# 2014–15 UConn Huskies men's basketball team

The 2014–15 UConn Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2014–15 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Huskies were led by third-year head coach Kevin Ollie. 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. The Huskies were members of the American Athletic Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 10–8 in AAC play to finish in a tie for fifth place. They advanced to the championship game of the American Athletic tournament where they lost to SMU. They were invited to the National Invitation Tournament where they lost in the first round to Arizona State.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2013–14 season with a record of 32-8 overall, including 12–6 in American Athletic play. They lost in the championship game of the 2014 American Athletic Conference men's basketball tournament to Louisville. They received at-large bid to the 2014 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament which they beat Saint Joseph's and Villanova in the second and third rounds, Iowa State and Michigan State in the sweet sixteen and elite eight to make it to the final four, where they beat the Florida Gators in the national semifinal round and the Kentucky Wildcats in the 2014 National Championship Game. Shabazz Napier was named the tournament's MOP.

## Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| DeAndre Daniels | 2 | F | 6'9" | 195 | Junior | Los Angeles, CA | Declare to 2014 NBA draft |
| Niels Giffey | 5 | G/F | 6'7" | 205 | Senior | Berlin, Germany | Graduated/Went undrafted in 2014 NBA draft |
| Tyler Olander | 10 | F | 6'10" | 230 | Senior | Mansfield, CT | Graduated |
| Shabazz Napier | 13 | G | 6'1" | 180 | Senior | Roxbury, MA | Graduated/2014 NBA draft |
| Lasan Kromah | 20 | G/F | 6'6" | 201 | GS Senior | Greenbelt, MD | Graduated/Went undrafted in 2014 NBA draft |
| Leon Tolksdorf | 22 | F | 6'8" | 218 | Sophomore | Berlin, Germany | Transferred to American |
| Tor Watts | 25 | G | 6'1" | 202 | Senior | Brooklyn, NY | Graduated |

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/04/2014* 7:00 pm | No. 17 | Southern Connecticut State | W 70–62 | | Gampel Pavilion (7,129) Storrs, CT |
| 11/09/2014* 12:00 pm | No. 17 | Assumption | W 68–59 | | XL Center (7,109) Hartford, CT |
| Regular Season ||||||
| 11/14/2014* 7:00 pm, SNY | No. 17 | Bryant | W 66–53 | 1–0 | Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| 11/20/2014* 1:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 17 | vs. College of Charleston Puerto Rico Tip-Off Quarterfinals | W 65–57 | 2–0 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (6,723) San Juan, PR |
| 11/21/2014* 2:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 17 | vs. Dayton Puerto Rico Tip-Off Semifinals | W 75–64 | 3–0 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (7,438) San Juan, PR |
| 11/23/2014* 6:30 pm, ESPN2 | No. 17 | vs. West Virginia Puerto Rico Tip-Off Championship | L 68–78 | 3–1 | Roberto Clemente Coliseum (8,002) San Juan, PR |
| 11/30/2014* 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 24 | No. 7 Texas | L 54–55 | 3–2 | Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| 12/05/2014* 7:00 pm, SNY | | Yale | L 44–45 | 3–3 | Gampel Pavilion (9,538) Storrs, CT |
| 12/14/2014* 4:00 pm, SNY | | Coppin State | W 106–85 | 4–3 | XL Center (8,260) Hartford, CT |
| 12/18/2014* 8:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 2 Duke Izod Center Showcase | L 56–66 | 4–4 | Izod Center (16,541) East Rutherford, NJ |
| 12/22/2014* 7:30 pm, SNY | | Columbia | W 80–65 | 5–4 | Webster Bank Arena (9,124) Bridgeport, CT |
| 12/28/2014* 1:00 pm, SNY | | Central Connecticut | W 81–48 | 6–4 | XL Center (13,315) Hartford, CT |
| 12/31/2014 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Temple | L 53–57 $^{OT}$ | 6–5 (0–1) | XL Center (13,428) Hartford, CT |
| 01/03/2015* 2:00 pm, CBS | | at Florida | W 63–59 | 7–5 | O'Connell Center (11,041) Gainesville, FL |
| 01/06/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at South Florida | W 58–44 | 8–5 (1–1) | USF Sun Dome (6,128) Tampa, FL |
| 01/10/2015 11:00 am, ESPN2 | | Cincinnati | W 62–56 | 9–5 (2–1) | XL Center (15,564) Hartford, CT |
| 01/13/2015 9:30 pm, CBSSN | | at Tulsa | L 58–66 | 9–6 (2–2) | Reynolds Center (6,092) Tulsa, OK |
| 01/17/2015* 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Stanford | L 59–72 | 9–7 | Maples Pavilion (7,104) Stanford, CA |
| 01/22/2015 7:00 pm, CBSSN | | UCF | W 67–60 | 10–7 (3–2) | Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| 01/25/2015 12:00 pm, CBSSN | | South Florida | W 66–53 | 11–7 (4–2) | XL Center (14,105) Hartford, CT |
| 01/29/2015 8:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Cincinnati | L 58–70 | 11–8 (4–3) | Fifth Third Arena (11,092) Cincinnati, OH |
| 02/01/2015 3:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Houston | L 58–60 | 11–9 (4–4) | Hofheinz Pavilion (3,498) Houston, TX |
| 02/04/2015 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | East Carolina | W 65–52 | 12–9 (5–4) | Gampel Pavilion (8,985) Storrs, CT |
| 02/07/2015 6:00 pm, CBSSN | | at Tulane | W 62–53 | 13–9 (6–4) | Devlin Fieldhouse (3,548) New Orleans, LA |
| 02/12/2015 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Tulsa | W 70–45 | 14–9 (7–4) | XL Center (11,506) Hartford, CT |
| 02/14/2015 9:00 pm, ESPN | | at No. 25 SMU ESPN College GameDay | L 55–73 | 14–10 (7–5) | Moody Coliseum (7,395) Dallas, TX |
| 02/19/2015 9:00 pm, ESPN | | at Memphis | L 72–75 | 14–11 (7–6) | FedEx Forum (14,652) Memphis, TN |
| 02/22/2015 4:00 pm, CBSSN | | Tulane | W 67–60 | 15–11 (8–6) | Gampel Pavilion (9,212) Storrs, CT |
| 02/25/2015 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at East Carolina | W 60–49 | 16–11 (9–6) | Williams Arena (6,856) Greenville, NC |
| 03/01/2015 2:00 pm, CBS | | No. 21 SMU | W 81–73 | 17–11 (10–6) | XL Center (15,564) Hartford, CT |
| 03/05/2015 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Memphis | L 53–54 | 17–12 (10–7) | Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| 03/07/2015 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Temple | L 63–75 | 17–13 (10–8) | Liacouras Center (10,206) Philadelphia, PA |
| AAC Tournament ||||||
| 03/12/2015 8:00 pm, ESPNews | | South Florida First round | W 69–43 | 18–13 | XL Center (5,431) Hartford, CT |
| 03/13/2015 9:00 pm, ESPNU | | Cincinnati Quarterfinals | W 57–54 | 19–13 | XL Center (9,514) Hartford, CT |
| 03/14/2015 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | | Tulsa Semifinals | W 47–42 | 20–13 | XL Center (10,114) Hartford, CT |
| 03/15/2015 3:15 pm, ESPN | | No. 20 SMU Championship game | L 54–62 | 20–14 | XL Center (13,365) Hartford, CT |
| National Invitation Tournament ||||||
| 03/18/2015* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. (4) | (5) Arizona State First round | L 61–68 | 20–15 | Gampel Pavilion (6,045) Storrs, CT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. (#) during NIT is seed within region. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | Final |
| AP | 17 | 17 | 24 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | N/A |
| Coaches | 15 | 17 | 22 | 23 | — | — | — | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |