Storrs — UConn's reserves are asked to complete a simple mission whenever they enter a game.

Get involved as quickly as possible.

Mission accomplished in Saturday's 83-58 victory over Furman at Gampel Pavilion.

About five and a half minutes into the first half, senior Omar Calhoun buried a 3-pointer shortly after his first appearance. Junior Kentan Facey scored off his own rebound. Freshman Jalen Adams made his mark by turning a steal into a fast-break layup.

The 19th-ranked Huskies didn't miss a beat with their reserves on the floor, helping build a double digit lead and maintain it until the final whistle. Their bench contributed a season-high 36 points, including a career-best 14 points and six assists from Adams. Starter Shonn Miller led all scorers with 18 points and added seven rebounds.

Reserves accounted for 16 of UConn's first 23 points.

"We know from the first five to the second five, there's no dropoff in talent," Miller said. "We did a good job of showing that."

Coach Kevin Ollie tells his players to "take care of their minutes and cherish their minutes."

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"They've given me a big time lift," Ollie said of his bench. "Different people stepped up. Phil (Nolan) stepped up the last game. Kentan has been a positive contributor for us. Sam (Cassell Jr.) came in and hit some shots today. Omar hit two threes.

"Jalen played a wonderful game. I think it was his best game in a UConn jersey. ... I think his first play was a steal and a layup. That gets you going. That's what I'm trying to tell all our bench players, get yourself involved in the game. ... That just shows how deep we are. We can have guys come off the bench and play significant minutes for us."

Depth will be important next week when UConn plays three games in three days, starting against Michigan on Wednesday, in the Battle 4 Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas. Only junior Rodney Purvis (31 minutes) played more than 28 minutes on Saturday.

Purvis, who had 13 points, a career-high seven assists and help hold leading scorer Stephen Croone to just four points, has faith that his bench buddies will continue to deliver.

"The main thing is just believing and trusting, either the five on the court getting it done or the five coming off the bench getting it done," Purvis said. "We've got some great weapons coming off the bench and we're all versatile and interchangeable."

For the third straight game, UConn (3-0) rode a talent advantage to a comfortable win. Facing a zone, the Huskies roared out to a 12-1 edge and led 39-19 at the break. Cassell's 3-pointer beat the buzzer to create the 20-point cushion. They've won by average of 29.3 points this season.

Cassell scored only six points, but that's still significant. He missed the last half of the 2014-15 season with a stress fracture injury. He gives the Huskies another shooter off the bench.

It also was important to build the confidence of Adams, a promising point guard that led Brewster Academy to a prep school national championship. He's experienced some typical freshman struggles but played a more controlled yet aggressive game on Saturday.

His nice no-look pass set up fellow freshman Steve Enoch for a basket, extending the lead to 78-53 late in the second half.

"Just from the start, all the coaches were telling me to play a lot more aggressive and look to score," Adams said. "Once I look to score, I'll draw the defense to me than I can kick out to open shooters."

UConn took several other positives from the game. The Huskies finished with 20 assists and five turnovers. They limited Furman (2-2) to just 34.5 percent shooting, although Ollie wasn't happy with the Paladins sinking 46.7 percent after intermission. He didn't like the Huskies taking 30 3-pointers, making 11.

It was a good bounce back game from Miller, who had a quiet three points and two rebounds in Tuesday's win over New Hampshire.

"We just got some positives from a lot of people," Ollie  said. "I was very satisfied with the win. There's a lot of things we've still got to clean up. Things I want to see, sharing the basketball, playing fast and playing physical, I saw that in the second half a lot more than I saw in the first.

"We played good solid defense. I was really proud of our effort."

g.keefe@theday.com

Twitter: @GavinKeefe