Some video and quotes off UConn's 66-53 win over USF on Sunday:

KEVIN OLLIE:

(on Ryan Boatright's 13 straight second-half points and career-high 28 points overall)

“That’s what senior leaders are supposed to do, and that’s what he’s been doing the last two games.”

(on knowing when to keep a player on the bench or inserting him back in the starting lineup -- a la Rodney Purvis)

“It depends on a lot of variables. You want to see what his mindset is, so we always have constant communication, and that stays between me and him. You want to see how the team’s playing. We have analytics, too, that shows us the best team out there. It’s not like I go off of that (only), that’s the last thing I go off of. I go off my feel for the game. But we do have analytics that show different lineups and which one’s playing the best.”

“Rodney provides instant energy off the bench -- attacking the rim. Whatever it is, he’s playing better, Omar’s playing better. This game, I just didn’t see the punch, I just went with Rodney a little bit more in this game, and inserting Sam a little bit.”

(on what Ollie said to Boatright before he came back in and made his personal 13-point run)

“I just told him, watch the game for a little bit, took him out. Most players don’t like getting taken out of the game. He came in, he had fire in his eyes, he made great shots ... he took them with confidence. He got a great steal, great passes, got a layup, that’s what got him, too.”

“Ryan is a leader. He stepped up with a little fire in his stomach, because I wanted him to play a little harder. And I think he did that.”

(on USF being without Chris Perry)

“You look at the stats, (o) Zeigler’s been playing great. I think the last couple of games, in conference play, he’s been 17-for-26. He brings a lot of energy. He actually changed the game when we were down (in Tampa). He’s a real energy basketball player. Of course, Chris Perry is a great player, but at the end of the day, we’ve got to worry about our energy, our focus, and make sure we go out whoever we play against and play UConn basketball.”

BOATRIGHT:

(on Ollie sitting him on the bench for a significant stretch in the second half)



“We get up sometimes, and we let off the gas pedal.”

“I didn’t come back to school to play in the N.I.T.”

(on Purvis)

“He’s coming off the bench, playing with a lot of confidence, a lot of energy. His defense has picked up tremendously. His ball pressure is great. In the beginning of the year, he wasn’t playing ‘D’ like that. For me, what I realized going into the postseason last year is if you play defense like that, it gets you into the game more. Me playing hard defense like that got me in the game, it got my head in the game and it got my rhythm, versus, you wait and take a few shots.”

“When he was starting, by the time that first media timeout came, he was gassed.”

PURVIS:



“That’s the difference between being a good or great team. The great teams put teams away. We’re working towards trying to be great.”

“Omar, he’s a really good shooter. He opens things up for me, honestly. It’s all about the team. I’m just coming off the bench, helping the team in whatever way I can. We won our last two games with this new change, so that’s what it is. No blow to the ego or anything like that, it’s all about the team.”

UConn dominates the American Athletic Conference's preseason awards.

The Huskies were picked to win the conference by the league's coaches -- though just barely. Meanwhile, Ryan Boatright has been tabbed as the preseason player of the year, and freshman Daniel Hamilton the conference's preseason rookie of the year.

The defending national champions edged out SMU by two points as the preseason conference favorite. The Huskies garnered six first-place votes and a total of 96 points, while SMU earned five first-place votes and 94 total points. The Mustangs beat UConn both times they played last season.

Memphis is picked to finish third, followed by Cincinnati and newcomer Tulsa to round out the top five.

Along with earning preseason player of the year honors, Boatright was a unanimous choice for first team all-conference. SMU's Nic Moore and Markus Kennedy were also unanimous first-team selections, while Memphis's Shaq Goodwin and Austin Nichols and Tulsa's James Woodard round out the first team.

UConn's 7-foot sophomore center Amida Brimah earned second team all-conference honors. He's joined by South Florida's Anthony Collins and Chris Perry, and Temple's Will Cummings and Quenton DeCosey.


1. UConn (6) 96
2. SMU (5) 94
3. Memphis 82

4. Cincinnati 71

5. Tulsa 62
6. Temple 59

7. Houston 39

8. South Florida 32

9. Central Florida 26

10. East Carolina 24

11. Tulsa 20

Preseason Player of the Year

Ryan Boatright, G, Sr., UConn

Preseason Rookie of the Year

Daniel Hamilton, G/F, Fr., UConn

Preseason All-Conference Teams

First Team

Ryan Boatright, G, UConn *
Shaq Goodwin, F, Memphis
Austin Nichols, F, Memphis
Nic Moore, G, SMU *
Markus Kennedy, F, SMU *
James Woodard, G, Tulsa

Second Team
Amida Brimah, C, UConn
Anthony Collins, G, USF
Chris Perry, F, USF
Will Cummings, G, Temple
Quenton DeCosey, G, Temple













* unanimous selection

Not a big sabermetrics guy, but learned today that UConn is No. 25 in the country on the UPS Team Performance index, which measures offensive and defensive efficiency among the nation's 345 Division 1 teams.

The index essentially identifies well-balanced teams, so the Huskies are pretty well-balanced.

As for Wednesday night's game against USF:

*** Omar Calhoun didn't practice today due to concussion-like symptoms, according to Kevin Ollie. Calhoun was feeling better Tuesday than he was the day before, however, and is questionable to play against USF.

*** In case you didn't know by now, the AAC has five of the Top 25 teams in the nation this week. Impressive, but not unpredictable, according to Kevin Ollie:



Ryan Boatright, however, didn't predict the league would be this good:

“We knew it was going to be competitive, but I'm going to be honest, I didn’t think there were going to be five teams in the Top 25. I knew there was going to be two or three. Teams in this conference, I’m pretty sure they felt like how we felt. Everybody was saying we weren’t going to be a good conference and stuff like that, so they probably took that to heart and that’s why they’re playing so hard.”

The American has had multiple teams ranked in every AP poll this season and has had at least three top-25 teams in all but one poll.

The early success in men’s basketball continues an impressive debut season for The American, which had two football teams (UCF, Louisville) ranked in the top 15 of the AP and USA Today polls and has two teams (UConn, Louisville) in the top four of the AP women’s basketball poll.

*** Ollie on USF:

“They’ve been playing very well on the road. They’ve got a lot of confidence. We’ve got a desperate team coming in here, and we’ve got to be ready to perform and play UConn basketball.”

“They’ve got two big fellas inside, they’ve got (Victor) Rudd that’s a high-flyer, doing a lot for them. They score in the paint. We’ve got to protect our yard.”

(USF beat SMU at home on Jan. 28, don't forget)

“It’s an ‘us’ game. We’ve got to take care of us. They’re playing well, so it’s not about they beat SMU, it’s about us taking care of our business, preparing ourselves, playing our type of basketball an giving ourselves a chance to win in the second half.”

“They can come back and say they lost to Rutgers. We don’t worry about that, we want to play our type of basketball. It’s a good team that we’re facing.”

*** Ollie noted that USF freshman center John Egbunu is averaging four dunks a game. Fellow frosh Chris Perry has won AAC Rookie of the Week honors five times and leads all the league's freshmen in scoring.

*** Boatright on the rough travel schedule of the new league:

“Every flight we take is 2 1/3-3 hours. We get back pretty late, then we’ve got to be in class every morning. It’s a little different than flying to D.C. and going to Jersey and stuff like that. But we’ve got no control of it. We’ve got to take care of business.”

*** Boatright noted his left shoulder is "pretty jacked-up" (as in beat up), and it's affected his shooting.

“I haven’t shot this bad since I was probably in fourth grade, when I didn’t know how to shoot," he said.

He hasn't had an MRI because doing so would cause him to have to sit out a few days, and he doesn't want to do that. He'll have the MRI after the season.

Boatright said the shoulder issue has been there since preseason, but was exacerbated when he was kneed in the back in the Cincy game.

*** Oh, and this: UConn baseball player Trevor Holmes was arrested early Sunday morning after getting into a fight on campus. Holmes, 19, was arrested for 2nd-degree breach of peace and released on $500 bond. Matthew Davies, 22, was also arrested after the altercation, which occurred on King Hill Road.