Here's a quick breakdown of UConn's 2015-16 schedule

Sun., Nov. 1 Tampa (exhibition) at Gampel, 2 p.m.
Division II program whose facilities UConn borrowed prior to USF game last year

Sat., Nov. 7 New Haven (exhibition)  at XL Center, 1 p.m.
Huskies will look to avenge football team’s loss to Chargers in 1992! First time programs have met in a major sport since.

Fri., Nov. 13 Maine  at Gampel, 7 p.m.
Black Bears coached by former Providence assistant Bob Walsh.

Tues., Nov. 17 New Hampshire at Gampel, 7 p.m.  
Wildcats may be UConn’s toughest low-major foe this season.

Sat., Nov. 21 Furman  at Gampel, TBD
Clearly an excuse to get RI native, Furman grad Brad Faxon over to a UConn game. Or not. This is a Battle 4 Atlantis "subregional" game.

Wed. Nov. 25 vs. Michigan at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, 9:30 p.m.
After disappointing 2014-15, John Beilein-coached Wolverines should be tourney team again. 

Thur., Nov. 26 vs. Syracuse or Charlotte  at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, TBD
A date with ex-Big East rival Orange sure would be delicious.

Fri., Nov. 27 vs. TBD  at Imperial Arena, Bahamas, TBD
Final game of Battle 4 Atlantis; could be first of two meetings with Texas.

Wed., Dec. 2 Sacred Heart  at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Pioneers went 9-9 in Northeast Conference last season.

Tue., Dec. 8 vs. Maryland at MSG, 9:30 p.m. 
The Diamond Bowl: Huskies go up vs. frosh Diamond Stone, who rejected UConn for Terps. Maryland should be a preseason national top-five team across the board.

Sat., Dec. 12 Ohio State at Gampel, noon 
First of home-and-home with Buckeyes, who lost NBA lottery pick D’Angelo Russell, several others.

Sun., Dec. 20 UMass-Lowell at XL Center, 4 p.m.  
Last of three America East foes on Huskies’ schedule.

Wed., Dec. 23 CCSU  at XL Center, 12:30 p.m.
Huskies face former assistant Howie Dickenman’s crew for second straight season.

Tue., Dec. 29 at Texas  at Erwin Center, 9 p.m.
Longhorns welcome Shaka Smart as new head coach after canning underachieving Rick Barnes; Sterling Gibbs returns to the school at which he started.

Sat., Jan. 2 at Tulane  at Devin Fieldhouse, TBD
With Sugar Bowl night before, New Orleans will be hoppin’ for Huskies’ AAC season opener.

Tue., Jan 5 Temple at XL Center, 8 p.m.
Owls were NCAA tourney’s top snub last year, but won’t make as convincing a case this season.

Sat., Jan. 9 Memphis at Gampel, 7 p.m. 
Austin Nichols transferred to Virginia, but Tigers welcome McD’s All-America brothers Dedric and K.J. Lawson.

Thu., Jan. 14 at Tulsa at Reynolds Center, 7 p.m.
Golden Hurricane have every player back from last year’s second-place AAC squad. Literally, everyone.

Sun., Jan. 17 at Houston at Hofheinz Pavilion, 2 p.m.
Hofheinz Pavilion a house of horrors for UConn, who are 0-2 there in AAC play.

Tue., Jan. 19 Tulane at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Green Wave welcome deepest, most talented recruiting class in years.

Sat., Jan. 23 Georgetown at XL Center, noon  

Beginning of home-and-home with Hoyas, who will be strong, led by D’Vauntes Smith-Rivera and a top recruiting class that includes former UConn target Jessie Govan

Thu., Jan. 28 Cincinnati at XL Center, 7 p.m.
Bearcats have just about everyone back, including coach Mick Cronin, who missed most of last season with health issue.

Sun. Jan. 31 at Central Florida at CFE Arena, TBD
Two of AAC’s top frosh last year, B.J. Taylor, Adonys Henriquez, lead the way.

Thu., Feb. 4 at Memphis at FedExForum, 9 p.m.
Big man Shaq Goodwin played very well while Nichols was sidelined by injury last season.

Sun., Feb. 7 East Carolina at Gampel, noon
Huskies won’t visit ECU this season as part of AAC unbalanced schedule. Thank God, because last year's trip was a snowy, icy, flight-delayed nightmare. And not just for the writers.

Thu. Feb. 11 at Temple at Liacouras Center, 7 p.m.
Owls will always be dangerous as long as Fran Dunphy is their coach.

Sat., Feb. 13 Tulsa at Gampel, 8 p.m.
There aren’t many better all-around guards in league than James Woodard.

Thu., Feb. 18 SMU at XL Center, TBD
Led by reigning AAC player of year Nic Moore, Larry Brown’s Mustangs will vie for second straight league title.

Sat., Feb. 20 at Cincinnati at Fifth Third Arena, TBD
Gary Clark, Octavius Ellis form possibly AAC’s top front line.

Thu., Feb 25 at South Florida at Sun Dome, TBD
Orlando Antigua will get this program turned around, but not this season.

Sun., Feb. 28 Houston at Gampel, TBD
Lots of people like Kelvin Sampson-coached Cougars as sleeper team in AAC. I don't quite see it yet.

Thu., March 3 at SMU at Moody Coliseum, 9 p.m.
Only thing that could hold Mustangs back this year is ongoing NCAA investigation.

Sun., March 6 Central Florida at Gampel, 2 p.m.
Coach Donnie Jones could be on hot seat if Knights don’t show improvement.

With the seconds winding down in UConn's 81-48 rout of Central Connecticut on Sunday afternoon, the 13,315 at XL Center started booing.

At first, it seemed the crowd was upset that former walk-on-turned-scholarship player Pat Lenehan wasn't going to get a shot off. Perhaps that was part of it, but the bulk of the booing more likely had to do with the fact that the Huskies weren't going to get to the 82-point mark.

Any time UConn scores 82 points in a game, you see, anyone with a ticket stub to the game can get a free order of wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. So, the 13,315 wound up a point short of free wings.

“I’ve never got booed like that, at the end of the game," Kevin Ollie noted. "I didn’t even know about the Buffalo Wild Wings. I’m like, ‘Man, they love Pat this much?’ So, next time, I’ll recognize that. That was on me.”

That's kind of the lead story off an otherwise routine blowout of Howie Dickenman's Blue Devils. Actually, there were others: Kentan Facey's first career triple-double, Omar Calhoun's season-high 11 points (including his first 3-pointer since Jan. 21 against Temple last season), five players in double figures and a 37-5 run between the end of the first half and the beginning of the second that turned it into a rout.

Here's some video, notes and quotes off the game:



*** Ray Allen spoke to the CCSU team in the locker room after the game. Allen, of course, played under Dickenman when Dickenman was Jim Calhoun's assistant at UConn.

"He spoke to the players for about 10 minutes, gave some very good comments and observations," said Dickenman. "Ray has always been one of my favorites, but then he’s everybody’s favorite. Our players applauded him and we thanked him for coming in.”

“You could hear a pin drop when Ray spoke.”

Dickenman shared this story of Allen, during a Jim Calhoun Celebrity Classic game at Mohegan Sun Arena a few years back, when Dickenman was "coaching" Allen's team.

“We’re getting hammered about halfway through the first half. I’m gonna ‘talk to the team,’ OK? And Ray interrupts me. The nerve of him to interrupt the coach. And all he said was, ‘I’m sick and tired of this, we have to go out and fight. We’re not here to lay down.’ It was a very brief but motivational talk, and we went out and played much better. He’s such a competitor that he would take time to say that in the huddle. When Ray speaks, everyone listens.”

*** UConn is now 19-0 against former Calhoun assistants, including 3-0 against Dickenman at CCSU. The Huskies have never lost to the Blue Devils in 13 games.

*** Omar Calhoun:

"I'm starting to get my rhythm back. I'm starting to get healthy. I'm able to be more explosive at the rim, do more off the dribble .. It was definitely tough going through that and then another injury. It's good to have something going positive so I can go forward and keep growing from it ... It was definitely tough, but I'm a strong individual. I talked to Coach all the time and he said just work through it. He has my back. So as I keep working and getting healthier and healthier, it will be better every day."

*** Ryan Boatright apparently thought the boos at the end of the game were about Lenehan, as well, and didn't know about the Buffalo Wild Wings.

“I keep telling Pat, man, just shoot the ball! He’s such a good person and a good teammate. When K.O. says don’t jack the ball, he’s not gonna jack it. But when you get in with a minute left, you only have two possessions, probably -- just shoot the ball. It’s your senior year, he’s gonna put you in the next game, you know what I mean? But Pat is Pat, he’s not gonna take ill-advised shots.”

Spoke with Howie Dickenman this afternoon. Dickenman, of course, is in his 19th season as head coach at Central Connecticut State, which faces UConn for the first time in nine years on Sunday at the XL Center.

Dickenman was an assistant at UConn from 1982-96, as you all know, and was responsible for the recruitment of numerous players who helped the Huskies establish themselves as one of the elite programs in the nation, including Donyell Marshall, Donny Marshall, Travis Knight, Jake Voskuhl, Cliff Robinson ... and Kevin Ollie.

Here's some of what Dickenman had to say:

"To tell you the truth, I really don't like to play against people like them, but this was an opportunity to play the national champs. I never played against Karl Hobbs's teams, I never play against Steve Pikiell's teams, I don't play against Dave Leitao's teams when he was a head coach. But, this presented itself to play against the national champs."

"It's a great game for us, because it's an away game, but it's right down the road. And it creates a lot of interest on Central Connecticut's part."

(on Ollie)

"I've been one of the biggest supporters of him, because I've known him for so long. He's a class act, a great motivator, a great communicator, and one heck of a great coach, too."

"Look at his loyalty. That's one person who loves his alma mater. He speaks very proudly of it when I've heard him speak at different events. I don't know what the (NBA) offered him last year, but I can give you a ballpark of $4-5 million ... and he turned that down to stay home."

"I think head coach of University of Connecticut, in basketball, is one of the toughest jobs in the country. People say, 'How about Kentucky, how about Kansas?' But the media following and the demands, time-wise, of the head coach at Connecticut. Jim had 27 years of it, now Kevin's in his second year dealing with it. It's demanding."

(what does playing CCSU get out of playing UConn)

"We get to play a team that will help us be well-prepared for our league. It gives us, public relations-wise and credibility-wise, the chance to play in front of a lot of people."

"I'd have to say we're amped up more for this game than games in the past. It's only natural when you play the national champs.

Howie Dickenman was recently quoted in some media outlets saying that Kevin Ollie was signed by both Cleveland (in 2003) and Oklahoma City (2009) to help mentor LeBron James and Kevin Durant, respectively, early in their careers.

Dickenman is a Jim Calhoun disciple, however, which means statements like this can sometimes be ... well, a bit of an embellishment.

I put in some calls to people who were with the Cavs and Thunder at the time, and while I haven't heard back from anyone with the Thunder, I did get to talk to Jim Paxson, the former NBA all-star who was Cleveland's GM when it signed Ollie to a five-year (yes, five-year), $15 million deal.

It's really been the only long-term deal Ollie has signed (including now, of course, what with his one-year deal at UConn).

“I think for him,” recalled Paxson, “it just gave him more motivation to prove he deserved that.”

Hard to believe Ollie won't have the same motivation now at UConn.

Anyway, turns out Paxson did sign Ollie with the expressed desire to help mentor and tutor LeBron. Here's some of what he had to say:

“We thought he could come in and be a bridge for us at the point guard position,” Paxson recalled, “and also be a good influence on our younger players, the primary one being LeBron.”

And what made Paxson believe Ollie would be a good influence on King James?

“I just think his professionalism and approach to the game is what players followed,” he said. “Even though LeBron was a great player when he first came in the league, along the way, in my first couple of years around him and even after that, (LeBron) was always looking for veterans in the league that did it the right way. Kevin had a good approach with LeBron and other young players – being a professional, showing it on a day-to-day basis that you’ve got to show up, work on your game, work on your body.”

Ollie played all 82 games that season, the only time in his NBA career he ever did so. He only started seven times, however, and averaged a mere 17.1 minutes per game as he never quite fit in with coach Paul Silas, who was in his first year at the helm.

Interestingly, when Ollie went through spells of little playing time, he was picked up by some of the very same guys he was signed to help mentor.

“When at times he didn’t get to play a lot, LeBron and the guys kind of rallied around him and kept his spirits up, too,” Paxson recalled. “They appreciated how he came to work every day, how he was still trying to help them. He helped pick up some young guys, and was also picked up by them because of the type of person he was.”

Paxson always believed Ollie had the potential to be a head coach someday.

“It was more based on some of the conversations I would have had with him,” Paxson said. “He was looking at the game as a team, what was best for the team. You just kind of had that feeling that, if he wanted to pursue that and follow that path, he had the right demeanor and way about him and would have a chance to have some success.”

While Paxson has faith Ollie can handle the job, he knows it won’t be easy.

“At any level, when you move over from the assistant’s chair to the head coaching chair, you have to make the final decisions – whether to substitute, take timeouts, etc.,” he noted. “The pace and flow of the game is a little different than when you’re sitting there as an assistant.

“But I think he will relate well to the players and find a way to get the most out of them.”