thought Polley did a great job of letting things come to him. He chipped in 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, and an assist.

Akok Akok made a triumphant return last night and was third off the bench, giving Sanogo a break. Give me all the lineups with Whaley and Akok patrolling the frontcourt. Akok looked comfortable and aggressive, putting up 8 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocked shots while committing no fouls.

Hurley experimented with the freshmen as well. Samson Johnson and Rahsool Diggins both saw action off the bench. You can see the potential, but sometimes freshmen will be freshmen, even in limited minutes. Both scored their first points of many in their young collegiate careers. The game will slow down a bit for these two as they get accustomed to the college game.