HOUSTON – Given the Hispanic culture that permeates the largest city in Texas, perhaps UConn coach Jim Calhoun was playfully choosing his words on Friday, though it was an interesting spin given his thick New England accent.

“We’re not playing for the whole enchilada,” Calhoun said on the eve of Connecticut’s Final Four battle with Kentucky, “but a good piece of getting to where it resides.”

Much has been of Saturday’s marquee matchup between the two traditional powers and their larger-than-life coaches Calhoun and John Calipari because they actually met once before this season in tournament play – the championship game of the Maui Invitational over Thanksgiving. The Huskies rolled 84-67.

But aside from memories of tropical breezes and paradise found, Calhoun says there’s not much that can be taken away from that first encounter.

“The stakes of the game now are entirely different,” the UConn coach said. “I really like that Maui trophy. It's kind of cool. But this is another one I think that's a lot more important and we'd rather have.”

In that first meeting, UConn defeated Wichita State and then-No. 2 Michigan State to reach the finals. Kentucky knocked off Oklahoma and Washington.

“On Maui, it was house money,” Calhoun said. “We were young. We weren't picked by Sports Illustrated in the first 68 in the country. We weren't even supposed to make the tournament, never mind be near it.

“We kind of just played free and easy,” Calhoun added, “where I think John was trying to put together a team.”

To appreciate the transformation, particularly on Kentucky’s side of the ledger, one need only revisit the boxscore.

Brandon Knight, MVP of the East Region, shot 3-of-15, missed all eight three-point tries, and neutralized five assists with five turnovers.

“Brandon just missed shots and had some turnovers,” UConn counterpart Kemba Walker said. “I don’t think we did anything special against him.”

Josh Harrellson, an all-East Region and all-SEC Tournament performer late in season, took only one shot and scored two points to go with six rebounds in 25 minutes. DeAndre Liggins was 3-of-10 with four turnovers and only one steal. Darius Miller scored 15 points, but missed eight of his 14 shots. Doron Lamb had five points and played only 14 minutes.

“We went back to the hotel and we actually watched the game,” UConn’s Alex Oriakhi said. “We noticed how good our defense was. We felt it was definitely the best it's ever been.”

The Huskies put four players in double figures led by Kemba Walker’s 29 points and Oriakhi’s double-double of 18 points and 11 rebounds.

“In that game, my teammates did a great job of running plays for me,” Oriakhi said. “It was to the point where I was so open, all I had to do was dunk the ball. It was pretty easy.”

Terrence Jones knows why.

“They were doing a back screen with the bigs and we were really having trouble with it because we weren’t talking as much back then,” the freshman said. “They got a lot of points off that and got us in foul trouble.”

The team stats are even more dramatic. Kentucky allowed UConn to shoot 58 percent from the field, while making only 37 percent itself. The Huskies also dominated the interior with 42-24 advantage on points in the paint.

“I think we did a great job making them shoot one shot,” Walker said. “Every time they shot, we got the rebound on the first try.”

That was then, this is now.

“You can’t take anything except that we lost,” said Jones, who had 24 points in 27 minutes in the Maui game. “That was so long ago and both teams are playing so different now.”

Oriakhi, for his part, knows the days of “pretty easy” are over, too.

“I don't expect it to be as easy because, obviously, they played us before, they know our pressure now, they know how I am as a player,” he said. “I definitely think it's going to be a little bit more of a challenge.”

One thing is certain, and both teams agree, Kentucky is not the same team that got run off the court in Maui.

“You can tell their guys understand the game more,” Walker said of Kentucky. “Brandon has become a better leader from that point in the year until now. He's been way more aggressive. He's making shots, and once a great scorer starts making shots, he becomes hard to guard. That's one thing I've seen from the beginning of the season until now.

“He’s playing some great basketball right now, really on fire,” Walker said. “So if we can contain him, I think we’ll be fine.”

For Kentucky, it was just a matter of time.

“Accepting our roles,” Knight said in explaining the transformation. “We take each possession more seriously now instead of letting balls slip away. The 50/50 balls. We try to get all of those now because we understand the importance.”

Given all that, it’s clear that nothing about the Kentucky-UConn game from November in Maui can be transferred to Saturday’s Final Four showdown.

Well, maybe one thing.

“We don’t want to let them get out to a big and early lead,” Knight said, remembering the snowball effect of UConn’s 50-29 halftime lead. “That’s when the basket get a lot bigger for the opposing team. We definitely want to keep it close.”