Storrs — Credit Geno Auriemma for the line of the night prior to the start of First Night festivities on Friday.

"We've lost three games in five years," said Auriemma, the wise-cracking UConn women's basketball coach. "Right now, I'm talking to you guys on a losing streak. So I'm not quite sure how we're going to be received tonight."

Judging from the roar of the Gampel Pavilion crowd during player introductions, Auriemma had nothing to worry about. The Huskies saw their season painfully end on a last-second shot for the second straight year in the national semifinals in late March.

For both men's and women's programs, First Night focused on the future, not the past.

An enthusiastic crowd of approximately 6,000 turned out on Friday night to usher in a new season and give a warm welcome to the UConn basketball family.

"It was fun," senior Jalen Adams said after the event. "It was a great atmosphere. Just being out there with the men's team and the women's team and then just being out in front of such loyal fans, it's just great to get back to."

Fittingly, Auriemma, owner of 11 national championships, introduced Hurley, a first-year coach looking to restore the program to national title contender status after suffering through two straight losing seasons, to the crowd.

"I can't tell you what an honor it is to be here, to be the leader of the men's basketball program," Hurley said to the crowd. "The history, we understand the responsibility here."

Then Hurley delivered a great line of his own while praising the women's program.

"They make the Patriots look average," Hurley said.

Both Auriemma and Hurley embrace events like First Night. It gives the players a chance to connect with their fellow students and, for some, to show off their flashy dance moves.

"It's great for the players, great for the fans," Hurley said. "It just gets everybody juiced up, gets everybody excited. You know the games are coming soon. The season is starting when you get to First Night or Midnight Madness. What we get as coaches when this is over, we get a group of guys that even turns it up a little bit in practice because this kind of signifies the season starts.

"It gets real for our guys once this night passes."

No surprise that the players enjoy the night, too.

"They like this kind of stuff," Auriemma said. "They're in there yelling and screaming, messing around with the guys. Doing the kind of stuff that this night is all about. The students were lined up 10 o'clock this morning to get into the building.

"They know all that and they feel all that. October is a special time of the year for a basketball player. It's the beginning of what you hope is going to be something great, especially at Connecticut."

When the smoke clears, spotlights dim and loud music disappears, both teams will resume building toward opening night in November. The Huskies will have to generate their own excitement and intensity in practice.

So far, so good.

Hurley says his Huskies are starting to understand how hard they have to play to be successful at this level.

"These guys are going hard," he said. "The guys look a lot different. Just the intensity and competitiveness these guys are playing with."

Auriemma is dealing with a new challenge this season. The Huskies are blessed with fewer veterans than recent years.

"This isn't a couple of years ago where we get on a plane and fly to Ohio State and win by 50," Auriemma said. "That's not the kind of team that we have this year. ... There's a wide variety. We've got two or three players that are among the three best players in the country at their position and then we've got a lot of players that are trying to find their way.

"And that hasn't happened in a long time. But every team goes through that. We just haven't had to. Now it's our turn."

News and notes

• Recruit watch: 6-11 center Qudus Wahab of Flint Hill School in Virginia and Akok Akok, a 6-9 forward out of Putnam Science Academy, attended First Night. They're both on official visits. ... Future Huskies James Bouknight, a 6-4 guard from MacDuffie School in Granby Mass., and 6-2 guard Jalen Gaffney of Westtown School in West Chester Pa., also were on hand. Bouknight's MacDuffie teammate, 6-7 forward Richard Springs, a Class of 2020 recruit, also made the trip. ... Hurley has been impressed by the recent practice play of redshirt freshman swingman Sidney Wilson. "He's really taken it up a notch," Hurley said. ... Injury update: Graduate transfer Kassoum Yakwe is still recovering from a foot injury. He's yet to practice but could start skill work early next week. "He's healed well," Hurley said.

g.keefe@theday.com