STORRS – It was the older guys who stood out during UConn men’s basketball‘s annual Blue/White Night open practice and scrimmage on Wednesday.
Fifth-year guard Tristen Newton had the scoring lead for most of the scrimmage, which consisted of three 10-minute periods. Playing for assistant coach Luke Murray on the blue team alongside Cam Spencer, Stephon Castle, Samson Johnson and Alex Karaban, Newton finished with 18 points.
But Spencer, a graduate transfer from Rutgers, took over at the end.
He capped a 19-point performance (12 points in the final period, all on 3s) with a 3-pointer from the top of the key that fell through the net with less than a second left on the clock in the final period. Head coach Dan Hurley added 30 more seconds to decide the game and freshman Jayden Ross slammed home the game-winner with a fast-break dunk.
Cam Spencer hits a 3 with .5 seconds left to tie it in the third (and final) period pic.twitter.com/5fYMJ3fkRF
— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) October 26, 2023
The event, which drew a crowd that filled the lower bowl, was free and open to the public.
“We got out of it what we hoped to,” Hurley said. “You see a team that knows each other really, really well, knows a lot of what we’re doing on offense. So, (it was) obviously a little clunky to start but I think they got over some of the jitters of just having bodies in here and then played a little cleaner… I think we’re close to needing to start playing other schools, I think we’re tired of playing against each other.”
Murray’s blue team, mostly starters, won the first period (18-5) and the second (22-13) before Ross won the third for gray with the added time. The gray team, led by associate head coach Kimani Young and assistant Tom Moore, consisted mostly of freshmen alongside senior point guard Hassan Diarra.
“I think the team looked pretty good today, especially the blue team,” Diarra said. “They started off really good, really early. The gray team, we got going too. We’ve got a lot of talent on this team… Leadership is what I’m focused on, I want to get better at it. I want to be able to be that guy that people can lean on regardless of how everything is going.”
Donovan Clingan, who has a doctor’s appointment Thursday morning about the foot strain he suffered in September, was among his teammates getting shots up before the practice began.
Donovan Clingan from deep, foot looks like it’s getting there. pic.twitter.com/CS3QfANHms
— Joe Arruda (@joearruda9) October 25, 2023
Without the clunky, gray boot he sported at Tuesday’s Big East Media Day, Clingan took shots from everywhere – including multiple feet behind the 3-point line, where he made a few. Still favoring the foot, Clingan didn’t participate in team stretches and stood off to the side like a coach during the first series of drills.
After he sat to watch the scrimmage, Stephon Castle lobbed an alley-oop pass up to his replacement, Samson Johnson, who finished with a dunk that got the crowd going. The scoring slowed, though Newton continued extending the lead for the blue team.
“I think (Newton) came back for a purpose of increasing his value and accomplishing more things as a player and trying to prove that he can be the driving force for a top team,” Hurley said. “The table’s set for him. And we need leadership from him, he’s got big shoes to fill.”
Castle had 12 points Wednesday night – his first three buckets were dunks: a windmill, a tomahawk and a fast-break pick-six. But Diarra, trying to make it hard for the freshman, blocked his first dunk attempt.
“That’s what’s so hard when there’s like 10 players on the court in these practices,” Hurley said. “Because something went well for somebody, which means it went bad for somebody else. That changes now soon, which is nice, where you only have to coach five guys that are on the court.”
The Huskies will get another opportunity to mesh before the season begins as they host their second “secret scrimmage” against Harvard this weekend. Karaban, who is having his wisdom teeth removed Thursday, could be held out.
Big East men’s notes: Tristen Newton explains his telephone celebration
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