Almost time ...

Greetings from the St. Pete Times Forum. As expected, things were a little more livelier outside the arena this morning, with music, more tents and more fans. It's hard to tell at this point how many are going to be UConn supporters. As usual, there will be a lot of people just coming to see the games, and when given the chance, they'll get behind the underdog. A couple on the street asked me for directions to the arena, and after a few minutes of talking with them, I learned they were from Rochester, N.Y., had won tickets in some type of lottery and just made the trip, though they didn't really have one particular team they were rooting for.

"We have Siena, UConn," the women said. "Our son just got into Clemson, so we'll be rooting for them."

As for UConn's first-round game today, here is the full Scout Box that runs in the print edition. One note that I kind of buried (regrettably): Jerome Dyson may see more time at the 3 with Stnaley Robinson moving to the four. For now, that makes sense. The Huskies are facing a far smaller team in San Diego and whether they get Drake or Western Kentucky, they can afford to go small and may want to as teams try to spread the Huskies' defense.

Scout Box:
(13) SAN DIEGO vs. (4) UCONN
NCAA tournament first round
3 p.m. (approximately), today
St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, Fla.
Records: UConn 24-8; San Diego 21-13.
Last game: UConn lost to fifth-seeded West Virginia, 78-72, in the Big East quarterfinals on March 13; San Diego beat top-seeded Gonzaga, 69-62, in the West Coast Conference championship on March 10.
Next game: The winner plays Sunday in the second round against the winner of No. 5 Drake and No. 12 Western Kentucky.
TV/Radio: CBS/WILI (1400 AM), WTIC (1080 AM).
Series: This is the first meeting between San Diego and UConn.
Injuries: UConn—none reported. San Diego—Daniel Fleming (out for season, knee surgery).
Scouting report: The teams officially tip off 30 minutes after the finish of the Drake-Western Kentucky, which starts at 12:30 p.m. … Jeff Adrien’s last NCAA tournament game was a good one: He scored 17 points in 25 minutes off the bench in an overtime loss to 11th-seeded Gonzaga in the regional finals. “We should have been in the Final Four,” Adrien said. “But George Mason had the better day. It still sticks with me. I thought about that the other day. I’m just trying to continue on from that game.” … Jim Calhoun has tried to create a different role for sophomore Jerome Dysin, who’s come off the bench in every one of his five games back from suspension. “We’re making him the back-up three man,” the coach said. “And actually, we’ve moved Stanley (Robinson) to the four to get more offense into the game. That is something that is tough a little bit when Hasheem (Thabeet) or Jeff (Adrien) has been on the bench.” … When San Diego coach Bill Grier coached at the high school level in the late ’80s and early ’90s, he remembered listening to Calhoun speak at clinics. “And you know, it’s the same things he was emphasizing then, and it’s different personnel but it’s the same things he emphasizes now. They defend, they rebound, they push the ball and they have really good players. So we have concerns on all fronts, you know.” … Though this is the first NCAA tournament for every San Diego player, Grier isn’t worried about them playing tight. “They went into Kentucky and I thought they’d be nervous and they weren’t,” the coach said. “This group’s been pretty loose all year.” … A victory today would give Calhoun his 11th 25-win season at UConn. In that time, he’s built a 29-2 tournament record against teems seeded sixth or lower.

UConn
21 F Stanley Robinson 10.5
4 F Jeff Adrien 14.7
34 C Hasheem Thabeet 10.4
12 G A.J. Price 14.9
24 G Craig Austrie 7.5

UConn reserves
11 Jerome Dyson 12.4
3 Doug Wiggins 6.8
33 Gavin Edwards 2.9

San Diego
23 F De'Jon Jackson 7.7
22 F Rob Jones 8.8
21 C Gyno Pomare 13.7
11 G Trumaine Johnson 5.5
1 G Brandon Johnson 16.9

San Diego reserves
12 Chris Lewis 5.0
13 Danny Brown 2.6
3 Devin Ginty 2.5