The Huskies look to rebound against the Buffaloes.
No. 2 UConn men’s basketball hasn’t lost consecutive games since Jan. 15 and Jan. 18, 2023 and haven’t done so in non-conference play in Dan Hurley’s tenure as head coach, which stretches back to the 2018-19 season. The Huskies will look to keep that streak alive on Tuesday against Colorado in the loser’s bracket of the Maui Invitational. The Buffaloes come in smarting after a 16-point defeat at the hands of Michigan State in their first game in Hawaii.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: UConn Sports Network
Odds: UConn -15, over/under 140.5
Location: Lahaina Civic Center – Maui, Hawaii
KenPom Predicted Score: UConn 76, Colorado 66 (83 percent win probability)
Series History
The Huskies and Buffaloes have played just once before. The two were matched up in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, which was a 74-67 UConn win in Des Moines, Iowa. Rodney Purvis poured in 19 points in just 25 minutes as he led his team to overcome a nine-point halftime deficit.
What to Watch For
Force some turnovers
Colorado does not hold onto the ball well, committing live-ball turnovers at a high rate. The team’s overall turnover percentage of 22.1 percent is in the nation’s bottom 40, while 13.0 percent of its turnovers end in a steal, which is No. 332 in Division I. UConn isn’t the best at forcing such plays, as its 10 percent steal rate is right at the nation’s average, even against subpar competition, but this is an opportunity to get some easy buckets and secure momentum.
The Buffaloes committed 12 turnovers (17.4 percent) on Monday against Michigan State, which owns the No. 11 KenPom defense. The Huskies forced a nearly identical rate (17.6 percent) on Memphis on Monday, as well. Whichever team can take care of the ball better typically wins and this gives UConn an advantage.
Get Tarris Reed Jr. more minutes
Tarris Reed Jr. has outplayed Samson Johnson to this point in the season and the Michigan transfer had a tremendous game on Monday against Memphis. He had 22 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes, while Johnson didn’t take a shot from the field in 14 minutes before he fouled out. Reed added three blocks before he was disqualified for committing five fouls, but has been a force on both ends of the floor.
He’s the nation’s best offensive rebounder per KenPom with a 25.3 offensive rebound percentage and is in the top 25 on the defensive end. He’s also in the top 75 in block rate (8.6 percent) and has made 75.0 percent of his 2-pointers, which is good for No. 68 in the country. Only seven players ahead of him have taken more shots.
Reed is also the more physical of the two, at 6-foot-10, 260 pounds. Colorado is the seventh-tallest team in the country and starting center Elijah Moore is listed at 6-foot-10, 268 pounds. It’s not often he’s outsized, but UConn will need all of that physicality to set the tone down low against a larger team.
How does UConn move forward?
The Huskies haven’t lost consecutive non-conference games since getting blown out by Michigan State and Arkansas to close the PK80 Phil Knight Invitational in the 2017-18 season, which was Kevin Ollie’s final behind the bench. That’s a 74-game streak.
The defeat to Memphis was a tough one, for a whole host of reasons. First, the game went to overtime and UConn has just a 23-hour turnaround between tip-offs, which is difficult in normal circumstances. When a team feels as aggrieved as Dan Hurley does regarding the officiating, it’s even harder to pick up the pieces and rebound in that short of a timeframe. Even the athletic trainer got a technical foul. That feeling runs deep, but the program will need to put it away if it doesn’t want to get upset on the second consecutive day.
Colorado is not a world-beating squad. It’s No. 125 in adjusted offensive efficiency per KenPom and No. 62 defensively. Despite a ton of length, the Buffaloes aren’t great inside the arc on both sides of the ball and aren’t elite at blocking shots. However, they’re still in the top 100 at KenPom and aren’t a pushover. The Huskies need to be careful to leave Monday on Monday and get up for another early tip-off, which will come at 10:30 a.m. local time.