One win and two losses at the Battle 4 Atlantis was not what No. 18 UConn (4-2) expected out of this prestigious early season tournament.
Advertisement
Caris LeVert sat hunched over in the middle of the MI on Wednesday night, sitting between the bright lights on the Imperial Arena court and the shadows of the oddly lit ballroom-turned gym. Syracuse game we didn’t rebound, MI we rebounded, (Gonzaga) we rebounded. Syracuse scoring is being led by Gibinje. The Huskies did not play well.
UConn raced out to a 10-point lead, but Syracuse fought back to tie it at halftime. This time, the Orange got bragging rights, overcoming a 10-point first-half deficit and riding a slew of big, second-half 3-pointers to a 79-76 victory.
The truth is UConn wouldn’t have deserved that extra opportunity.
It will be a reunion of sorts Thursday when the Huskies face Syracuse in the semifinals. Where UConn has often struggled against Syracuse is getting the ball inside to the bigs. The Huskies did more dribbling than passing, and then took ill-advised shots. “I think we were rushing things”.
The season is young. That’s just tough. We didn’t do a good job playing without fouling. Shonn Miller and Rodney Purvis had 13 points each while guards Sam Cassell, Jr., and Sterling Gibbs each contributed 11. Still, it was the play of the 6-8 Lydon that stood out, including a big blocked shot with one minute remaining that kept the Orange in front.
That happened once again to the Huskies.
Stanford finished third at the Preseason NIT with a 69-66 win over Arkansas, closing the game on a stunning 21-1 run. That would be four-time NBA All-Star guard Mark Price, a two-time victor of the NBA All-Star 3-point shooting contest and a career 90.4 percent free-throw shooter. Syracuse is an even better 3-point shooting team than I’d expect they would be, and SU knows how to get open shots.
The 25th-ranked Aggies left feeling like they let one slip away. He essentially played the entire game, keeping the Huskies focused.
Syracuse scored 17 points off 13 UConn turnovers and five Orange players were in double figures.
It certainly wasn’t a great start for the Orange, as they found themselves down 19-9 early.
Joseph Uchebo led the way for Charlotte with 16 points and 12 rebounds. Brimah simply didn’t have the muscle to contend with Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski (7-1, 287) and Domantas Sabonis (6-11, 240).
“Connecticut Basketball Highlights (2015-16)” is categorized as “sports”. SMU won the game 73-55. The two holdovers from last year’s team combined for 21 points in the closing stretch, but it proved to be too little, too late for the 49ers. Josh Perkins is dishing 2.3 assists and Przemek Karnowski is grabbing six rebounds. UConn was led by Daniel Hamilton’s 18. The Huskies became a bit too reliant on the 3-pointer (26 attempts), and when they were able to penetrate the lengthy zone, too often missed easy layups or inside shots. UConn has more speed, athletes and is the better defensive team than Gonzaga.
Advertisement
The Huskies must return to that style. Boeheim has scheduled Villanova, St. John’s and, this season, Georgetown (as has UConn), and it’s refreshing to hear he’s amenable to rekindling the rivalry with the Huskies, as well.
