UConn has taken the difficult route to victory in the first two games.

The benefit is the Huskies can grow from overcoming the adversity — playing without star guard Jalen Adams and big man David Onuorah against Colgate and rallying from a late nine-point deficit against Stony Brook.

But it's not the preferred path going forward.

"We don't want to be in that position, we know that for sure," coach Kevin Ollie said. "But when we find ourselves in that position, we know we can dig ourselves out. ... Everybody came together. But we can do a better job starting games and not getting ourselves in that predicament."

A good place to start is Sunday (6 p.m., SNY) against Boston University at the XL Center in Hartford. It is the last game for the Huskies (2-0) before heading out west for the PK80-Phil Knight Invitational where they'll face some stiff competition, starting with Oregon on Thursday night in Portland.

It's vital that the Huskies maintain momentum given what lies ahead.

"Definitely important to get the win and just keep improving the things that we work on in practice and keep building that team chemistry and then go out to Portland and win some games," redshirt junior Terry Larrier said.

The Terriers (0-2) lost a pair of home games to Northeastern and Albany, but shouldn't be overlooked. They pushed UConn to the limit in last November's meeting before falling 51-49.

"They gave us a good game last year," Ollie said. "They're going to do the same thing. ... At the end of the day, it's about us. It's about us putting on pressure. It's about us executing our defensive scheme and offensive scheme. We've been doing it at points."

Growing pains are expected with these Huskies, who are trying to incorporate seven new players and three others returning from injury-plagued seasons.

So far, they've shown an ability and mental toughness against mid-major competition to deliver under late-game pressure and close out wins.

"I know that we don't give up," junior Eric Cobb said. "We're going to fight until the end. ... That's one of the things that I saw from the team, that we've got toughness."

They've also dealt with slow starts, endured offensive funks, struggled shooting from 3-point range (30.6 percent) and committed too many turnovers (28).

So there's rough edges to polish.

Speeding up the tempo is high on Ollie's list for the BU game. He saw signs of that happening in the second half comeback against Stony Brook.

"We just want to play hard, play aggressive and we want to get out to a better start than we did against Stony Brook," Ollie said. "We want to score more points. Teams are kind of keeping us in a half-court situation. We talked to our guys, we've got to elevate the tempo. Our tempo has just been so slow.

"When we got in the second half (against Stony), Jalen started pushing it and we started running the wings and then we looked better. But I want early offense. I think we're running to set up plays where I want to run and score. We've got to do a better job, that's our bigs running, that's our point guard pushing it, then that's our wings running. And that's what we've been working on."

g.keefe@theday.com

UCONN vs. BOSTON UNIVERSITY

Location: XL Center, Hartford

Tip: 6 p.m. (SNY)

Records: UConn 2-0, Boston University 0-2

Last game: UConn beat Stony Brook, 72-64, Tuesday; Boston University lost to Albany, 88-74, Monday

Probable starters: UConn, 6-0 redshirt fr. guard Alterique Gilbert (9 pts, 3.5 assists), 6-3 jr. guard Jalen Adams (19 pts, 5 rebs), 6-8 redshirt jr. forward Terry Larrier (19.5 pts, 4.5 rebs), 6-8 fr. forward Tyler Polley (7.5 pts, 2.5 rebs), jr. forward Eric Cobb (2 pts, 7.5 rebs)

Boston University, 6-5 fr. guard Javante McCoy (11 pts, 3 assists), 6-5 sr. guard Cedric Hankerson (9 pts, 3 rebs), 6-6 fr. forward Walter Whyte (9 pts, 3.5 rebs), 6-7 so. forward Tyler Scanlon (3 pts, 2.5 rebs), 6-8 sr. forward Nick Havener (13.5 pts, 3.5 rebs, 2.5 blks)

Noteworthy: UConn won 5 straight in series, including 51-49 decision last November in Hartford. Huskies hold 43-12 edge overall. ... BU picked 2nd in Patriot League preseason poll. ... Whyte is from New Haven, attended St. Luke's School in New Canaan. ... Terriers outrebounded by 9.5 in first two games. ... Player to watch: Havener, career-high 19 pts vs. Albany. ... Top reserve: 6-8 so. forward Max Mahoney (11 pts, 5 rebs). ... Hot: Huskies 35-for-42 (83.3 percent) from foul line. Cold: Shooting 30.6 percent (11-for-36) from 3-point range. ... Larrier and reserve Antwoine Anderson only players to score double figures in each of first two games. ... Slow starts hurt the Huskies, who've averaged 29 points before intermission and 42 after. ... Cobb averaging a productive 7 rebounds in 15 minutes per game. ... Up next: UConn travels west for PK80 tournament in Portland, Ore., opening with Oregon on Thursday.

— Gavin Keefe