Reserves continue to provide lift for Huskies

– They're ready to contribute Albany, N.Y. whenever asked.

Reserves Joey Calcaterra, Donovan Clingan, Hassan Diarra and Nahiem Alleyne have come off the bench and made important contributions this season, even more so during the postseason.

During Friday's first round win over Iona in the NCAA tournament West Region at MVP Arena, the quartet combined for 26 points.

When that happens, the Huskies usually win.

They're 15-2 when the bench scores at least 20 points, 11-6 when falling short of that mark.

“I like to think of us as having one of the deepest benches in the country,” Calcaterra said Saturday. “We definitely use that to our advantage.”

For the fourth-seeded Huskies to extend their postseason run and advance to the program's first Sweet 16 since 2014, they'll need their reserves to continue to be productive Sunday against Saint Mary's in the second round.

“We know our starting five is going to show up,” Diarra said. “Just to add four or five more players that can either score or defend just brings value to the team. It's extremely difficult to beat us when everybody's on.”

UConn should have a depth advantage on Sunday.

Coach Dan Hurley regularly uses a nine-player rotation while the fifth-seeded Gaels stick with their starters for the majority of the game.

Only six Saint Mary's players saw more than five minutes of action in Friday's first round win over Virginia Commonwealth. The Gaels received only 13 points from their bench.

The Huskies will have an opportunity to wear down their opponent and be fresher late in games.

“We just come in the game and try to provide a spark, whether it's offensively or defensively,” Calcaterra said. “We just try to give an energy lift and bring some momentum to our side when we step on the court. We don't try to do too much off the bench. We just try to make solid plays and it's been working well for us.”

They've done just that in the last three games, with reserves averaging 26 points.

Clingan had one of his best games of his young career against Iona, finishing with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 14 minutes against Iona.

Calcaterra can light it up from the outside. Alleyne contributes on both ends of the court while Diarra is a defensive specialist and provides relief for starting point guard Tristen Newton.

Hurley's rotation has fluctuated this season, starting out as nine players before shrinking and then returning again to full power.

“I want to play nine players in a perfect world,” Hurley said. “I think the mid part of the year when we were struggling, I probably got a little too tight with the rotation, and that was my mistake. Obviously, I learned from it, and I'm trying to trust those guys more. Then we have the ability to wear a team down.”

Alleyne is only one of three Huskies with previous NCAA tournament experience. He played in two March Madness games while at Virginia Tech.

“This is my third time here, I know what's going on in March Madness. Some of these guys don't know. Andre and Adama, they know what's going on, so we kind of guide everybody to just play with joy and remember the main goal and remember it's win or go home.”