The UConn Fast Break - 11/4/2022

Basketball previews, slap shots and football victories!

November 04, 2022

Welcome to this week’s Fast Break, and thank you for being a subscriber. November means basketball season!

This weekly newsletter is brought to you by the folks who run The UConn Blog on SB Nation and the UConn WBB Weekly, UConn Hockey Hub and Husky Football Forum newsletters on Substack! Please consider sharing or supporting our work!

UConn men’s basketball starts Monday

The 2022-23 season is about to get underway and UConn starts it off by welcoming Stonehill to the Division I ranks on Monday at 7:30 p.m. FS1 is doing whip-around coverage for the second straight year with seven other Big East contests, while the game will be broadcast in its entirety on FS1.

Dan Hurley begins his fifth season at the helm for the Huskies and is seeking his first NCAA Tournament victory. While many important pieces, such as Isaiah Whaley and RJ Cole have graduated, several intriguing pieces are about to take center stage for UConn, such as Tristen Newton and local product Donovan Clingan.

The UConn Blog has tons of preview content that has already been released and will continue throughout the weekend in advance of tip-off, all in one location, with in-depth coverage of the Huskies all year long on the blog and in this very newsletter. It should be an intriguing season as Hurley and his team transition away from a veteran-laden group to one full of freshmen and transfers.

Weekly Rewind

Men’s Basketball

Opponent previews - Our look at each team UConn will face continues, with articles on Georgetown, Xavier, Villanova, St. John’s, Creighton, Providence, Marquette, Seton Hall and Butler.

Takeaways from Wednesday’s open practice - In a unique opportunity to watch a full scrimmage, here’s what we took away from Wednesday night’s public practice.

Adama Sanogo named to Kareem Abdul-Jabar Award watchlist - The junior big man is racking up the preseason hardware.

Women’s Basketball

UConn WBB Weekly - The latest newsletter is all about Aubrey Griffin, who is looking to be a better perimeter presence in her return from an injury-plagued 2021-22.

Opponent preview: the contenders - While the women’s side doesn’t get underway until Thursday, it’s never too early to take a look at all of the high-end opponents on the Huskies’ schedule this year.

Chasing Perfection - Take a listen as the podcast crew discusses Sunday’s exhibition and where the Huskies stand just a few days before the start of the season.

Are the Huskies unlucky? - Geno Auriemma believes the string of devastating injuries to strike his team over the past few seasons are just bad luck.

Men’s Hockey

No. 8 ranking in USCHO poll - #icebus is up to No. 8 in the coaches’ poll and earned a first-place vote for the first time in program history.

The Forecheck - The newsletter highlights how the goaltender battle has fared one month into the season.

UConn Hockey Hub Podcast ($) - Listen to a preview of the Huskies’ series with Maine this weekend.

Football

UMass preview - It’s a regional rivalry and Friday night lights. Find out how to watch the game and what to watch for.

Boston College beatdown - UConn took home its first-ever win against Boston College on Saturday. Check out our game story and takeaways on The UConn Blog and a podcast on the Husky Football Forum.

Series with UMass extended - The teams have played each year since 2018 and will continue to do so well into the future.

Future opponents - UMass was the only one of the three remaining teams on UConn’s schedule to play in Week 9.

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Highlights

There is a lot to discuss here. First, Tage Thompson had this wicked one-timer on the power play on Wednesday as part of a 6-3 win over Pittsburgh. Second, what a uniform match-up. The goat-head Reverse Retros sported by Buffalo are very nice on their own, though the blue helmet and white pants are certainly a choice. I cannot decide if they’re awesome or terrible as a full uniform, but I definitely won’t be looking away. The robo penguin is also a classic uniform and I’m glad to see it back.

Memory Lane

After UConn went 2-0 in Boston College hate week this week, let’s take a look back to 2014. Men’s hockey had just made the jump to Hockey East and its first home game as members of the conference was against No. 3 Boston College before a sold-out XL Center, even on a Wednesday night. A transfer from the Eagles, Evan Richardson, recorded the game’s only tally midway through the first period, while Rob Nichols, who always had the ability to keep his teams in games when they were overmatched, made 35 saves in the shutout effort.

UConn, Great Pic

Our own Ian Bethune had some great shots from men’s basketball’s open practice on Wednesday, including proof that Adama Sanogo has been working on his outside shooting.

Parting Thoughts

Men’s hockey is on quite a run. After the best season in program history last year, Mike Cavanaugh lost a lot of important players and it looked like this may be a bit of a reloading year. Don’t tell that to the Huskies.

The team enters its home series against Maine this weekend ranked eighth by the coaches, including one of the 40 voting bench bosses that put them at No. 1 in the country, which has never happened. UConn is 7-1-1 with its only loss coming on the road to then-No. 9 Boston University, which is now slotted No. 11 by the coaches.

The goaltending has been sublime, as Logan Terness and Arsenii Sergeev have combined for a .943 save percentage and 1.65 goals against average. On offense, 12 different players have scored goals and the Huskies are converting their power plays at an impressive 15.8 percent clip. Star freshman Matthew Wood has eight points, which is second on the team, and Ryan Tverberg (7-4—11) has more than a point per game.

UConn has been on fire to start the season and it’s possible the Huskies could enter the top five or go even higher, with its first NCAA Tournament berth a real possibility.

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