Storrs — UConn traded in last season's sputtering clunker for a sleek sports car.

The Huskies unveiled a new full throttle, efficient offense in their season opener Friday night.

It was an enjoyable ride from start to finish.

By late in the second half, UConn's starters watched from the backseat as their teammates took a turn behind the wheel in a 100-56 rout of overmatched Maine before a sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion.

The explosive Huskies set a torrid pace, something that coach Kevin Ollie has stressed to his team. They kept the ball moving, leading to a bushel of easy baskets.

"We did a good job," Ollie said. "I didn't think the ball was sticking. ... We're a real good athletic team when we get out and run like that. I thought our defense really set up our fast break offense."

They did just about everything well, shooting 54.5 percent and holding Maine to 30.2 percent. They also had 20 assists and just eight turnovers. Their swat team recorded 15 blocks.

Maine coach Bob Walsh, a former Providence College assistant, came away very impressed.

"Obviously, I think UConn is a terrific team," Walsh said. "They're really, really talented and really really deep. We were hoping coming in they didn't have an identity yet. ... Boy, were we wrong about that. ... I was really, really impressed with how hard they played and how together they played."

At least for one night, the Huskies played like a team that's been a basketball family for years instead of one trying to incorporate four newcomers.

Point guard Sterling Gibbs steered the Huskies, scoring a game-high 20 points in his UConn debut while fellow newcomer Shonn Miller chipped in 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Junior Amida Brimah dunked his way to 18 points to go with nine blocks and seven rebounds. Redshirt junior Rodney Purvis had 10 points.

Brimah set the defensive tone early, blocking four shots in the first four minutes.

The outcome was never in doubt, as the Huskies led by 12 at the break and blew open the game with a 32-4 spurt to begin the second half. They fed off their stingy defense, as Brimah, Gibbs and Miller scored transition baskets to push the gap to 58-31.

UConn never stopped pushing the pace.

"They refocused at halftime and came out and played great," Ollie said. "They understood what we had to do to win and came out and played a real unselfish game."

The scoring output production was quite an improvement from the sluggish Huskies of a year ago when they averaged a paltry 64.1 points per game.

Sure, it's a small sample size.

But it could a good sign, nevertheless.

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe