UConn Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies victory over Northern Arizona

This team is ready for a title defense, and then some

If there was any concern as to whether or not this team was going to have some hangover from their title run, based on this game those concerns should be close to wiped away. Yes, it was against an inferior opponent in Northern Arizona, but great teams win these games and win them by a large margin, and the Huskies did exactly that.

The dominance they showed seemed to be exactly what was expected, and this was shown in all aspects of the game. While the Lumberjacks had some moments early in the game in terms of offensive rebounding, the final margin was not even close, UConn outrebounded the Lumberjacks 50-27, and that kind of difference will win you just about every game.

This was not just due to their pure dominance, but also how strong this team looked defensively. UConn’s defense held Northern Arizona to 33.9 percent shooting from the field, while the Huskies shot 56.1 percent on their end.

One wonder this program had was their five-star recruit in Stephon Castle, who made his debut for UConn and he absolutely showed out. The 6’6 freshman guard put up 12 points on 3-5 shooting, making a three along with that, while also adding in five rebounds, two assists, and two steals. With the departures of Jordan Hawkins and Andre Jackson, this team needed someone with his size that could do it all on the floor.

UConn truly can recruit, and even if Castle is a one-and-done or if he stays around for a while, Dan Hurley has showed that this team is going to be hot on the recruiting trail for years to come, especially after having a National Championship to show for it.