Even with UConn’s much-improved play in the previous two weeks, it entered Wednesday’s contest at Seton Hall needing a signature win against the Pirates to help ensure they will make the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2016. Seton Hall, a fellow bubble team, had lost two consecutive games but also had a week to prepare and defeated the Huskies 80-72 on February 6th, the most points they had allowed this season. To get revenge, UConn needed to neutralize star big man Sandro Mamukelashvili and the rest of the Pirates frontcourt, which had dominated the Huskies in the first matchup.
For UConn, winning the big men battle, and by extension the game, was a challenge it passed with flying colors. After a chaotic first half that saw the team grab the lead at the very end, the Huskies started the second half off hot and controlled the game from there, going on to win 69-58. It was their second straight win and fifth in six games, and improved UConn’s record to 13-6 and 10-6 in the Big East, good for third place. Seton Hall dropped to 13-11 and fourth in the conference at 10-8, and has a must-win game at St. John’s tomorrow.
Senior Isiah Whaley and freshman Adama Sanogo dominated at forward and center on both ends. Whaley had 17 points, 10 rebounds and two assists and blocks, while Sanogo went for 16, nine and two. The pair each played over 30 minutes after foul trouble in the first game against the Pirates. Whaley was the main defender against Mamukelashvili and did an outstanding job on him. After scoring 22 points and going 10-12 at the free throw line in the first game against UConn, he shot 7-20 on Wednesday, only reaching the line three times.
The first half was a game of runs. UConn unfortunately again spottedd their opponent a lead early, falling behind 13-4 in the first five minutes after allowed a trio of 3-pointers. The Huskies eventually found their footing thanks to Sanogo, who hit their first three field goals, and went on an 11-2 run. They tied it at 17 with 9:46 remaining on a wide-open three by Whaley, with Andre Jackson earning an assist. Whaley also set the tone on defense during this run, blocking consecutive shots by Mamukelashvili.
UConn went ice cold on offense after tying the game, going nearly five minutes without scoring as they were unable to hit any jumpers or layups. Seton Hall took advantage of the struggles, going on a 7-0 run to take a 24-17 advantage at the 6:02 mark.
The Huskies responded by tightening up their defense even more and putting up a wall around the paint, holding the Pirates scoreless for the final 4:01. R.J. Cole and James Bouknight, who had struggled with their shooting all half, finally got going and hit a pair of threee pointers, and Whaley ended the half with a putback layup to give UConn a 27-26 halftime lead.
UConn immediately carried over this momentum to the beginning of the second half, scoring the opening six points and eventuallly taking a 12-point lead at 44-32 7:35 into the half on a Cole 3-pointer. During their great opening stretch, the Huskies did a good job of finding Sanogo and Whaley down low and the pair overpowered defenders, consistently making layups. The team also continued to do an excellent job of rebounding on both ends and challenging Seton Hall’s shots. Uconn was able to widen its lead despite Bouknight having to come out when he picked up his third foul at the 16:58 mark. Ultimately, UConn would go on a 25-15 run between the 4:10 mark of the first half and the under-eight media timeout in the second.
UConn continued to maintain a comfortable lead the remainder of the game, with the Pirates only occasionally cutting it to single digits. The Huskies responded with big baskets when necessary, and did an excellent job of closing the game out at the line. UConn had its best free throw shooting game of the season, making 15 of 16.
The Huskies won the game with their defense and on the boards. UConn held Seton Hall to 40% shooting and 5-19 from three. Just three Pirates players scored over four points. Seton Hall reached the foul line 32 times in the first game between the teams, but got there just 14 times on Wednesday, making only nine shots. Arond the rim, Whaley, Sanogo and others did an excellent job of protecting the rim and either altering shots or forcing Pirate players to look elsewhere for poor opportunities without fouling. The Huskies guards and forwards, particularly Tyrese Martin, did a strong job of pressuring ball handlers and guarding outside shooters. Seton Hall rarely got good looks beginning at the end of the first half and much of the second.
On the boards, UConn outrebounded Seton Hall 40-28 and had 13 offensive rebounds to the Pirates nine, with Whaley and Sanogo grabbing five and four, respectively. The Huskies were able to get valuable second-chance opportunities and did not allow Seton Hall to get second looks while struggling. This was the second time in three games UConn has had at least 40 rebounds.
In addition to Sanogo and Whaley, Bouknight and Cole ultimately had solid games despite their early shooting struggles. Cole finished with 14 points on 5-12 shooting and hit two threes, although he had justo ne assist. Bouknight shot only 3-10 but succeded in getting to the free throw line, going 7-8. Martin went scoreless but contributed significantly on defense and on the boards, grabbing six rebounds and earning two steals.
Despite his struggles shooting, Mamukelashvili still managed to finish with a double-double, recording 20 and 10. Jared Rhoden scored 16 on 5-9 shooting. Cale went just 1-6 from three.
While UConn definitely passed the eye test when one viewed bubble candidates, beating Seton Hall was huge for proving their case as an NCAA tournament time. If the Huskies avoid a slippup at home tomorrow against Georgetown and win at least a game or two in the Big East tournament, they will earn a good seed for March Madness. UConn will play the winner of the game between the six and eleven seeds in the Big East quarterfinals on Thursday.
Here are my game observations on the win against Seton Hall:
Whaley and Sanogo are a two-headed monster
Since Sanogo officially secured the starting job at center late in January, UConn has been trying to figure out how he and Whaley can best coexist at the four and five positions. It has immediately been a bumpy road at times. Sanogo has been inconsistent on both ends as freshman usually are, and struggled to execute the hard hedge defense that Hurley loves so much while avoiding foul trouble. Meanwhile, Whaley has struggled to score when playing power forward next to Sanogo (he can’t rely on scoring on putbacks and similar plays as easily) and also regularly experienced issues with fouls as well.
It wasn’t a surprise that some fans wondered whether Whaley and Sanogo could play together effectively, and that having them do so can have a detrimental effect to spacing. Against Seton Hall, the pair demonstrated that they can, with each having one of their best performances of the season.
Whaley and Sanogo combined for 33 points on 15-25 shooting, 19 rebounds (nine offensive) and four blocks against the Pirates, with the senior playing 33 minutes and the freshman 31. Whaley, who was in full energizer bunny mode playing in front of fans for one of first times this season, set a season high in points and had zero fouls for only the second time this season. After being schooled by Mamukelashvili in their first matchup, Whaley set the tone early with blocks and was more disciplined in his rim protection, taking Mamukelashvili out of his comfort zone and forcing him to take difficult outside shots. On offense, Whaley had eye-catching dunks and putbacks and hit a few outside shots that stretched the floor, and continued to do a good job screening for Sanogo and others.
After it seemed like Sanogo was maybe hitting a freshman wall (he entered the game having scored four points or less in three of the Huskies last five contests), he killed any doubts, earning career-highs in both points (16) and rebounds (nine). Sanogo continues to improve his offensive game and footwork, and demonstrated the ability to both back down the Pirate defenders and use fake-out moves to score as well as pass effectively out of the post. It was great to see his aggressiveness early when the UConn offense really needed a lift. Sanogo is also consistently improving as a defender and getting better at avoding foul trouble, having not fouled out since the first Seton Hall game. He demonstrated his improved speed when hedging and recovering on Wednesday.
Wednesday’s win showed just how good Whaley and Sanogo can be when they play cohesively. On offense, Whaley can finish plays at the rim, screen well in the paint and step out and hit shots when necessary, while Sanogo can use multiple moves to score in the post, allowing him to draw multiple defenders, and pass effectively. On defense, the two do a great job of guarding the rim and blocking shots (especially Whaley) and can hedge effectively, and Whaley can guard multiple positions. At their best, the combo recall the great big men tandems UConn had under Jim Calhoun. Whaley and Sanogo are not going to match up with every team as well as they did with Seton Hall, but if they can continue to provide excellent post defense and solid offense, UConn should be able to go on a run in tournament play.
Nearly everyone brings something to the table
Myself and others have focused on the performances of Whaley and Sanogo, but beating Seton Hall was a collective effort. Cole rebounded from a slow start to make some big shots in the second half and did a solid job of running the offense. Bouknight continues to be inconsistent since returning, but was smart enough to attack the basket and get to the line when his shot wasn’t falling and again rebounded well, grabbing six boards. Tyrese Martin continues to struggle with his shot and went scoreless, but remained the Huskies Swiss Army knife, picking up six rebounds and two steals and shutting down whomever he faced on defensed. Andre Jackson also again played solid defense, and Jalen Gaffney provided valuable minutes when Bouknight was in foul trouble and scored four points. Tyler Polley was the only player whom had a poor game, going scoreless and attempting no three pointers in 13 minutes.
This win showed that UConn can beat a quality team on the road even when Bouknight is not at his best. While Bouknight will be the biggest key to determining just how far the team can go this season and helps make his teammates better, the Huskies are currently demonstrating that they are more than the sum of their parts. UConn is peaking at the right time. They are a quality defensive team and are consistently strong on the glass, and have a lot of offensive depth, with multiple players (especially Cole) able to step up at any time. Teams will not be looking forward to forcing the Huskies during March Madness.
The team is becoming better prepared at responding to slow starts and closing out games
While UConn needs to get better at starting games off well and grabbing early leads in the pressure-filled environment of tournament play, you have to give the team credit for being able to rebound when it starts off slow. Despite this occuring in the last two games as well as against Xavier, the Huskies maintained composure and tightened up their defense while making adjustments on offense that allow the team to rally. There haven’t been reoccurences similar to what fans saw in the first contest against Seton Hall, where UConn fell far enough behind that a comeback was impossible.
Earlier in the season, UConn had multiple losses where they lost composure late and made inexplicable mistakes that allowed opponents to come back (see the first Creighton loss and the game against St. John’s). Over time, however, the Huskies have been able to show maturity and leadership and close games out by making free throws and handling opponent’s press. They have now done this in each of the last three games and been able to earn double-digit wins as a result. I am now confident that UConn will be able to maintain leads and close out games as well as pull off comebacks, even against quality tournament teams.
Hurley appears to have a handle on the identity of his team
Earlier in the season and especially when Bouknight was out, it seemed like UConn didn’t have an idea of how the Huskies pieces fit together. A lot of this was understandable considering how much the team’s game and practice schedule was affected by Covid-19, the large number of new players UConn had, and how important its injured players were to the team’s success.
Still, the Huskies were frequently a confunding team. They appeared to look best on offense when they pushed the tempo and attempted to get points in transition, but played at an extremely slow pace largely as an effort to limit the number of possessions opponents could have with Bouknight out. Hurley rarely made any adjustments on defense, even when the team played inconsistently on that end during the middle of the season. While different players stepped up on offense from game to game, Uconn appeared to lack a leader with Bouknight out. Finally, Hurley’s substitution patterns and use of timeouts was suspect.
Starting with the game at Xavier on February 13th, the Huskies have slowly but surely found that identity. The return of Bouknight is a significant part of that, but not the only factor. Cole has emerged as a team leader and improved signicantly on offense while improving his shot selection. The offense has begun playing at a quicker pace in general, especially off turnovers and rebounds,, becoming more efficient as a result. Since returning from injury, Jackson has been a significant weapon on defense and improved UConn’s ball movement. The defense has played better overall, with the improvement of Sanogo a large part of that. Hurley’s benching of Cole motivated him to improve, and the coach seems to have figured out is main rotation. He has also appeared willing to use timeouts more when necessary. It finally seemes like the Huskies are living up to their potential.
With the win against Xavier, UConn has improved its KenPom rating to 26th as of Friday night and seems to have locked up an NCAA tournament berth according to bracket projections, with the team most frequently projected as a No. 10 seed. If the Huskies can take care of business against Georgetown and perform well in the Big East tournament, they will bump up their seeding.
HUSKY NATION 