HARTFORD – A 76-53 whipping of Purdue on Tuesday night at PeoplesBank Arena completed a 3-0 sweep through its exhibition-game schedule and left only one question for the UConn men’s basketball team with the regular season less than a week away:
Are the Huskies ready for prime time?
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It sure looks that way.
Jayden Ross certainly appears to be ready. Seemingly poised to consistently be in the starting lineup for the first time in his career, the senior wing scored 11 points inside the first 10 minutes and finished with 13 points on a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor (including a pair of 3’s) and 3-for-3 from the foul line..
Colben Landrew, just a freshman, looks more than ready. The 6-foot-7 forward led all scorers with 15 points, scoring in a variety of ways coming off the bench behind Ross.
Na’jai Hines, despite more foul issues, is ready. The sophomore big overcame a slow start and wound up scoring nine points on an array of lefty hook shots and putback dunks, while continuing to exhibit deft passing skills from the high post. His back-up, Oskar Giltay picked up the slack early and finished with 12 points. He’s ready.
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Braylon Mullins, seeing his first game action since April’s national championship loss to another Big Ten team, looks ready, if understandably rusty. He didn’t score his first basket until inside the final five minutes of the first half, but distributed four assists over the first 20 minutes and wound up with seven points.
Nik Khamenia shot just 2-for-8 for eight points but grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds. Junior County and Nils Machowski, both of whom have impressed at different points of this exhibition season, were relatively quiet on Tuesday night. But they’re ready to play key roles in their respective first seasons as Huskies.
Silas Demary Jr.? Silas Demary Jr. is always ready.
UConn dominated this one from the start, jumping out to a 21-9 lead and owning a 35-20 edge at halftime. Purdue got within 10 early in the latter half, but a 14-2 run led by Landrew pretty much sealed the deal. Landrew scored on a couple of backdoor cuts off nice passes by Hines, a pair of 3-pointers and a free throw over that stretch.
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It was hardly a rematch of the 2024 national championship game, which UConn won by 15 despite 37 points from 7-4 monster Zach Edey. This year’s 7-4 Boilermaker center, Daniel Jacobsen, finished with just seven points.
Otherwise, just like in that national title game, UConn’s overall length and athleticism totally smothered Purdue.
Now, the games become official, starting with Monday at 9 p.m. against Gardner-Webb, then another national title-game rematch (from last season) with Michigan in Boston on Nov. 9. Then Ohio State and Arizona and Duke and Illinois and Kansas and Virginia and the Big East …
Are the Huskies ready for prime time? They sure look like it. And they’d better be.
This article originally published at UConn men’s basketball team rolls over Purdue in final tune-up before season opener.
