UConn men play Buffalo in opener at Charleston
Their mood has drastically changed from a week ago.
An upset of No. 15 Florida on Sunday put the UConn Huskies in a better place.
They're riding a wave of momentum entering the Charleston Classic in South Carolina.
UConn begins its quest for an in-season tournament title by playing Buffalo on Thursday in the first round at TD Arena in Charleston (approximately 9:15 p.m., ESPNU).
There seemed to be a good chance that the Huskies would go to Charleston with a 1-2 instead of 2-1 record after losing to Saint Joseph's last week.
But they gained a valuable victory over the Gators with an inspired effort.
"It's probably not the way we thought we'd get to 2-1," coach Dan Hurley said on Sunday. "But the thought did cross my mind the last couple days, 1-2 headed to Charleston playing a Buffalo team that's really good and been to the NCAA tournament the last couple years was not an ideal scenario."
UConn has to win three games to earn a tournament trophy. The rest of the field includes No. 18 Xavier, Miami, Missouri State, Florida, Towson and Saint Joseph's. The Huskies will play either Xavier or Towson in the second round on Friday. The tournament ends on Sunday.
Buffalo (2-1) has reached
mid-major powerhouse status in recent years, reaching two straight NCAA tournaments. Last season, they won a school record 32 games, a Mid-American Conference title and beat Arizona State in the first round of the tournament. After spending four years as associate head coach, Jim Whitesell replaced Nate Oats who left for the Alabama job.
The Bulls are still a dangerous team, already owning a win over Ivy League preseason favorite Harvard.
The Huskies received a much-needed shot of confident from beating Florida.
"We're going to be going in there obviously treating the Buffalo game like they're one of the best teams we're going to play on our schedule," Hurley said. "But now we're going in there with some confidence and going in there with a little bit of pep in our step and self-belief and feeling like we're going — obviously one game at a time — in there to try to win it."
Thursday night's tourney opener should tell a lot about the growth of the Huskies.
Remember what happened last season?
UConn knocked No. 15 Syracuse, 83-76, at the 2K Empire Classic at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 15 for its first big win under Hurley but then stumbled badly the next night, losing to Iowa, 91-72.
A similar letdown on Thursday would likely result in another disappointing defeat.
The Huskies appeared to learn some lessons from their roller-coaster ride the last two games. They realized they have to consistently play with the same intensity and emotion that served them so well against Florida.
"We're going to fight," senior Christian Vital said. "We're going to be tough."
UConn will be a bit deeper with the addition of freshman guard James Bouknight, who was suspended the first three games due to his off-thecourt troubles.