Senior Christian Vital gets a kick out of watching his young, enthusiastic and energetic UConn teammates play basketball.

"The young guys are fun," Vital said on Wednesday. "They give me a little boost of energy just seeing them. These guys are young as hell, just playing hard, running around, not really knowing what's going on. But they're talented and they want to compete.

"I appreciate all of them."

While Vital's UConn career is winding down, first-year players Akok Akok, James Bouknight and Jalen Gaffney, as well as sophomore Brendan Adams, are just embarking on their college basketball journey.

Coach Dan Hurley has started to increasingly rely on his underclassmen — in part out of necessity and also because they earned a shot at an expanded role.

So far, he's likes what he sees from them.

"They want to be out there hooping," Hurley said. "It's kind of their time here to lead us into the next chapter of great success in this program."

The young Huskies will play a prominent role in Saturday's American Athletic Conference game against Memphis (15-5, 4-3) at FedExForum (1 p.m., Ch. 3). Sid Wilson is sidelined for the second straight game with a knee injury while Alterique Gilbert is available to play after sitting out one game due to personal reasons.

In Wednesday's slump-busting win over Temple, UConn had three first-year players in the starting lineup for the first time since the 2011 national championship game against Butler. Jeremy Lamb, Tyler Olander and Roscoe Smith started 23 games that season.

Of course, that team also had a megastar and inspirational leader in Kemba Walker.

There's no Alpha dog to take the pressure off the younger players this season. They're confident in their abilities and eager to show what they can do.

"Sometimes, it's overwhelming," Gaffney said. "We know how good we are, so we just play our game."

Gaffney is just scratching the surface of his talent. In first career start, he was a calming influence and scored 10 points despite some shooting struggles to go with five assists and just two turnovers.

Bouknight has shown flashes of his star potential, regularly making exciting splash plays.

"James is probably the one guy that we've got here that could have some explosive nights, maybe 20-plus, 25," Hurley said. "He may catch a couple of those this year."

Akok, a feared shot blocker, impacts the game in several ways. He's starting to develop his offensive skills, scoring in double figures in consecutive games for the first time while also averaging six rebounds and 5.5 blocks during the two-game span.

Now that Bouknight is starting, Adams is UConn's most productive reserve and vastly improved over last season, raising his scoring average from 2.6 last season to 7.1 points per game.

They're providing a sneak peek at the future of the program.

"That's what the program is coming to," Akok said. "People that Hurley recruited, we're just trying to come out there and put on a show."

UConn (11-9, 2-5) will be severely tested on Saturday, playing a tough opponent in a hostile arena. The Huskies are 1-12 in true road games dating back to the start of last season.

Second-year coach Penny Hardaway has quickly rebuilt his alma mater, bringing in the nation's top recruiting class. AAC player and rookie of the year candidate Precious Achiuwa, a gifted freshman forward, is averaging 15.3 points and a league-leading 10.3 rebounds.

The Tigers start four freshmen and a redshirt sophomore, and their two top reserves are second-year players. They suffered a huge loss when future lottery pick James Wiseman left the program in December to get ready for 2020 NBA Draft.

Like UConn, Memphis hit a rut in January, slipping in the AAC standings after losses to Wichita State, Tulsa and SMU.

Both the Huskies and Tigers stopped losing skids by each winning on Wednesday.

g.keefe@theday.com