# 2018–19 UConn Huskies men's basketball team

The 2018–19 UConn Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies were led by first-year head coach Dan Hurley and participated as members of the American Athletic Conference. The Huskies split their home games between the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on the UConn campus in Storrs, Connecticut. They finished the season 16–17, 6–12 in AAC play to finish in a tie for ninth place. They defeated South Florida in the first round of the AAC tournament before losing in the quarterfinals to Houston.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2017–18 season 14–18, 7–11 in AAC play to finish in eighth place. They lost in the first round of the AAC tournament to SMU.
The school announced on January 26, 2018 that the NCAA was investigating recruitment of at least three basketball players for possible recruiting violations. On March 10, the school fired head coach Kevin Ollie for just cause related to the NCAA investigation. On March 22, 2018, it was announced that the school had hired Rhode Island head coach Dan Hurley as coach.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Antwoine Anderson | 0 | G | 6'2" | 170lbs | Graduate Student | Rochester, NY | Graduated |
| Terry Larrier | 22 | G/F | 6'8" | 185lbs | RS Junior | Bronx, NY | Declared for 2018 NBA draft |
| Christian Foxen | 24 | F | 6'8" | 225lbs | Senior | Rocky Hill, CT | Graduated |
| Michael Noyes | 31 | G | 6'0" | 190lbs | Graduate Student | Granby, CT | Graduated |
| David Onuorah | 34 | F | 6'9" | 249lbs | Graduate Student | Lithonia, GA | Graduated |

### Incoming transfers

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Tarin Smith | 2 | G | 6'2" | 185 | Graduate Student | Ocean Township, NJ | Duquesne |
| Kassoum Yakwe | 14 | F | 6'7" | 210 | Graduate Student | Bamako, Mali | St. John's |

### 2018 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Brendan Adams G | Baltimore, MD | Calvert Hall College HS | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 190 lb (86 kg) | Apr 15, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 79 ||||||
| Akok Akok PF | Manchester, NH | Putnam Science Academy | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 195 lb (88 kg) | Dec 1, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 88 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: 247Sports: 114 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Rivals". Rivals.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018. "ESPN". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved May 30, 2018. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved May 30, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 Recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| James Bouknight SG | Brooklyn, NY | MacDuffie School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Sep 18, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Jalen Gaffney PG | West Chester, PA | Westtown School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 24, 2018 |
| Star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 81 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 UConn Commits". Rivals.com. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. ||||||

## Roster

Akok Akok joined the team as a redshirt walkon for the spring semester.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 2, 2018* 7:00 pm, HuskyVision | | Southern Connecticut | W 96–64 | | 17 – B. Adams | 7 – Carlton | 5 – Smith | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (5,646) Storrs, CT |
| Non-conference regular season |||||||||
| November 8, 2018* 7:00 pm, SNY | | Morehead State 2K Sports Classic campus-site game | W 80–70 | 1–0 | 17 – Carlton | 8 – Tied | 4 – Tied | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| November 11, 2018* 5:00 pm, SNY | | UMKC 2K Sports Classic campus-site game | W 94–66 | 2–0 | 22 – Smith | 10 – Vital | 4 – Tied | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (7,261) Storrs, CT |
| November 15, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 15 Syracuse 2K Sports Classic semifinals/rivalry | W 83–76 | 3–0 | 16 – Tied | 13 – Cobb | 8 – Gilbert | Madison Square Garden (14,417) New York, NY |
| November 16, 2018* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. Iowa 2K Sports Classic championship | L 72–91 | 3–1 | 20 – J. Adams | 7 – Cobb | 4 – Gilbert | Madison Square Garden (10,909) New York, NY |
| November 20, 2018* 7:00 pm, SNY | | Cornell | W 91–74 | 4–1 | 21 – J. Adams | 5 – Gilbert | 3 – J. Adams | XL Center (7,328) Hartford, CT |
| November 24, 2018* 12:00 pm, SNY | | New Hampshire | W 91–66 | 5–1 | 17 – Tied | 10 – Vital | 4 – Vital | XL Center (8,351) Hartford, CT |
| November 27, 2018* 7:00 pm, SNY | | UMass Lowell | W 97–75 | 6–1 | 19 – Tied | 8 – Carlton | 6 – Gilbert | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (5,507) Storrs, CT |
| December 2, 2018* 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Arizona | L 72–76 | 6–2 | 21 – J. Adams | 10 – Cobb | 6 – J. Adams | XL Center (14,603) Hartford, CT |
| December 5, 2018* 6:00 pm, ESPNU | | Lafayette | W 90–63 | 7–2 | 21 – J. Adams | 7 – Carlton | 11 – Gilbert | XL Center (6,928) Hartford, CT |
| December 8, 2018* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | | vs. No. 11 Florida State Never Forget Tribute Classic | L 71–79 | 7–3 | 24 – Gilbert | 6 – Yakwe | 3 – Tied | Prudential Center (7,142) Newark, NJ |
| December 15, 2018* 8:00 pm, SNY | | Manhattan | W 61–46 | 8–3 | 13 – Vital | 8 – Vital | 4 – Gilbert | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (6,259) Storrs, CT |
| December 18, 2018* 7:00 pm, SNY | | Drexel | W 97–65 | 9–3 | 20 – Tied | 6 – Vital | 5 – Smith | XL Center (6,951) Hartford, CT |
| December 22, 2018* 12:30 pm, CBS | | vs. Villanova New York Showcase | L 58–81 | 9–4 | 18 – Vital | 5 – Vital | 5 – J. Adams | Madison Square Garden (16,027) New York, NY |
| AAC regular season |||||||||
| January 2, 2019 8:30 pm, CBSSN | | at South Florida | L 68–76 | 9–5 (0–1) | 25 – J. Adams | 7 – Cobb | 3 – Tied | Yuengling Center (3,429) Tampa, FL |
| January 5, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPNews | | UCF | L 53–63 | 9–6 (0–2) | 18 – Gilbert | 8 – Cobb | 4 – J. Adams | XL Center (10,541) Hartford, CT |
| January 10, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | SMU | W 76–64 | 10–6 (1–2) | 21 – J. Adams | 7 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (6,538) Storrs, CT |
| January 12, 2019 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Cincinnati | L 72–74 $^{OT}$ | 10–7 (1–3) | 18 – Gilbert | 10 – Vital | 6 – J. Adams | Fifth Third Arena (11,375) Cincinnati, OH |
| January 16, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPNews | | at Tulsa | L 83–89 | 10–8 (1–4) | 27 – J. Adams | 7 – Vital | 4 – Smith | Reynolds Center (3,798) Tulsa, OK |
| January 19, 2019 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | Tulane | W 87–71 | 11–8 (2–4) | 31 – J. Adams | 8 – Tied | 3 – Tied | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (7,437) Storrs, CT |
| January 26, 2019 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | Wichita State | W 80–60 | 12–8 (3–4) | 21 – Vital | 12 – J. Adams | 6 – Gilbert | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| January 31, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | at UCF | L 67–73 | 12–9 (3–5) | 27 – J. Adams | 11 – Carlton | 4 – Smith | CFE Arena (5,016) Orlando, FL |
| February 3, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPNews | | East Carolina | W 76–52 | 13–9 (4–5) | 20 – Carlton | 16 – Carlton | 7 – Vital | XL Center (8,873) Hartford, CT |
| February 6, 2019 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Temple | L 63–81 | 13–10 (4–6) | 18 – Tied | 13 – Tied | 5 – Vital | Liacouras Center (6,129) Philadelphia, PA |
| February 10, 2019 2:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Memphis | L 71–78 | 13–11 (4–7) | 20 – Polley | 11 – Cobb | 6 – Vital | FedEx Forum (17,162) Memphis, TN |
| February 14, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN | | No. 9 Houston | L 63–71 | 13–12 (4–8) | 15 – Vital | 10 – Carlton | 7 – Smith | XL Center (10,095) Hartford, CT |
| February 21, 2019 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at SMU | L 59–77 | 13–13 (4–9) | 19 – Polley | 6 – Cobb | 4 – Cobb | Moody Coliseum (5,856) Dallas, TX |
| February 24, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPN | | Cincinnati | L 60–64 | 13–14 (4–10) | 14 – Vital | 7 – Vital | 5 – Gilbert | XL Center (11,904) Hartford, CT |
| February 28, 2019 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Wichita State | L 63–65 | 13–15 (4–11) | 18 – Gilbert | 5 – Tied | 5 – Smith | Charles Koch Arena (10,026) Wichita, KS |
| March 3, 2019 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | South Florida | W 60–58 | 14–15 (5–11) | 16 – Carlton | 9 – Carlton | 3 – Carlton | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,034) Storrs, CT |
| March 7, 2019 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | Temple | L 71–78 | 14–16 (5–12) | 26 – Vital | 7 – Tied | 3 – Smith | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (7,790) Storrs, CT |
| March 10, 2019 2:00 pm, ESPNU | | at East Carolina | W 82–73 | 15–16 (6–12) | 20 – Carlton | 10 – Carlton | 12 – J. Adams | Williams Arena (3,845) Greenville, NC |
| AAC Tournament |||||||||
| March 14, 2019 1:00 pm, ESPNU | (9) | vs. (8) South Florida First round | W 80–73 | 16–16 | 25 – Vital | 6 – Tied | 5 – J. Adams | FedEx Forum (8,046) Memphis, TN |
| March 15, 2019 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | (9) | vs. (1) No. 11 Houston Quarterfinals | L 45–84 | 16–17 | 15 – J. Adams | 11 – Carlton | 3 – J. Adams | FedEx Forum (7,610) Memphis, TN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||