How to watch UConn men's basketball vs. East Texas A&M

Dan Hurley just wants his UConn men’s basketball team to get healthy.

Other than that, he’s seen enough to fortify his belief that the group can maintain its position as one of the best teams in the country and as a true championship contender. And if there is anything that the injuries have shown, it’s that – much like the back-to-back national title teams – their depth is the Huskies’ greatest strength.

Braylon Mullins, the freshman who looks like he’s ready to break into the starting lineup after only two college games, became the ninth different Husky to score in double-figures when he matched Solo Ball for a game-high 17 points in Tuesday’s win over Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse. In eight games, of which the Huskies have won seven, six different players have taken or shared the scoring lead.

Hurley left Lawrence feeling “very encouraged,” he said, and with “more belief in what we can be long-term.”

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UConn has only had one game – the win over then-No. 13 Illinois at MSG – with all 15 players available, though Mullins played only 10 minutes and scored two points in his debut, and Tarris Reed Jr. wasn’t 100% and also scored two points in 15 minutes. On Tuesday, Mullins saw his minutes rise to 23 off the bench, about what Hurley planned, as Jaylin Stewart and Jayden Ross struggled to contribute offensively. Eric Reibe, who has been a revelation to this point, played a career-high 31 minutes with Reed on the bench and stepped up yet again to hold his own against one of the stronger bigs in the country, Flory Bidunga.

“A lot of these guys are gonna keep getting better,” Hurley said. “Braylon is nowhere near comfortable yet, Eric is gonna get better and better, and again, we’ve just got so much depth and so many guys that can help us win a game.”

Reed will likely remain a game-time decision on Friday when the Huskies host East Texas A&M in a tune-up game that comes after two top-25 matchups and ahead of the final two high-major games (against No. 15 Florida and Texas) in the team’s nonconference gauntlet.

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Ball led the Huskies in scoring with 12 points on an efficient 5-for-6 shooting in last year’s 81-46 blowout of the Lions. He got off to a slow start this season, shooting below 25% from beyond the arc through the first seven games, but seems to be starting to find a groove that would make him and Mullins one of the more dangerous sharpshooting tandems in the country, and that is without mentioning Alex Karaban (45.9% from 3). Malachi Smith is shooting 56.3% from beyond the arc on low volume, Ross is at 38.9% and players like Stewart and Silas Demary Jr., at 30.8% and 25%, respectively, are still below what they’re capable of.

At this point, the most positive sign is that UConn’s defense ranks ahead of its high-powered offense at No. 7 nationally, according to KemPom’s efficiency rating. The Huskies’ offensive efficiency is 17th nationally even while coming in at 154th in 3-point percentage to this point.

“When (Ball) flames on, with now Braylon being a guy who’s gonna be able to get those minutes up, even from where they (were Tuesday), just getting a little healthier I think this team’s got great potential,” Hurley said.

Friday’s matchup with East Texas A&M, a team out of the Southland Conference that has only played one top-100 team by KenPom’s metrics and lost, 100-74, at Hawaii, is a chance for UConn’s shooters to find their stroke and just another opportunity for the group to get more comfortable for the road ahead.