Greetings from St. Thomas, where it is ... hot! Even at night, it doesn't get very cool around here. You probably don't want to hear that, but it's definitely muggy down here.

UConn had a good practice last night at the UVI Sports and Fitness Center and left its hotel around noon local time today for a shootaround at a local high school gym.

As mentioned in my previous post last night, the Huskies (along with Quinnipiac and Wake Forest) landed around 5 p.m. local, arrived at the hotel about an hour later, checked into their rooms and then headed straight out to their practice (Quinnipiac actually went straight from the airport to practice).

Why so hectic? Why didn't the Huskies get in on Wednesday instead? Well, NCAA rules state that teams can't arrive to a tourney site any more than 48 hours in advance of their tip-off. That means the Huskies ostensibly couldn't arrive before 7:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday. Rather than get in late Wednesday, it made more sense to come in Thursday.

Not sure how strict and stringent teams hold to this rule, but it explains why New Mexico, Mercer and George Mason (who all play afternoon games today) arrived on Wednesday afternoon.

It'll be all business for UConn over the next few days. The Huskies' only planned excursion is a snorkeling/catamaran trip on Tuesday, the day after the tourney ends. UConn flies back home on Wednesday.

*** The UConn Student-Athlete Advisory Committee will be hosting a food drive to help those in need who have been affected by Hurricane Sandy at the UConn men’s basketball game vs. Stony Brook at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday, November 25, at 4:00 p.m.  Fans are encouraged to donate non-perishable canned food items and baby food.  The items will be donated to the Foundation for Human Relief in New York that supports many of the hardest hit areas.  Items will be collected through halftime at the North, South and East Entrances of Gampel Pavilion.