Buffalo, N.Y. — Teddy Allen, New Mexico State's shooting star, has almost as many nicknames as he does ways to score.

Some people call Allen, "Teddy Buckets."

Allen also is known as "Sauce."

UConn coach Dan Hurley referred to Allen as "a bucket," during Wednesday's NCAA tournament press conference at KeyBank Center.

When told what Hurley called him, Allen responded: "He's just blowing that pregame smoke. You know how that goes. I ain't listening to that."

Then Allen added: "Hurley is the best coach ever!"

Everyone can agree that Allen, a 6-foot-6 redshirt junior guard, will have an impact on the outcome of Thursday night's NCAA tournament first round game between No. 12 New Mexico and No. 5 UConn.

Allen, the Western Athletic Conference player of the year, is averaging 19.3 points, 6.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.

"Teddy is a bucket," Hurley said. "Teddy is a tough shot maker. Teddy plays with a lot of pop and a lot of personality and intensity. I don't know if there's anyone in the Big East that we've played against that has that type of release. You just have to stay down and be disciplined against him."

Andre Jackson and Tyrese Martin may each get a shot at trying to contain Allen.

"He's a scorer and a volume shooter," Jackson said. "He has a green light and takes the freedom to take shots that he wants. Anybody like that will be really comfortable. ... He has a lot of different tools, a lot of shooting off the dribble. I'm going to just try to make every shot he is taking a difficult shot. Make sure he's not getting easy layups or easy buckets."

Very few teams on New Mexico State's schedule slowed down Allen, who scored in double figures in all but one game this season. He scored 20 or more points 16 times.

Opposing teams have tried every defense on Allen.

"We're not exactly sure how the game will unfold or what their plan will be...," New Mexico State coach Chris Jans said. "Like always, he has to make good decisions. He has to understand that it's going to be hard against a team like that."

The well-traveled Allen previously attended Nebraska, Wichita State and West Virginia. He averaged 16.3 points last season for Nebraska.

Danger zone

Fifth-seeded UConn is playing in the danger zone.

NCAA tournament history is loaded with upsets in the No. 5 vs. No. 12 game. The 12th seed has won 51 times and lost 93 since the March Madness field was expanded in 1985.

In 2019, three of the four No. 12 seeds won and the fourth one — New Mexico State — just missed out on shocking Auburn, losing 78-77. Liberty knocked off Mississippi State, Oregon defeated Wisconsin and Murray State beat Marquette.

The Aggies are a confident group no matter their seeding.

"We're just going to look at UConn like another team," New Mexico State redshirt senior Johnny McCants said.

Rebounding battles

Both UConn and New Mexico State consider rebounding a strength.

Both teams led their respective leagues — Big East and WAC — in rebounding margin. The Huskies are 8th in the country in that category and Aggies 14th.

Expect a physical battle under the basket on Thursday.

"In a lot of ways, they're similar to us," veteran forward Isaiah Whaley said. "The war starts as soon as the ball goes up. ... It's going to be huge for us to make sure we box out."

Friars out to prove doubters wrong

Thirteenth-seeded South Dakota State University beating No. 4 Providence is a trendy upset pick by some people in the media.

The Friars, who captured their first Big East regular season title and went 25-5 overall, are used to being underestimated. They've been called the luckiest team in the country due in part to winning so many close games.

They're using the slight as motivation.

"I don't think there's a person in America that has given us a chance in this game we're about to play, not one person," coach Ed Cooley said. "Some of you are in this audience, and I can tell you thank you. I'm going to thank you right now because our players have earned the right to be in this building, and I can't tell you how excited we are to play this game."

Veteran Nate Watson added: "A lot of people counted us out in the beginning of the year, and we proved to a lot of people that we're a good team. We won the regular season championship. ... Coach really has faith in us, and we have faith with each and every one of us as a program, so we just want to go out there and prove everybody wrong. I don't count the Friars out."

News and notes

UConn 4-0 in previous NCAA appearances in Buffalo, beating Vermont and DePaul in 2004 and St. Joseph's and Villanova in 2014, winning the national championship each time. Taliek Brown played for the 2004 Huskies who beat Vermont and DePaul in Buffalo. "Never thought I'd be back here," said Brown, who's on Hurley's staff as director of player development.. "Hopefully, it will be the same result." ... On Wednesday, the Huskies worked out at Erie Community College and also had a 40-minute shootaround that the NCAA allots to participating teams at KeyBank Center. ... PC assistant coach Brian Blaney is the son of former UConn associate head coach George Blaney. ...R.J. Cole, Tyrese Martin and Adama Sanogo named to USBWA District I team. Providence's Ed Cooley selected as coach of the year and Bryant University's Peter Kiss named top player. ... Future Husky Donovan Clingan of Bristol Central High School was named the Gatorade Connecticut Boys Basketball Player of the Year for the second straight year. He averaged 29.9 points, 18.1 rebounds, 6.1 blocks and 3.1 assists during the regular season.

g.keefe@theday.com