US Presswire-US Presswire

In his head coaching debut, Connecticut Huskies new leading man Kevin Ollie got the most out of his players and guided them to a 66-62 upset of the #14 Michigan State Spartans on Friday in a terrific game which was held in a hangar on the U.S. Ramstein Air Base in Germany as part of the Armed Forces Classic.

Ollie, a former player for the Huskies under his predecessor Jim Calhoun who retired in September and former 13-year NBA veteran, got the most out of his players in the Huskies season debut including a game high 25 points from junior guard Shabazz  Napier who also dished out two assists and recorded two steals. UConn also had two other players score in double-figures, sophomore guard Ryan Boatright (13 points, 5 steals, 4 assists and 4 rebounds) and sophomore forward DeAndre Daniels (12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 1 steal) as their new head coach was allowed to taste sweet victory in just his first attempt at running this fine basketball university’s team.

Following the game Ollie ran over to Calhoun who was in attendance working as a play-by-play radio commentator and greeted him with a huge embrace.

The Huskies as a team shot well from all angles on the court including 46% from both the field as well as from behind the arc and 77% from the free throw line. This could be the start to a great season for the Huskies and possibly a tremendous head coaching career for Ollie.

Tom Izzo‘s Spartans were led by a strong performance from Branden Dawson who scored 15 points grabbed 10 rebounds and recorded five steals in defeat.

Up next for Ollie and the Huskies is their home opener on November 13 versus the Vermont Catamounts.