Three Keys to UConn Victory vs. UMass-Lowell
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The UConn Men opened their season recently against the New Haven Chargers and got the win 79-55 and started the season 1-0. But the victory was not perfect as there are several things the Huskies still need to tighten up and fix before their second game against UMass-Lowell.
The first game of anyone's season is never going to be perfect, but head coach Dan Hurley will let it be known that some things need to be fixed. He is that head coach that preaches a good style of basketball, but usually the first game is a little rusty. But in this upcoming matchup against the Riverhawks, a few things need to change from the opening game.
1. Get Tarris Reed Jr. involved in his season debut
The Huskies were without their top center against the Chargers as he was coming back from an injury and did not want to rush him back for the first game. But now that he is healthy, the Huskies need to get him involved and get him going early.
Reed is so good at spacing the court and finding open room and boxing out in the paint. He is so good at rebounding the ball and when he can get an easy shot off, he takes it every opportunity that he gets.
The Huskies need to make sure Reed is in the game plan from the start of the game until he is inevitably taken out if the game is a blowout. He is that much of a difference maker.
2. Get a better performance from Solo Ball
When you're a team like the Huskies and have a player as good as Solo Ball on your roster, you are going to want him to perform well night in and night out. But he unfortunately only shot 4-14 from the field against the Chargers outside of putting up 18 points.
Ball needs to find his shot and get into a better consistent rhythm. He needs to be able to knock down more shots rather than shooting too many and missing because it was not a quality shot.
If he can figure this out and get it going, the game might be over by halftime. The kid is that good.
3. Protect the ball just a little bit better
First-game-of-the-season jitters happen for every team, even the Huskies. This number might be astounding to read for some fans, but the Huskies actually outdid the Chargers in turnovers.
The Huskies turned the ball over 12 times to the Chargers 11 and something like that is never going to make Dan Hurley happy. Hurley always preaches taking care of the ball and that kind of sloppiness is not going to fly with him.
The Huskies need to do a better job of taking care of the ball versus the River Hawks. As the season goes on, this stat for the Huskies will get better, but they need to correct it sooner rather than later.
Tyler is a 25 year old Journalism graduate from Georgia Southern University. Tyler is a big fan of hockey, baseball, basketball, and football, and also is a staff writer for Fansided.