UConn men continue to battle adversity as SMU arrives in Storrs tonight
Adversity has been UConn's constant companion dating back to the beginning of last season.
The latest obstacle is the loss of redshirt junior Terry Larrier, who had successful surgery Wednesday at River Valley Ambulatory Surgical Center in Norwich to repair a fractured sinus wall.
Larrier is expected to be out at least a week, meaning the Huskies will likely play two to three games without their second leading scorer, starting with today's American Athletic Conference game against Southern Methodist at Gampel Pavilion (7 p.m., CBSSN).
The Huskies (10-9, 3-3), who've dropped two straight, are looking to reverse direction and attempt to climb the AAC standings.
Life without Larrier certainly was ugly in a loss at Memphis last week, as UConn scored a season-low 49 points. Larrier wore a face mask against top-ranked Villanova on Saturday but struggled mightily and elected to have surgery.
It will take more than one player to make up for Larrier's absence. All of the burden can't be carried by junior Jalen Adams and sophomore Christian Vital. The Huskies continue to miss starting guard Alterique Gilbert who suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in late November. They're also without reserve forward Eric Cobb, who remains indefinitely suspended.
"Everybody's role expands," coach Kevin Ollie said. "We have to make sure we play good, aggressive basketball. We have to shoot the ball well. We have to get back on defense. Hopefully, everybody steps up and has a great game."
Freshman forward Tyler Polley is just one of the Huskies who will be asked to do more. So far, he's seen limited action, scoring just 12 points in the last 12 games.
"I don't want him to put so much pressure on himself where he has to make up for Terry because he can't do that," Ollie said. "He has to be Tyler Polley . ... I want him to play with confidence."
SMU (14-6, 4-3) also is dealing with adversity. The Mustangs are down to just nine scholarship players after recently losing second-leading scorer Jarrey Foster, who averaged 13.2 points per game, for the season. They have no shortage of scorers, as five other players average in double figures.
Dynamic guard Shake Milton (18.4 points per game), the preseason AAC player of the year, will be a handful for the Huskies. The Mustangs follow Milton's lead.
"All the offense revolves around him," Ollie said. "He's been doing a great job, playing great basketball. He's shooting the ball, penetrating and doing everything for them. Talk about roles expanding. I bet his role expands, too, with Foster out."
The game carries added importance for the Huskies.
After hosting SMU, they embark on a two-game road trip, visiting Temple on Sunday and Central Florida on Wednesday. They've won only one true road game so far this season.
"I just want these guys to continue to fight, play for this great state, play for this great university," Ollie said. "That's all I want these guys to do . ... Keep playing until the end."
• Ollie said there's no change regarding the status of Cobb, who'll sit out his fifth straight game on Thursday. "We're just going day by day with it," Ollie said. "He's working out and doing well in school. I'm just going to keep making evaluations on that as we go forward."
The next step for Gilbert, who's already seen Dr. James Andrews, is for him to be checked out by another doctor before having surgery. g.keefe@theday.com