Florida Takeaways: Close to Full Strength & Crushing the Non-Con

No. 5 UConn men’s basketball picked up another big non-conference win as the Huskies took down defending champion Florida 77-73 in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square. The Huskies head into Big East play with a 9-1 record and four Quad One wins.

Some thoughts after win at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night:

Finally full strength

Dan Madigan: For just the second time all season, all 15 Huskies were active and able to play Tuesday night against the Gators. Tarris Reed Jr.’s presence was felt right away, as the big man scored UConn’s first four points in his first game in roughly two weeks. He finished with 12 points and five boards and was instrumental in keeping the Huskies’ rebounding deficit from becoming drastically worse.

With Reed back, Eric Reibe shifted to the bench, where he scored nine points in 15 minutes. Malachi Smith was also excellent off the bench with five points, nine assists, and just one turnover. Braylon Mullins was marred by foul trouble, but still had six points — all key buckets — in the second half despite playing only 11 minutes. UConn’s bench outscored Florida 20-6.

The Huskies survived the battle on the boards and a massive free-throw advantage on the Gators’ part by throwing quality depth at Florida for the full 40 minutes. And yet, it is still so easy to see how this team still has another gear to get to. Mullins still hasn’t gotten fully involved, Reed is still recovering, and Solo Ball seems to be emerging from an early-season 3-point shooting slump. It’s exciting to see all of these gritty Quad One wins in a loaded non-conference schedule, but the extra gear is what makes this team a legitimate title contender this season.

You Won’t Know Where It’s Coming From

Martin: It looked really dire for a moment in the second half, with the energy Florida came out with. Reed couldn’t be the safety valve he was starting out, understandably rusty. Florida’s physicality and top locking UConn screens mucked up off-ball movement. No one could stay in front of Xaivian Lee, and the Gators’ jumbo frontcourt was causing problems on the offensive glass.

What lever does the staff pull? Get Mullins going downhill on Ruben Chinyelu in drop coverage. Three buckets later, the Huskies were back on solid footing.

You can copy and paste that type of counterpunch across the roster. Let’s run down the leaderboard.

Reed owned the beginning, but Reibe went on a mini run of his own in the first half. Jaylin Stewart’s two-way minutes to end the first half stymied a Florida run after Thomas Haugh’s block-and-poster sequence. Solo Ball helped UConn gain separation on two occasions. Silas Demary Jr solidified the endgame that Malachi Smith started. Mullins cooked until foul trouble. Jayden Ross’s late-game defense frustrated Xaivian Lee, who up until then, was having his way. We all know what Alex Karaban did.

The best thing about these contributions is that many overlapped. The pessimist could argue that UConn may ultimately rue this absurd balance, where with so many levers to pull, a bogus off night or mounting foul trouble shuts the whole machine down. Then there’s no go-to guy, no Shabazz or Kemba to bail the Huskies out.

But when you have nine guys with game-breaking ability, more often than not at least two of them will be flashing at the same time. That makes UConn incredibly difficult to scout. There aren’t enough college coaches out there with the personnel and savvy to adjust game plans on the fly, to go tit-for-tat against Hurley and his staff. And lest we forget, if push comes to shove and UConn needs a go-to guy, Karaban, Demary Jr, and Malachi Smith have all shown closer ability in the crunch time.

The game-breaker could come from anywhere, which should have opposing coaches like:

Hello, you are a UNIT

Kidwai: This team is damn good. That’s all there is to say after the way they’ve beaten Illinois at MSG, Kansas at Phog Allen, and Florida just now. They competed against the No. 1 team in the country without their starting big man in their lone loss, and are 14th offensively and 7th defensively in KenPom despite playing without a fully healthy roster. Braylon Mullins has played just four games, but his potential for impact is clear.

Dan Hurley has challenged his team with this non-conference slate, and they’ve exceeded expectations, especially considering they’re not at full strength. 

A Glorious A/FG ratio

Kidwai: I love this stat, have been tracking it since noticing the Huskies consistently notching high marks in it since 2023. They did it once again with 18 assists on 29 field goals (62%) as they hit 50% of their shots on the night and 44 percent of their threes. They’re 34th in A/FGM nationally and 10th in A/FGM allowed.

If you are great at shooting (57th in the country in eFG%) and extraordinary at shooting defense (8th in eFG% allowed), that will go a long way. They need to step up their rebounding, but Reed’s return to full health should help address that.