Storrs, Conn. ? Connecticut needed 20 minutes to start looking like the No. 1 team in the country.

The Huskies rallied from a three-point halftime deficit to beat Yale, 70-60, Monday night in the opening round of the Preseason NIT.

It was better than the only other time Connecticut was a preseason No. 1. The Huskies opened the 1999-2000 season with a 70-68 loss to Iowa in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

“We’ve been through this before with great teams and with not so great teams,” Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said. “We were not prepared to pay the price initially.”

The undermanned Bulldogs used a patient offense to spread the floor and keep the Huskies from getting out on the break.

That changed in the second half as the Huskies used a 14-2 run to take a 48-37 lead, and they went on to lead by as many as 17 before struggling at the free-throw line in the final 41/2 minutes.

“That was an untraditional game,” Calhoun said. “We’re going to have to be different teams different nights. This will be a work in progress not in terms of talent but with different roles.”

Emeka Okafor, the AP’s preseason player of the year, had 21 points and 13 rebounds to lead Connecticut, which will play host to Nevada in the second round Wednesday night.

Connecticut's Emeka Okafor pulls in a rebound as Yale's Matt Minoff, right, and Dominick Martin close in during a sloppy first half for UConn. The top-ranked Huskies rallied for a 70-60 victory Monday in Storrs, Conn.

“Pick after pick after pick, and all of a sudden they just score on the very last second,” Okafor said of Yale’s offense. “That’s just a blow to your morale.”

Yale, which was playing a No. 1 team for the first time in school history, committed just three turnovers in taking the 31-28 halftime lead. They committed six turnovers in the opening five minutes of the second half, and the Huskies were turning most of those into easy baskets.

No. 11 Texas 89, Brown 51

Austin, Texas — P.J. Tucker had 18 points and 13 rebounds in his Texas debut, leading the Longhorns to a season-opening victory over Brown.

Brandon Mouton scored 16 points, Kenny Taylor and Brian Boddicker each added 12, and James Thomas had 19 rebounds for the Longhorns.

But Tucker made the biggest impression in the first game of the post-T.J. Ford era, becoming just the third Texas freshman to post a double-double in his debut. He set the Texas freshman first-game record for rebounds and tied the points mark.