STORRS, Conn. — Even with 11 upperclassmen, the No. 1 Connecticut men’s basketball team wasn’t sure how to respond.

In its 69-61 loss Saturday, Michigan alternated three defensive schemes — man-to-man, 1-3-1 zone and 2-3 zone — to fluster the Huskies at Gampel Pavilion.

“I thought all of our guys, even our fifth-year guys, had that look, 'What (defense) are they in?' ” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said.

Calhoun compared that look to a "deer in the headlights" and praised Michigan’s defensive variety.

The Huskies, who average 12.3 turnovers per game, committed 10 in the first half alone.

Sophomore forward Manny Harris used his quickness to disrupt Connecticut’s passing lanes and dribble penetration. Harris averages 1.2 steals per game and had three in the first half.

In Big Ten play, the Wolverines have alternated between their 1-3-1 zone and man-to-man schemes. Saturday was the first time they used the 2-3 zone extensively.

“Obviously we were outsized, so we knew that the weak side was going to be vital for us to have success on defense,” said fifth-year senior guard C.J. Lee, who had one of Michigan’s nine steals. “We were able to turn them over a few times. It wasn't enough, but we're able to take that as a positive from the game.”

Calhoun said he told his team at halftime to concentrate on simple plays and not combat each specific defensive scheme.

The approach worked. The Huskies committed just seven second-half turnovers and held Michigan to three steals after the break.

In the second half, the Wolverines played mainly man-to-man defense and the Huskies’ size proved to be too much.

“It’s just really difficult to defend an offensive rebound,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “When you have a guy like (Jeff) Adrien who is just so good at it and a guy like (7-foot-3 Hasheem) Thabeet who is just so tall, it's just hard to defend that. I like the way our defense is playing right now, and we're getting better and better.”

Big time: The Huskies have six potential NBA draft picks in Thabeet, Adrien, A.J. Price, Stanley Robinson, Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker.

There were plenty of potential future employers taking notes Saturday. Scouts from the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets and Phoenix Suns, among other teams, were on hand.

At Connecticut’s matchup last Tuesday against then-No. 7 Louisville, there were 31 NBA scouts in attendance, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal. Thabeet is a top contender for the NCAA Player of the Year and a potential top-10 draft pick.

“You can't simulate it,” fifth-year senior guard David Merritt said of Thabeet’s size. “He'll definitely be playing in the NBA.”

The NBA compiles a file on every Division-I senior. At Michigan’s game against Oakland on Dec. 20, one NBA scout attended. He took notes on Harris, junior forward DeShawn Sims, Lee, Merritt and senior forward Jevohn Shepherd.

Off the radar: Calhoun's focus on double-teaming Harris allowed freshman Stu Douglass to slip onto the scene off the bench.

A career-high 20 points later, Douglass was the game’s leading scorer and certainly had Calhoun’s attention.

“Quite frankly, he was the fourth or fifth guy we were worried about,” Calhoun said. “You can't teach a player to make adjustments (within a game). And he did. He slipped screens. He did all kinds of things, realizing, we weren't going to put a lot of pressure on him.”

After an early conference-season slump, Douglass has performed well lately.

Last Thursday’s home win against Penn State and Saturday’s loss have been his two best performances of the season. He shot a combined 9-of-15 from 3-point range in those two games.

“This is something that needs to rub off on a couple other guys,” Beilein said. “Without him tonight, it would have been a 15- or 18-point game.”