Defense is at the heart of Texas’ identity. Every game, it aims to keep opponents under 60 points, according to head coach Vic Schaefer. Last season, the Longhorns allowed 80+ points just once. But on Monday night in Hartford, UConn hung 83 points on Texas in its second preseason game.

Granted, plenty of asterisks were attached afterwards.

This was the Longhorns’ first exhibition of the year, while the Huskies already had one under their belt after facing Syracuse a week ago. The visitors also lost some significant pieces over the offseason — including point guard Rori Harmon, who Schaefer called “maybe the best on-ball defender in the country” — and have eight new players. The head coach also noted that they’ve only practiced 17 practices to this point.

After being a top-three defensive unit nationally over the last three years, Texas has taken a step back.

“We obviously didn't live up to the standard, but we're not going to live up to the standard with all the new kids that we're playing right now,” Schaefer said. “We're probably going to struggle in that area for a while.”

The caveats cut both ways, though. UConn’s offensive outburst came without Blanca Quiñonez, who’s expected to be its second leading scorer this season, as well as Marine Dursus, who Geno Auriemma has referred to as one of the team’s better offensive players. Dursus remains a mystery, so perhaps her absence proves inconsequential. Or maybe we look back in a few months and say, “They put up 83 points on Texas without Quiñonez AND Dursus?”

Even if you ignore the point total and the opponent, the Huskies operated their offense at a high level for most of the night. They consistently generated open looks and, crucially, knocked them down. UConn finished 30-56 (53.6%) overall and 10-18 (55.6%) from three — a big improvement after a 3-22 showing on triples against Syracuse.

“You're going to lose the HORSE game. They had wide open shots,” Schaefer said. “Any team in the top 10, top 15 in the country’s got kids that can make shots… Great players, great shooters are gonna make wide open shots.”

To be clear, the Huskies were far from perfect on offense. They committed 17 turnovers and went through stretches where they couldn’t do much right. UConn failed to score for the first 1:59 of the contest, then started the second quarter with a giveaway on each of its first possessions. But the Huskies never wavered and got themselves back on track each time they stumbled.

“We turned it over a lot, some bad decisions, but that's kind of par for the course for this time of the year,” Auriemma said of the offense. “I think we're maybe a little bit ahead of where I thought we’d be.”

Much of UConn’s success came on the back of a few impressive performances.

Sarah Strong asserted herself throughout, finishing with 27 points on 12-21 shooting. She didn’t do as much elsewhere with just three rebounds and three assists, then struggled with four turnovers and three fouls. Still, on a night where the Huskies didn’t have much scoring depth, Strong carried them through a few rough patches, such as when she dropped eight points in the span of 57 seconds in the second quarter.

“Sarah made some great individual plays,” Auriemma said.

Meanwhile, Jovana Popovic built off her impressive debut with a stellar 22-point showing. She was efficient, going 7-11 from the field while making all three 3-pointers she attempted, and also got to the foul line a team-high six times (making five). Beyond the scoring, Popovic also had seven rebounds and five assists while playing a team-high in minutes (36) for the second straight game and owning a team-best +25 rating.

“She responded the way she responds to everything: This icy stare. She has a steely personality and doesn't really bend or break most of the time,” Auriemma said. “The shots she makes are just shots you need to make when we really need her to make them. She's calm and she's good — and she’s at UConn. That's the best part.”

The only blemish on Popovic’s performance was five turnovers, though Auriemma offered up an explanation for that.

“She had five turnovers but that European walk thing, that's something that they all have to learn to deal with and work really, really hard (to fix),” he said. “In Europe, they give you that little step that they don't give it to you here.”

Ashlynn Shade also had a good day as the only other Husky in double-figures with 11 points. She knocked down open shots — something she struggled with a year ago, or even against Syracuse.

Those three — Strong, Popovic and Shade — combined to score 60 points — one less than Texas had as a team.

Any way you cut it, UConn’s offense had a good night on Monday.

The first half featured plenty of back-and-forth action. The teams traded the lead 13 times while neither side went ahead by more than five through the opening 20 minutes. UConn struggled to start the second quarter with four turnovers on its first four possessions, but recovered by scoring points on each of its next four trips up the court.

Fittingly, the two sides were deadlocked at 37 points apiece at halftime. Out of the break, the Huskies scored 10 of the first 12 points, which gave them the lead for good. They ultimately outscored Texas by 22 over the final two frames.

The Longhorns clearly aren’t the same caliber of team that reached the last two Final Fours — at least not right now. But they’re still the best competition UConn will face this preseason. The Huskies won’t be tested again until they travel to Michigan on Nov. 5.

UConn stuck with the same starting lineup that it used against Syracuse: KK Arnold, Popovic, Shade, Strong and Jana El Alfy. Olivia Vukosa was the first sub of the night, replacing El Alfy. El Alfy and Vukosa essentially split time, with the former seeing 20 minutes and the latter totaling 19. Allie Ziebell accumulated the fifth-most minutes — and most by a bench player — with 21. Gandy Malou-Mamel got in for the final 54.2 seconds.

It was a tough night for UConn’s point guards.

Arnold never found a rhythm as she dealt with foul trouble throughout the contest. She ended up playing just 18 minutes and finished with a line of six points, three assists, three rebounds, no steals, two turnovers and five fouls.

Kayleigh Heckel had a few nice moments defensively but was also limited by foul trouble. Despite being on the court for just 14 minutes, she piled up four turnovers and four fouls while making just one of five shots.

Kelis Fisher didn’t do much to earn additional playing time going forward. She made a brief cameo in the first half but frequently drew the ire of her head coach and came out after just two minutes. The sophomore ended up with five minutes on the night.

One in, one out.

Ziebell made her preseason debut against Texas after missing last Monday’s exhibition due to an ankle injury. But Morgan Cheli sat out with an undisclosed injury after returning to the court for the first time in 610 days in the win over Syracuse.

Auriemma didn’t have any interest in divulging anything about the redshirt sophomore, who missed all of last season while recovering from a stress fracture in her ankle and has a long injury history dating back to high school.

“Just day-to-day,” is all the coach offered.

Blanca Quiñonez (shoulder) and Marine Dursus (foot) remained out. ESPN’s Shane Laflin reported that Quiñonez is expected to miss the start of the regular season.