In Hasheem Thabeet's prior two games, all 10 of his field goals came on dunks. Tonight, Thabeet showed much more versatility on the offensive end.

He had his dunks – two, to be exact – but added a host of nice low-post spin moves that resulted in baskets and 3-point plays, as well as a nifty left-handed hook shot. Thabeet finished with a team-high 21 points to go with a career-high 18 rebounds and four very loud blocked shots.

"I'm getting better every day," he said. "Today, every time I got the ball I got double-teamed, and I was able to score through that. It's a team thing. They were able to recognize where I was, they gave me the ball at the right time and I was able to contribute."

Added Jim Calhoun: "They had no answer for Hasheem and won't, at least until he graduates or leaves. That's the difference in the game."

About the only thing Thabeet did wrong was a little unnecessary posing after being fouled somewhat hard while dunking one home with 4:49 to play, Thabeet got a rather simple warning from the referees.

Said Thabeet: "They told me not to do that."

***Calhoun wasn't terribly pleased with his team's effort tonight.

"Quite frankly, they probably outplayed us," he said. "Or outworked us, at least ... It's one of those few games where I go home happy that we're 8-0, but really feeling bad for the Buffalo kids because they played well enough to do something special. I can't say they deserved to win, because they didn't score as many points as we did."

***Buffalo did grab as many rebounds (37) as UConn did, however. That led to an interesting comment from Calhoun afterwards.

"We will be a different team next time you see us come to your local theater. We'll have a 6-9 and 6-10 guy, and I don't expect that we'll have many even games on the backboard."

He was referring, of course, to Stanley Robinson and Ater Majok. When asked if that meant that Majok had definitely been cleared by the NCAA to join the team, Calhoun backtracked.

"(He's) as close as possible, but we still need that certification."

***A.J. Price, whom Calhoun has criticized lately for not playing with enough confidence, barely played over the final 11 ½ minutes. He was taken out with 11 minutes, 31 seconds left and didn't return until the 1:13 mark – and then only for one second of play.

He did return once more, but only played six seconds and finished the game on the bench. Price wound up with six points on 2-for-8 shooting.

Didn't get a chance to ask Calhoun about Price afterwards. In fact, we only got two questions in during the 7 1/2-minute postgame presser.

***With Price on the bench, little-used sophomore Donnell Beverly got into the game -- for exactly one sequence. Calhoun put Beverly in with 5:57 left to give Dyson a blow. Beverly promptly allowed Buffalo's Rodney Pierce to nail a 3-pointer and was pulled after a 25-second stint during a timeout while getting an earful from Calhoun.

"That was a hell of a move," Calhoun said of sending Beverly into the game. "I really won the Coach of the Year for that one. I love Donnell Beverly, but please … he fell down."

***For what it's worth, the reason Dyson and Austrie weren't able to leave campus until around noon on Thursday was because they were taking separate classes that only met once a week. According to Dyson, since this is the week before finals, both had to stay back for review while the rest of the team flew out Wednesday evening.

***UConn finishes classes today and has reading days over the weekend. They'll practice Saturday and Sunday but won't be back in action until Dec. 15, when it hosts Stony Brook at the XL Center.

***Can anyone tell us who sang the song "Buffalo Stance"? (Bonus points if you can name the singer's well-known sibling, as well)