UConn Basketball: 3 takeaways from Huskies victory over Northern Arizona

The depth showed out for the Huskies

The biggest concern for this UConn team, and it was not even a huge concern, was how this bench unit was going to perform for this team. A lot of those guys from last year who stepped up in this rotation are now in larger roles, such as Clingan, so now other players will have to step up.

UConn got exactly that out of some of these players, with Samson Johnson, Hassan Diarra, and Solomon Ball taking up the most amount of minutes when it came to the bench unit. The star, however, was Johnson, who came in relief of Clingan and got a big opportunity with the injury holding Clingan to play just 15 minutes in this game.

Johnson took great advantage of his 19 minutes, playing well under the rim and outmuscling the Northern Arizona frontcourt. He would finish with 11 points, five rebounds, three blocks, and shot 5-6 from the field. Clingan was a great backup down low last season, and with Johnson, this team has another great backup situation on their hands.

Diarra came off the bench but played 22 minutes for this team, putting up six points with two rebounds and two assists, and had an all-around game in this role. Ball went 1-5 from the field and missed all three of his attempts from behind the arc, so they will look for him to step up in the next game, but this slump most likely will not continue.

Overall, UConn showed that they have the depth, size, and dominating presence on both ends of the floor to make another run at a National Championship, it is just up to them to get that consistency back that they had in March. This was a team last season that finished fourth in the Big East Conference conference, and Marquette ended up winning the Big East Tournament, so these next few nonconference matchups will be quite important.

Look for some guys on the bench to show improvement, and Clingan to continue to dominate, and if they continue this level of play, expect the Huskies to be a contender for yet another National Title once March comes around.