It's going to sound like Andre Drummond was making excuses about his UConn debut Friday night, in which he went scoreless in 12 minutes of action.

“That never happened to me before," he said. "Ever."

Drummond said playing with a facemask on bothered him a bit, as did the tendonitis that had him icing his left knee after the game. Not starting also affected him, he said.

“I’m not used to coming off the bench," he said. "That’s one of things I have to get over and get used to doing. I think that’s what’s really throwing me off, too. But it doesn’t really matter … it matters how I perform in the game.”

Indeed, Drummond was probably just a little frustrated that his much-ballyhooed debut didn't go very well, individually. But he seemed ready to put it behind him and get better for Monday against Wagner.

“Everybody has their off days," he added. "I’ve just got to come back tomorrow, have a great practice, have another great practice on Sunday and come out on Monday and play again.”

Tyler Olander said he saw from Drummond "a first college game against a D-I team. I know Andre’s going to respond very well. He knows what to expect now.”

Shabazz Napier offered him some consoling advice afterwards.

“I told him, ‘Don’t allow coach to drill your mistakes in your head. You made a mistake, make up for it.’”

*** Calhoun was peeved at all his bigs (except Olander) after UConn barely outrebounded Columbia 43-41 and allowed 20 offensive boards.

"They outworked us. We don’t have anyone in the frontcourt ready to play right now, except for Tyler, who understands the game of basketball.

“I told Enosch (Wolf), ‘You haven’t done much, but it’s a good time for you to do something right now.’”

Said Olander: “We were getting pushed under the rim a little bit, which shouldn’t happen. The other team worked hard, and we (the frontcourt) kind of failed to respond.”

*** Alex Oriakhi was a virtual no-show, with two points and five boards. He was also a no-show for the postgame press availability, a rarity for him.

*** Fortunately for UConn, Jeremy Lamb and Napier showed up, combining for 51 of the team's 70 points (Lamb's 30 was a career-high).

Columbia coach Kyle Smith said of Lamb: "Here's how good he is: I had no idea he had 30. The game is very easy for him."

Smith also said Napier can do everything. "He's got a little Chris Paul, (with the) floperoos."

*** Calhoun's most telling quote: “I’m looking to the next game – the game where Shabazz has four fouls, the game when Jeremy’s shot doesn’t go. Then what happens?”

*** The coach seems to be getting a bit annoyed by the Ryan Boatright and Niels Giffey situations.

On Boatright: “I’ve not been informed of anything. That’s not unexpected.”

And on Giffey's return: “You’ll have to ask Niels. He says his ankle’s sore.”

he’s capable of, by any means. He’s not going to let that happen again.”