Huskies seeking third straight win

STORRS >> Kevin Ollie was the ultimate NBA journeyman player, dressing for 11 different teams over his 13-year career.

Mike Dunleavey, Sr. was a bit of an NBA journeyman coach, leading four teams over 17 years as head man.

Ollie never played for a team coached by Dunleavey, but he certainly played against him enough over the years to know what to expect from his teams.

“They play sound basketball, share the basketball, what every coach teaches,” said Ollie. “He had some good teams in L.A. Just going back in the day, they were always disciplined, played together, played good, sound basketball.”

Ollie will go up against Dunleavy for the first time as an opposing coach on Saturday, when UConn (911, 4-4 AAC) hosts Tulane at Gampel Pavilion (8 p.m., ESPNU). Dunleavy, who won 613 games in his NBA career, is in his first-ever season as a head coach at the collegiate level. And, predictably, it’s been a struggle taking over a Green Wave team that is clearly in rebuilding mode. Tulane (416, 1-7 AAC) enters the game having lost nine of its last 10 games.

“He’s always been a great friend of mine,” Ollie said of Dunleavy. “I’ve been a fan of his work throughout the NBA.”

UConn, meanwhile, has been playing its best basketball of the season lately. The Huskies have won four of their last six games and two in a row, and if that sounds modest, well, it certainly represents progress. A win on Saturday night would give UConn its first three-game winning streak of the season.

“We just want to work and keep getting better every day,” Ollie said after practice at Gampel Pavilion on Friday. “I really don’t get caught up in wins and losses. Of course we want to win, it makes everybody’s dinner better. But, before that, I just want to come in and work. And these guys are working.”

The Huskies seem to recognize their lot. They’re down to just six healthy, scholarship players at this point (Steve Enoch and Juwan Durham don’t appear likely to play on Saturday night) but are learning to cope.

“I think they’re just understanding how to play with each other,” Ollie said. “I don’t know if we had 13 healthy guys or six healthy guys, I just think they’re getting better. I think the understanding is on the defensive end, where Amida (Brimah) and Kentan (Facey) have just one foul. I want them to understand that better. But understanding offense, defense and playing with one another, we have to do that regardless of whether we have a full team or not.”

Added freshman guard Christian Vital: “We’re just clicking right now. We’re practicing extremely hard, practicing smart, starting to understand our game plan and executing it for a full 40 minutes. That’s what’s helped us win our last two games.”

UConn is coming off perhaps its most thorough win of the season, an 81-60 road triumph over South Florida. Vital had a career-high 17 points off the bench to go with five steals, and Jalen Adams, Rodney Purvis, Vance Jackson and Kentan Facey joined him in double figures. It’s the play of Adams, Ollie noted, that has helped everyone lately. The sophomore point guard leads the AAC and is seventh in the nation in assists.