UConn lost five of the top eight scorers from last season's team that won the 2023 NCAA Tournament — among them leading scorer Adama Sanogo, the Final Four's Most Outstanding Player.
That's obviously a lot.
But a core of Donovan Clingan, Alex Karaban and Tristen Newton — plus a top-five recruiting class — was enough to make most of us view the Huskies in the preseason as legitimate candidates to repeat as national champions. For what it's worth, I can tell you that UConn has very much looked the part through its first four games of the season.
Final score Sunday: UConn 77, Indiana 57.
The school (UConn) that's won five of the past 24 NCAA Tournaments easily handled a school (Indiana) that's still considered a blue blood even though it hasn't won a national championship in 36 years. It was light work inside New York's Madison Square Garden for the Huskies, who were led by Tristen Newton's 23-point, 11-rebound effort.
"I thought he was great," said UConn coach Dan Hurley. "There's not much not to like. He was the best player in the national championship game in front of 75,000 people with all the money on the table. Coming into MSG in an atmosphere like this, for him it's exciting. But he's an accomplished player."
What made UConn's 20-point victory even more impressive is that it came without the services of Stephon Castle, the five-star freshman who had what coach Dan Hurley called "a very minor procedure" on his knee last week. It's expected to sideline him for 2-to-4 weeks. The 6-foot-6 guard was averaging 14.5 points and 6.5 rebounds in 21.5 minutes per game before suffering the injury. So it's crazy to think his absence won't impact UConn at some point going forward, but it didn't seem to matter at all against an Indiana program that's down to 79th at KenPom.com.
UConn is No. 7 in Monday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 daily college basketball rankings. The Huskies will play Texas on Monday night in the title game of the Empire Classic.
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Top 25 And 1 rankings
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Hunter Dickinson finished with 27 points and 21 rebounds in Tuesday's 89-84 win over Kentucky. The Jayhawks' next game is Monday against Chaminade. | -- | 23-11 |
| 2 |  | Zach Edey finished with 28 points and 11 rebounds in Monday's 83-71 win over Xavier. The Boilermakers' next game is Monday against Gonzaga. | -- | 34-5 |
| 3 |  | Oumar Ballo finished with 15 points and four rebounds in Sunday's 101-56 win over UT Arlington. The Wildcats' next game is Thursday against Michigan State. | -- | 27-9 |
| 4 |  | Mark Mitchell finished with 20 points and six rebounds in Friday's 90-60 win over Bucknell. The Blue Devils' next game is Tuesday against La Salle. | -- | 27-9 |
| 5 |  | Tyler Kolek finished with 24 points and six rebounds in Tuesday's 71-64 win at Illinois. The Golden Eagles' next game is Monday against UCLA. | -- | 27-10 |
| 6 |  | LJ Cryer finished with 18 points and two rebonds in Sunday's 69-55 win over Dayton. The Cougars' next game is Friday against Montana. | -- | 32-5 |
| 7 |  | Tristen Newton finished with 23 points and 11 rebounds in Sunday's 77-57 win over Indiana. The Huskies' next game is Monday against Texas. | -- | 37-3 |
| 8 |  | Baylor Scheierman finished with 23 points and nine rebounds in Saturday's 82-50 win over Texas Southern. The Bluejays' next game is Wednesday against Loyola Chicago. | -- | 25-10 |
| 9 |  | Nijel Pack finished with 28 points and two rebounds in Sunday's 91-83 win over Kansas State. The Hurricanes' next game is Nov. 28 at Kentucky. | -- | 15-17 |
| 10 |  | Dalton Knecht finished with 18 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 82-61 win over Wofford. The Vols' next game is Monday against Syracuse. | -- | 27-9 |
| 11 |  | Henry Coleman III finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds in Texas A&M's 74-66 win over Oral Roberts. The Aggies' next game is Thursday against Penn State. | -- | 21-15 |
| 12 |  | Jayden Nunn finished with 25 points and four assists in Tuesday's 99-61 win over Kansas City. The Bears' next game is Wednesday against Oregon State. | -- | 24-11 |
| 13 |  | Graham Ike finished with 25 points and 11 rebounds in Tuesday's 123-57 win over Eastern Oregon. The Zags' next game is Monday against Purdue. | -- | 27-8 |
| 14 |  | Reed Sheppard finished with 25 points and seven assists in Friday's 101-67 win over Stonehill. The Wildcats' next game is Monday against Saint Joseph's. | -- | 23-10 |
| 15 |  | FAU missed 25 of the 30 3-pointers it attempted in Saturday's 61-52 loss to Bryant. The Owls' next game is Thursday against Butler. | -- | 25-9 |
| 16 |  | Kadin Shedrick finished wth 27 points and seven rebounds in Sunday's 81-80 win over Louisville. The Longhorns' next game is Monday against UConn. | -- | 21-13 |
| 17 |  | David Jones finished with 22 points and 10 rebounds in Friday's 92-75 win over Alabama State. The Tigers' next game is Wednesday against Michigan. | -- | 22-10 |
| 18 |  | Armando Bacot finished with 21 points and seven rebounds in Friday's 77-52 win over UC Riverside. The Tar Heels' next game is Wednesday against Northern Iowa. | -- | 29-8 |
| 19 |  | Boogie Ellis finished with 28 points and four assists in Sunday's 81-70 win over Brown.The Trojans' next game is Thursday against Seton Hall. | -- | 15-18 |
| 20 |  | Tre Holloman finished with 17 points and five assists in Sunday's 81-49 win over Alcorn State. The Spartans' next game is Thursday against Arizona. | -- | 20-15 |
| 21 |  | Arkansas missed 19 of the 23 3-pointers it attempted in Frida's 78-72 loss to UNC Greensboro. The Razorbacks' next game is Wednesday against Stanford. | -- | 16-17 |
| 22 |  | Terrence Shannon finished with 24 points and four assists in Sunday's 88-60 win over Southern. The Illini's next game is Friday against Western Illinois. | -- | 29-9 |
| 23 |  | Mark Sears finished with 24 points and six assists in Friday's 98-67 win over Mercer. The Crimson Tide's next game is Friday against Ohio State. | -- | 25-12 |
| 24 |  | Tamin Lipsey finished with 17 points and nine assists in Sunday's 92-37 win over Grambling. The Cyclones' next game is Thursday against VCU. | -- | 29-8 |
| 25 |  | KJ Simpson finished with 23 points and six assists in Tuesday's 106-79 win over Milwaukee. The Buffaloes' next game is Monday against Richmond. | -- | 26-11 |
| 26 |  | Ryan Dunn finished with 15 points and five rebounds in Thursday's 62-33 win over Texas Southern. The Cavaliers' next game is Monday against Wisconsin. | -- | 23-11 |
