By JIM FULLER
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — The images of the UConn men’s and women’s basketball teams walking off the court for the final time last season couldn’t have been more different.
There was joy as Paige Bueckers led the women’s squad to a record 12th national title. The men’s basketball team’s dreams of winning a third consecutive championship ended with a two-point loss to eventual national champion Florida in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Both teams went into the offseason with questions to be answered.
Bringing back a nucleus led by Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong had the women’s program in a familiar position of being a top title contender. The defensive deficiencies that plagued the men’s squad during a failed quest for a 3-peat needed to be addressed.
So far, so good. UConn is the only program ranked in the top five in both national polls. The women’s team has won 34 consecutive games. Saturday’s victory at Georgetown was the 14th straight for the men’s program.
“There is a comfort level,” UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma said. “You are also stepping into a program where there is a set of standards that you have. When you first get in here, you are not sure, ‘how do we do this?’ You spend more time watching rather than doing. It takes a little bit of time, a little bit of talking from the coaches for those kids to get a little more comfortable, a little more assertive.
“It may be a little bit easier on the guy’s side because some of those guys are 18-19 years old and they are men almost, they played a lot of basketball and they have aspirations to be pros. I think there is a purpose for them being at UConn. For us, sometimes they know they are going to be here for four years so there is, ’I’ll wait my turn.”
Braylon Mullins missed six games before debuting for Dan Hurley’s Huskies in a late-November win over Illinois. Blanca Quinonez was sidelined for the first two women’s games.
They certainly have made up for lost time. Quinonez’s stats per 40 minutes aren’t far off from what reigning national freshman of the year Sarah Strong put up last season. Among the UConn women’s basketball legends, they come closest to what Nykesha Sales accomplished as a freshman on the first national championship teams for the Huskies. She is averaging 10.8 points per game heading into Monday’s matchup with Notre Dame,
On the men’s side, Mullins and Eric Reibe combine for 35.3 points per 40 minutes. That’s the highest total for a pair of UConn men’s basketball freshmen since Ray Allen and Doron Sheffer’s mark of 38.9 during the 1993-94 season.
No freshman had more pressure than the 7-foot-1 Reibe when injuries forced UConn’s starting center Tarris Reed Jr. to miss the Arizona and Kansas games. Reibe averaged 13.5 points and six rebounds in those two games. He is contributing 7.1 points and 3.9 rebounds in 16 minutes this season.
“He’s just got an amazing spirit about him,” Hurley said. “He’s a lot like Donovan (Clingan) in a way where the guy just comes in and he’s just got this big smile and so much joy when he plays ball, and in a large part, he saved our season.”
WELCOME ARRIVALS
The women’s program needed another ballhandling guard after the departures of Bueckers and Kaitlyn Chen. Getting some defensive help in the post was another priority.
The additions of former USC guard Kayleigh Heckel and Serah Williams, a double-double machine at Wisconsin, have proven to be perfect for the top-ranked Huskies. Heckel is one of six UConn players with at least twice as many assists as turnovers.
Williams isn’t approaching the numbers she put up at Wisconsin, but the former Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year does keep Strong from having to battle in the low post on defense on every possession. Her arrival was one of the reasons why this was viewed as one of Auriemma’s deepest teams in recent memory.
“I’m not there yet, but I definitely understand my teammates more and how they like passes, how they like ball screens, where they like to get their shots off,” Williams said. “I think that was a part of the reason why I came here just to see what it takes to be on that other side.”
Hurley credited Georgia transfer Silas Demary Jr. for changing how the third-ranked Huskies play defensively. The 6-foot-4 Demary had a triple-double against Bryant and had a recent six-game stretch in conference play when he averaged 12.8 points and 7.3 assists. His best game came in an overtime win at Providence when he had 23 points, 15 assists and five steals. Demary is one of five double-digit scorers for UConn. He also leads the Huskies with 116 assists and 34 steals.
“Being a point guard here, it comes with a lot of responsibility,” Demary said. “I think the coaches are putting me in the position to keep trending in the right direction like Shabazz (Napier), like Kemba (Walker), even Tristen (Newton), those are guys who made plays and were winners. I have to keep making the right plays and keep being a steady point guard.”
