UConn's depth shines in season opener: 'That's the way we used to play'

In UConn’s 102-58 season-opening win over Dayton on Friday, six different Huskies reached double-figures in scoring — and none of them were Paige Bueckers. While the return of the superstar may have grabbed the headlines, the display of depth carried the team to victory.

Geno Aureimma’s rotation featured 10 players: The five starters (Bueckers, Nika Mühl, Azzi Fudd, Caroline Ducharme, and Aaliyah Edwards) and five reserves (Aubrey Griffin, Ice Brady, KK Arnold, Qadence Samuels and Ashlynn Shade). They all played at least 10 minutes and all scored at least one basket.

UConn got 38 points from the bench — its highest total since the 2022 Big East Tournament — a big change considering it had six games last season where it didn’t get a single point from the reserves. That doesn’t seem likely to happen this year.

“I think the beauty of this team is we can have seven different players be a leading scorer,” Bueckers said. “On any given night, it can be anybody else's night. So we know that as a team, we have a lot of weapons and it's not a one-man team where somebody has to carry more of the load than the others.”

Yet even with so many different contributors, a familiar name led the way: Edwards, last season’s leading scorer, had a team-high 23 points on 10-of-12 shooting to go with nine rebounds in just 23 minutes. She did it doing what she does best.

“I want that to be somewhat of an average game for her going forward,” he said. “She finished around the basket, she rebounded from various spots on the floor. I thought she was aggressive the entire time she was out there. This is what we're going to need starting on Sunday.”

Behind Edwards were two more players used to being among the top scorers: Fudd had 13 while Ducharme had 10. Combined, they only went 7-20 from the field and 5-12 from three, so they can only go up from here.

“I mean, Azzi is not going to have too many 4-for-12 nights,” Auriemma said.

Griffin chipped in 12 points on 5-of-7 shooting with five rebounds in what’s become a typical performance for her. Mühl had 10 points, five assists and five rebounds. Shade added four points, three rebounds and two assists in her collegiate debut.

She wasn’t the only one playing in her first game with the Huskies, either. Samuels reached double-figures with 11 points thanks to three 3-pointers — tied with Fudd for the team lead.

“If I give her enough minutes, Q,” Auriemma said when asked who could be the team’s leading scorer. “Points per minute played. I mean, that kid’s not shy. She just loves the lights.”

Meanwhile, Arnold did a little bit of everything with four points, a team-best seven assists and four steals, then three rebounds for good measure.

“That’s the kid I recruited,” Auriemma said. “She's going to be involved in a lot of plays. She's not shy. She's not worried about anything. She's just trying to make plays — defensively, offensively.”

Brady falls into a similar category as Bueckers. The redshirt freshman forward didn’t do anything spectacular with just three points on 1-of-6 shooting three rebounds, but it was also her first collegiate game after missing all of last season with a knee injury. The numbers might not have been there, but she passed Auriemma’s eye test.

“She was engaged. She ran the floor really well. She was good with the ball in her hands,” he said. “We didn't do it today but in those games where we have Ice and Aaliyah in the game at the same time, we're gonna look like a real college team.”

Of course, the competition helped. UConn led comfortably for the entire game, so Auriemma could experiment with different lineup combinations and allow players to play through mistakes. That won’t be the case starting on Sunday when the Huskies travel to NC State for the first game in a stretch of six consecutive power conference opponents.

Still, the rotation won’t suddenly get cut down to just five or six players, either. UConn wants its depth to be a strength — just like it was in the past.

“That's the way we used to play back in the day,” Auriemma said.

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