When Dan Hurley added East Carolina transfer Tristen Newton this spring, he not only picked up a very productive lead guard. Hurley rounded out his potential starting lineup with tremendous length across the board.
The 6’5 Newton will run point for a starting group that figures to include a potential Big East Player of the Year in 6’9 Adama Sanogo surrounded by 6’4 Virginia Tech transfer Naheim Alleyne, and returnees Andre Jackson (6’6) and Jordan Hawkins (6’5).
Newton was terrific at East Carolina last season, averaging 17.7 points, 5.0 assists, and 4.8 rebounds per game on 33% shooting from three and 88% at the free throw line.
Beyond the numbers, Newton figures to give UConn a versatile lead guard who can create, score in a variety of ways, and use his length to his benefit the Huskies on both sides of the floor.
“He’s got great size,” Hurley told the Hartford Courant this spring. “The ability to switch on the perimeter, the athletic ability and the length is exciting. It allows you to do more things. The thing with him is the three-level scoring and the ability to see everything in the ball-screen game because he’s close to 6-foot-5.”
Those capabilities were on full display in the American Athletic Conference Tournament when East Carolina took on Cincinnati. East Carolina (6-11 in conference play — good for 9th in the 11 team conference) had a golden opportunity to knock off the Bearcats in the conference tourney opener — thanks in large part to Newton’s 26 point, nine rebound, six assist day.
Newton scored three buckets from the 5:05 mark to the 3:44 point in the second half — each of which gave East Carolina the lead. This was a one possession game with just under 12 minutes to play, and it stayed that way until there was 1:16 left on the clock.
The video above shows why so many in Connecticut are excited about Newton — who will look to fill the scoring and playmaking void left behind by point guard RJ Cole. We saw step-back jumpers, makes from four feet beyond the 3-point arc, posting up smaller guards, and tough mid-range pull ups from Newton in this one.
We’ll have a full preview of UConn published later this weekend.
Highlights: UConn Newcomer Tristen Newton Did It All Against Cincinnati in the AAC Tournament