We all suspected this could be coming.
Over the last four games, UConn did an admirable job of winning tough games without their star to improve to 7-1. The Huskies earned a signature win against Marquette and won on the road, with different players stepping up in each game. The defense had consistently played very well, led by R.J. Cole and the bigs. It was all good enough to earn them their first Top 25 ranking in five years. That all came to a crashing loss in the second half against St. John’s Monday, all while Adama Sanogo inexplecably sat on the bench for the final 12 minutes.
The No. 23 Huskies, who led St. John’s 49-41 with 12:57 remaining and by eight with just under nine minutes left, was outscored 25-13 for the remainder of the game to lose 74-70. The Red Storm (8-7) took their first lead with 4:24 to go and took the lead for good on a layup by Posh Alexander at 2:35. UConn had just one field goal in the last five minutes and missed four free throws, including two by Tyrese Martin with 18 seconds left. For the game, the Huskies shot just 15-23 from the line.
Led by Cole’s hot start from behind the arc, UConn jumped out to a 21-7 lead over the first 7:17. For the remainder of the half, however, the Red Storm tightened up their defense and forced UConn into a half-court game. The Huskies struggled from the outside while missing shots in the paint. While St. John’s struggled from the perimeter and got just three points from Julian Champagnie, the Big East’s leading scorer, it was able to beat UConn in the paint and rebounded well, cutting into the deficit. The Huskies led 33-30 at the half.
Early in the second half, UConn played better in the paint, led by Sanogo and Isiah Whaley (9 points and 8 rebounds). Sanogo showed good footwork and obtained multiple good shots against the Red Storm defense, scoring twice, and Whaley scored on a hook shot and a goaltending call. A Huskies 6-0 run forced a St. John’s timeout and gave them a 49-41 lead.
Just when it seemed UConn was in control of the game and ready to hit a double-digit lead, St. John’s got going. Ellington hit consecutive 3-pointers to put the Red Storm within three, as head coach Mike Anderson went to a five-guard lineup. To counter this and protect against their speedy guards and outside shooting, Danny Hurley removed Sanogo for the rest of the game despit his great play. Fans freaked out in response as the Huskies lead withered away.
UConn was able to tread water in the next few minutes despite poor shooting and turnovers with the help of Martin, who got to the line repeatedly and scored seven consecutive points. Eventually however, the Huskies poorus defense and their offensive struggles caught up with them. St. John’s, led by Alexander, continuisly beat UConn in the paint for either layups or free throw opportunities, with players providing no help defense and unable to keep the guards in front of them. Despite Hurley’s efforts to to counter the Red Storm’s peremiter shooting by removing Sanogo, it didn’t work. Champagnie hit a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two with 7:21 left, and St. John’s took its first lead of 64-63 with 4:24 to go on an Earlington three.
From there, UConn’s free throw woes and paint defense cost them. Cole missed multiple free throws, and layups by Alexander and Champagnie gave St. John’s a 71-67 lead with 1:21 to go. Martin drained an open three on the following possession, but then missed his free throws that could have given the Huskies the lead. They had one last change down 72, 70, but Polley rushed a three that was wildly off to seal the loss.
UConn had its worst defensive performance by far against St. John’s, allowing the Red Storm to shot 49% and 46.7% from three. St. John’s scored at will in the paint at will in the second half, and at the same time, the Huskies frequently got beat to loose balls and allowed offensive rebounds and generally were just outhustled on both ends. The Red Storm got great production from bench players Earlington (15 points, 5-8 from the field) and Dylan Addae-Wusu (10 points, 5 rebounds). Alexander was their best player, finishing with 18 points and six assists. Champagnie, the conference’s leading scorer rallied from his poor start to finish with 12 points and made seven free throws.
Meanwhile, UConn mostly struggled on offense and reguarly missed open layups and other easy sots. For the second consecutive game, the Huskies underperformed on the boards. Both teams had 34 rebounds.
Cole hit all his threes early, and finished with 16 points and five asists on 6-16 shooting. Sanogo was the Huskies best all-around player in his limited minutes, scoring a season-high 12 points on 6-11 shooting to go with five rebounds and a block in 17 minutes before he disappeared. Martin had an up-and down game, finishing with 14 points but shooting 4-11, and had six assists. Polley was lousy all-around, going 2-8 and 1-6 from three for seven points, grabbing only one rebound, and getting dominated on defense.
It was a poor effort, to say the least. Even without Bouknight, UConn is definitely a better team than St. John’s, who come in having lost three consecutive games and had not beaten a top-00 team in the KenPom ratings. UConn did not play up to their ability in all facets of the game, and fell apart when they seemed to be in control. Hurley called it a “brutal” loss, and that is a great way to describe it. Hopefully, the loss will serve as a wake up call, and the Huskies can work on their issues and finding the right personal in practice the next few days. Starting Saturday with Creighton, things don’t get easier for UConn, as they will also have games against No. 4 Villanova and a hot Butler team over the span of six days. If nothing else, the team needs to play with the effort and intensity they are capable of.
Below are six observations on the loss to St. John’s:
The defense was abysmal, especially in the paint
I sound like a broken record, but UConn played both poor team and individual defense against St. John’s. In the paint, the Huskies could not stay in front of the Red Storm’s guards, and the big men and others mostly failed to switch off their men and provide the necessary help defense to try and stop them. St. John’s coach Mike Anderson made a brillant tactical decision to go to a five-guard lineup for the last 10:40 of the game after UConn went on a run, and Hurley and the players had no answer for it. Ultimately, the Red Storm made 50% of their 2-pointers. The Huskies always looked a step slow, and they did not show the same urgency as normal in getting to rebounds and loose balls, even as the game slipped away. One has to wonder if the team let up after taking its large lead and got discouraged by their defensive struggles and just couldn’t get back on track. The one bright spot was with the turnovers, as St. John’s had 18 and UConn had 12 steals.
After the Red Storm, a below-average 3-point shooting team, struggled from the arc in the first half, they were much better at the start of the second half. This was a large part of why Hurley made his fateful decision to remove Sanogo. It didn’t matter however, as St. John’s went 6-9 from three in the second half. It did a good job of moving the ball well and finding open 3-point shooters whom the Huskies were unable to rotate over on.
No UConn player had a particularly strong defensive game. The “6-9” Polley was constantly overmatched by the Red Storm’s quick and smaller guards, and sadly got no help. Josh Carlton was almost completely MIA, playing just three minutes, and Whaley did not make his usual defensive impact and allso did not provide help defense at crucial times. Sanogo actually made a couple of good defensive plays against Champagnie, earning a block and steal, but was removed from the game because of Hurley’s worries that he couldn’t keep up on defense against the quicker guards. Gaffney and the usually reliable Brendan Adams struggled on defense, with Gaffney picking up four fouls in just 11 minutes. Even Cole wasn’t as good as normal. Martin probably had the biggest impact on defense, earning six steals.
Dan Hurley has a poor game, making some inexplicable moves
Hurley is a very good recruiter. He is a great teacher of defense and is able to consistently develop and motivate his players. However, he has always had a streak of stubborness and had struggles with in-game coaching. These weaknesses were definitely on display Monday.
First, it made no sense for Hurley to take out Sanogo midway through the second half when he was playing at his best and the team was on a run, and then never put Sanogo back in as St. John’s was owning the paint and in the process of coming back and winning. In the final three minutes before Sanogo came out, he scored twice and assisted on a basket by Whaley to give UConn a six-point lead. While guarding Champaigne, he also blocked a shot and helped force a turnover. Sanogo showed great footwork and a variety of efficient low post moves, including an impressive hook shot, and he got himself open even on the shots he missed. Add his rebounding ability, and in the first 27 minutes Sanogo had been the Huskies best player on the day alongside Cole.
Hurley justified the removal of Sanogo to he and the fans by saying he could not play against St. John’s five-guard lineup, as he would have been able effectively defend the guards due to his size. You can understand the argument on paper to a point, but even if Sanogo had struggled on defense, he would have continued to give UConn an advantage on offense, allowing them to attack the paint and play an effective in-out game. It’s not like Whaley really stepped up on either end in the abscence of Sanogo. Anyway, once UConn’s offense started sputtering, there was no reason not to try and insert Sanogo back in to try and give it a pick up. I hope that Hurley realizes he made a mistake, and shows more trust in Sanogo late in games.
Besides the decision to remove Sanogo, I also don’t understand why Hurley did not try and do more to alleviate the Huskies defensive struggles in the paint. With Polley not making shots or rebounding and getting torched on defense, why not remove him and insite either Carlton or Sanogo again to defend the paint and give the team more size on the offensive end. Carlton may not have been able to defend St. John’s guards, but he could have possibly given UConn an offensive boost as well as a coming presence with his experience. I know Hurley is not found of playing zone, but the Huskies could have swihtched to it to give the Red Storm a different look and attempt to slow down their offense. Hurley was not flexible enough, and let Anderson and St. John’s dictate UConn’s game plan instead of the team sticking with what was working. Hurley should never take that step, and hope he realizes his mistake.
The one other fining I am interested in is what Hurley said to his players in the huddle to the players in the second half as they struggled and St. John’s rallied. Whatever he said to try and motivate the players didn’t work, and the players werent really exhibiting excitement or confidence on their faces. Maybe Hurley will need to change what he says and ajustments he makes when in a similar game situation.
Can someone make some damn free throws, please?
Against Creighton, R.J. Cole failed to make free throws in regulation that would have put the game out of reach. Against St. John’s, Martin, Cole, and others failed to hit free throws that could have guranteed the win, with Martin’s two misses with 18 seconds left the most painful. Martin, who got off to a hot start from the line, shot 5-8 there, and Cole was 2-4. Gaffney, who is the team’s top free throw shooter, took just one. In the game’s last nine minutes, UConn went just 7-12 from the line.
The Huskies free throw struggles have cropped up in many games, not just against St. John’s and Creighton. They are shooting just 69% as a team overall and 68% in Big East games, which is sixth in the conference. Bouknight is an excellent free throw shooter (81%), but he is out. Three of the other four guards (Cole, Adams, and Martin), are average or below average free throw shooters for guards. Cole and Martin, who each have 28 attempts, are shooting 71% and 61% respectively. Cole has earned a reputation as someone who misses free throws in close games, and Martin is very inconsistent despite seemingly having a good shooting motion. Gaffney is excellent at the line at 83%, but right now his disappointing play is causing him valuable minutes. The big men are all below average at the line, and Polley does not get there enough despite shooting 85% at the charity stripe.
There isn’t a simple solution to UConn’s struggles at the line in crunch time, especially without Bouknight. Right now, however, it is a big problem when most of your primary ball handlers cannot be trusted to make free throws in key late game situations. There isn’t a ton of time to work on free throw shooting drills in practice, but let’s hope that Hurley finds time to fit them in and that players figure out techniques that will make them more comfortable shooting free throws and improve their mindset and form.
Tyler Polley looks lost on both ends of the floor
After a slow start to the season, Polley had stepped up in the previous three games propr to St. John’s in place of Bouknight, averaging just over 18 points per game and shooting 13-24 from three. Monday’s performance was easily Pollley’s worse of the season, however. I have already discussed his defensive struggles, but Polley’s shot was also off all day, as he hit just one of six threes and scored only 7 points. It was the senior forward’s worst offensive performance since the first game against DePaul.
Polley was unable to hit any open threes and did not get set on many of his attempts and rushed multiple shots, most egregiously his airball three at the end of the game with the Huskies down one. Polley just seemed to try and do too much on offense, and got caught up in playing hero ball in the process. He also grabbed just one rebound and had no assists in 26 minutes. There is no excuse for a”6-9″ player to do nothing on the boards, especially against a small lineup. Polley has never been a strong rebounder, but is averaging just 2.6 per game. When his shot is not falling, he has to find other ways to contribute. That is what senior leaders are supposed to do.
The guards again played inconsistently
The three main guards against St. John’s (Cole, Martin and Adams-Gaffney played just 11 minutes) combined for 39 points and 9 assists. That’s good on paper. The numbers are deciving when you look closer, however. The trio shot just 11-30 (37%) and 6-18 inside the arc. They combined for 6 turnovers, and Martin had 6 rebounds, lower than his season average. While the three had 9 assists (5 by Cole) and handled the ball decently, they and their teammates were sloppy with the ball at times and the trio did not consistently generate good scoring opportunities for teammates.
Cole had a pretty solid game overall, finishing with a team-high 18 points and 5 assists and shooting 4-7 from three. The junior came out like ganbusters and hit four threes early. However, he faded down the stretch and did not make a field goal in the final 12:57, missing his final three shots. Cole again repeated his frustrated habit of driving into the paint and getting his shot blocked by larger opponents, failing to either pass to an open teammate or using his footwork to create an open shot such as a floater or hook. Martin scored 14 and had 6 rebounds (three offensive), but shot just 4-11 and 1-4 from three. He made some clutch shots near the end, but again missed open shots in the paint throughout the game. And of course, he and Cole missed key free throws that could help earn the win. Finally, Adams took just three shots in 30 minutes and committed four fouls, finishing with 7 shots overall. All three, particularly Adams, did not play up to their usual standards on defense. Finally, Gaffney again had a lousy game, scoring just 3 points in 11 minutes and struggling on defense to the tune of four fouls.
I trust UConn’s guards to rebound and play their usual strong defense over the next few games. However, they need to play better on offense, particularly in regards to shooting and creating quality shots for teammates. Most importantly, Gaffney needs to get back on track and show the confidence and athleticism he displayed at the end of last season.
HUSKY NATION 