And here ... we ... go

Before the Huskies took one shot, dribbled one ball or dunked just once, and before they began their quest to justify a No. 2 ranking in the preseason AP poll, UConn coach Jim Calhoun had other, more important matters for his team to take care of.

Not shy in expressing his political views, Calhoun set up a trip yesterday morning to bring his team over to the polls in Mansfield.

"Our team, we got them over to the Rec Center to vote and the kids all signed up," Calhoun said. "They weren't told who to vote. But if I did a poll, I bet I could guess."

Tonight's exhibition opener against Division II American International College (AIC) at Gampel Pavilion (7:30 p.m.) certainly doesn't carry the same weight as the selection of the next United States president, but unlike most preseason games, this one matters - at least to the Huskies.

UConn struggled early last season in games that most assumed would be over at halftime. They beat Northeastern by nine last season and needed a late surge to pull out a 69-65 win over Morgan State in the season opener.

"We've not been one of those teams, generally speaking, like those good teams that have been great in that first game or two," Calhoun said. "I think, and I always blame myself, that we don't do enough five-on-five. I think we've done a little more this year, so maybe we'll see the positive effects."

While the game will be the first live action for Kemba Walker and Scottie Haralson, fellow frosh Charles Okwandu will be relegated to the bench while his eligibility is cleared up.

"We just kind of want to put the pieces together," Calhoun said. "Because it's an exhibition game, we're just not going to play Charles tomorrow night. It's basically got to do with a final clarification of everything."

Calhoun said he expects things to be cleared up shortly, but Okwandu's status for Sunday's game with UMass-Lowell is still in question.

The excitement, though, isn't relegated to new faces. Seniors Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie both said they were excited to get things underway, especially with the buzz surrounding the team's potential for success this year.

"We've just been waiting for so long," Adrien said. "We were knocked out of the [NCAA] Tournament so early, we've been waiting for like six or seven months. We're ready to start this. We're ready."

The opener is especially exciting for Calhoun, an AIC grad who both played for and coached the Yellow Jackets in the '60s. Now in his 23rd year at the helm of UConn, Calhoun is 6-2 against his alma mater, including an exhibition win last season.

Finishing 10-18 overall last season and 12th in he Northeast-10, AIC doesn't appear to match up well to the Huskies' size, speed, height and almost every other category, but teams with the Yellow Jackets' M.O have caused UConn fits the past season.

The Yellow Jackets return a veteran team (their top three scorers return), but they lack height (no player is over 6-foot-7) and they shoot a lot of 3s (17.5 per game) - a recipe for disaster for last year's team.

Although the team has been shooting better in practice from behind the arc, especially Haralson, whose 3-point abilities impress Calhoun a great deal, the coach said he'll be looking to see how his players fair from long-distance tonight.

Calhoun also said he will look to see how the team will fare against zone defenses, and if they can capitalize more on the inside with Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet against the defense than they have been in practice.

But regardless of all the problem areas Calhoun hopes to gauge, the opportunity to play a different team, against different faces is really what makes today's game important.

"Getting the same elbow from the same guy in the same place is just not that much fun," Calhoun said. "And giving it back, I suppose, is not that much fun.

"I think it's important to get out [and] expose what we aren't doing well. I think we're running better, but we'll find out tomorrow night."