UConn’s Hot Start Takes Hit as Dan Hurley Loses Breakout Transfer Before Duke Reunion

With a 3-0 record so far, it has certainly been a great start to the season for Dan Hurley’s UConn. However, looking beyond the results, it has not been an entirely perfect one for the Huskies, who came away from Monday’s 83-41 victory over Wagner with an injury that has now sidelined one of their breakout transfers for at least six to eight weeks.

As head coach Dan Hurley revealed, sophomore forward Nik Khamenia suffered a left foot injury during the game and will now undergo surgery to repair the damage.

“Nik will have surgery in the coming days and is expected to make a full recovery. He will be reevaluated in 6-8 weeks,” Hurley said in a statement according to UConn Men’s Basketball’s X account.

The injury came with 10:04 remaining in the first half. Khamenia was moving without the ball on defense, chasing a Wagner player coming off a stagger screen, when, during a shot attempt and rebound battle, he began wincing in pain and kept his left foot off the floor. He eventually went down on the hardwood and stayed there longer than usual, prompting Hurley to yell across the court to check if he was okay.

“I didn’t see what happened, but Nik’s such a gamer and a tough guy that he was just, you know, I kind of yelled over at him because he stayed down a little bit longer than he normally would. And I just yelled over to him, ‘Hey, Nik, are you good?’ And he actually, you know, credit to Nik, I mean, he then was guarding a guy, guarding, you know, running off a stagger screen to the corner, and he sprinted over there,” Hurley said after the game.

Although he briefly stayed in the game to contest a corner three-pointer, Khamenia eventually limped to the locker room and did not return. He finished the game with 11 points and one rebound in just seven minutes of action. The injury will now prevent him from featuring in UConn’s neutral-site showdown against his former team, the No. 2 Duke Blue Devils, in Las Vegas on November 25.

With the Blue Devils last season, Khamenia averaged 5.7 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists across 19.8 minutes per game. He appeared in all 38 games for Duke, making five starts while primarily serving as a rotational forward off the bench.

After that bench role, the former five-star prospect transferred to Storrs and has now stepped directly into a starting role. And through his first three games with UConn, he averaged 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in 18.3 minutes per game. He started all three contests while shooting an efficient 61.9% from the field and 54.5% from three-point range before exiting early in the game against Wagner with his foot injury.

His absence now leaves a significant void in UConn’s frontcourt, floor spacing, and overall roster depth, especially with senior guard Solo Ball already sidelined. Head coach Dan Hurley will now most likely turn his attention to top-30 freshman Colben Landrew, moving him from his sixth-man role into the starting lineup.

Across his first three games for UConn, Landrew is averaging 10.0 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.0 assists in 22.3 minutes per game. He came off the bench in all three contests, serving as UConn’s sixth man. However, while Landrew brings physicality and strong all-around scoring, he does not offer the same level of perimeter shooting as Khamenia.

Apart from Landrew, Russian freshman forward Egor Amosov, who played just 18 total minutes across the first three games, will also most likely now have a much larger role in the frontcourt rotation. Overall, Hurley will now have to rely heavily on his younger bench players and adjust his rotations to navigate the upcoming stretch of games against some of the nation’s top-ranked opponents.

The post UConn’s Hot Start Takes Hit as Dan Hurley Loses Breakout Transfer Before Duke Reunion appeared first on EssentiallySports.