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UConn Notes: Mullins looked ‘sharp’ while Ross shined under the radar in season opener
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- UConn Notes: Mullins looked ‘sharp’ while Ross shined under the radar in season opener
HARTFORD – Braylon Mullins looked the part of a sophomore being counted on as the offensive focal point for the UConn men's basketball team in its season-opening win over Gardner-Webb, an 86-46 drubbing on Monday night.
Just a week removed from his first and only preseason action after missing at least three weeks with an undisclosed injury, Mullins was much "sharper," to use Dan Hurley's description, than he appeared in last week's exhibition against Purdue .
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He got going right away, running the court for a pair of transition buckets before dialing in the 3-point shot and finished with a game-high 20 points on 7 of 12 shooting, making four 3-pointers for the first time since the Final Four. He also made two steals and got above the rim for a pair of dunks, which he only had four of in his freshman season.
"The thing that's awesome about Braylon is he guards, he's physical, he can really pass and he can really cut," Hurley said. "And obviously the 3 was a little cleaner tonight. I think he's just gonna get better with every game, because he was really dealing with some stuff and he's gonna have to be a real soldier this year, just to handle everything he's dealing with right now."
There is a different spotlight on the rising sophomore, after he hit one of the most clutch shots in March Madness history and then turned down an opportunity to be a possible first round NBA Draft pick to return to Storrs. In just his second year, he's one of only five players on the Huskies' roster who've been through a season playing for Hurley and understanding what the spotlight in Storrs entails.
"Over the summer, just having the ball in your hands more. It's just trying to take pressure off Silas (Demary Jr.) as much as you can," Mullins said of how he prepared for an evolved role. "There was a lot of shoes to fill, losing Tarris and AK last year, so (I'm) just trying to fill in that role that I need to be in. Just gotta do more than being a jump shooter, so just trying my best to do whatever I can."
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His backcourt mate, Demary, took what the opponent gave him and only attempted three shots, but still came close to a triple-double as he scored five points with eight rebounds, eight assists and three steals (no turnovers) in 26 minutes.
"Their ball screen coverage dictated that today, they blitzed him a lot, they hedged him a lot. I think there might've been a couple of opportunities where he could've attacked the rim, maybe in transition he could've just blasted it," Hurley said. "But really, there's gonna be nights just like last time we played in Boston vs. BYU when he went for 20-plus, and then there's gonna be nights where he's kind of flirting with a triple-double. If he played his customary 32 to 33 minutes tonight, he probably gets a triple-double."
Why Hurley's trust level is 'very high' with Jayden Ross
The 3-point shot wasn't falling for Jayden Ross on Monday (0-for-3), but he earned the largest chunk of minutes and finished the game a plus-41 while, naturally, creating highlights as he rose above the rim twice for a transition dunk and a putback.
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He had seven points and one steal, but his perimeter defense contributed to the 17 Gardner-Webb turnovers and the 21-3 advantage in fast break points.
"Start looking to see who I trust the most, and look at the minutes per game," Hurley said. "That's over the years, I mean, I love you (Alex) Karaban, but I know I played you into the ground."
Ross played 29 minutes Monday night, leading the team with Demary and Nik Khamenia playing 26 a piece and Mullins holding at 25 as he continues to ease back into things. Freshman Colben Landrew and sophomore center Na'jai Hines , rounding out the six starters, as Hurley says, played 22 minutes each.
Karaban, the captain, was on another level, averaging 35.8 and 34.3 minutes per game in his junior and senior seasons, respectively.
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"It's just an indicator of my trust and who impacts winning," Hurley said. "Who really guards and who's doing the things we talked about in the scouting report and who's doing things from an execution standpoint on offense, being in the right spots. It's who's the most reliable. Now, J-Ross has got to get on the glass more and I thought he should've stayed more aggressive from the 3-point line. He probably should've went 2-for-5 (rather than 0-for-3) if he would've kept shooting. But the trust level is very high with him."
Dom Amore: Dan Hurley's milestone win with UConn men's basketball is hardly a throw-away
Full circle for Hurley and Gardner-Webb AD, who hired him at Wagner
Brendan Fahey , in his second year as Gardner-Webb's Athletic Director, stood on the sideline 15 minutes before tip-off and took in the scene at PeoplesBank Arena. From Coventry, he graduated from UConn with a Sports Management degree in 2004, months after Jim Calhoun led the Huskies to their second national championship.
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"My dad worked at UConn for 40 years, longtime season ticket holder, so I've been coming to the Civic Center since I was 8 years old," he told The Courant. "So, for me, it's a homecoming of sorts and it'll be great experience for our players, too, to play in this environment and against this level, and it'll make us prepared for conference play."
But it was more than just a homecoming. Fahey was actually on the hiring committee that gave Hurley his first college head coaching job when he was deputy director of athletics at Wagner College. Monday was Hurley's 200th win in 275 games at UConn and his 351st win since he was hired by the Wagner Seahawks.
"Back in 2010, we were doing a coaching search, we were at a real low point and Dan, big-time high school coach, he was just unbelievable… We knew he had the experience at Rutgers as an assistant and just seeing what he did, and then when he came on campus you could just tell he was driven, obviously the family lineage was big, but he was just a basketball mind and we just knew he would be successful," Fahey said. "Turned our program around and we knew he'd be really big. When UConn hired him, I knew they made the right move. I'm like, 'He'll take them to the next level.'"
