When I first heard that senior forward Tyrese Martin and sophomore center Adama Sanogo would each be out for a few weeks with different injuries, I must admit that my first thought was “fuck! How does this keep happening to the Huskies?”. Let’s admit, the UConn program has experienced a lot of major injuries which have thrown wrenches into its seasons in recent years (see multiple injuries to Alterique Gilbert, Akok Akok and Tyler Polley’s ACL tears, James Bouknight’s elbow injury last season, and Jalen Adam’s MCL sprain in 2019). Luckily, neither injury does not seem to be as bad as fans first imagined, and both Martin and Sanogo are ahead of schedule in their rehab processes. After defeating University of Maryland-Eastern Shore and Grambling State to improve to 8-1, the Huskies lost their second game of the season to West Virginia Wednesday and will have their hands full this week trying to gameplan for a quality St. Bonaventure team on Saturday (likely) without two of their best players. And don’t forget the beginning of Big East play.
While I will examine UConn’s performances against the three teams they played without the duo, let’s first look at how the absence of Martin could affect UConn against Maryland and St. Bonaventure, as there is a possibility he could make an appearance against St. Bonaventure (he is a game-time decision as of Friday night). Before injuring his wrist during the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament that sidelined him for 2-4 weeks prior to the game against UMES beginning on November 30th, Martin was averaging 12.9 points and 7.7 rebounds (currently ranking third and second on the team) and is second on the team in field goal shooting at 53%. On KenPom, Martin is first in true shooting and effective field goal shooting percentages of 59.2% and 58.3%.
As previously discussed in this space, Martin is by far my favorite player on the Huskies. Since arriving in Storrs from URI, he has been one of the team’s best rebounders and defenders and a reliable scoring option. Martin has been a more versatile offensive player this year, improving his finishing at the rim and his 3-point shooting (43.8% on 16 attempts). While Martin is a natural small forward, he can also play at small forward or shooting guard in certain situations. His most distinguishing traits may be his leadership abilities and toughness. Martin frequently visibly demonstrates to opponents that he, and by extension the entire team, cannot be pushed around. Martin was at his best during the Battle 4 Atlantis, averaging 12 points and over nine rebounds and recording a double-double against Michigan State. When you sum this all up, I think Martin is the team’s best all-around player, just ahead of Sanogo.
Martin’s absence would be deeply felt against St. Bonaventure. Against the Bonnies, Martin would provide a reliable defensive presence against their quality offenses. St. Bonaventure limits turnovers and blocks well as of Thursday night and shoots well inside the arc. He would likely be a primary defender on Jalen Adaway, who is averaging 14.6 points and 7.5 rebounds and could take on an even bigger role if Kyle Lofton doesn’t play for the Bonnies. On offense, Martin could have helped UConn score effectively in the paint and given it a huge lift behind the arc, as teams shoot 33.9& from three against St. Bonaventure. Finally, Martin could have provided a huge lift on the boards, as the Bonnies are not particularly strong in this area.
Martin’s biggest competition for best all-around player on the Huskies is Sanogo, who will be out close to a month due to an abdominal strain after injuring himself against Grambling State. Sanogo, arguably the best big man in the Big East as a sophomore, is averaging 15.6 points, 6.3 rebounds and 1.8 blocks in eight games. Sanogo has a true shooting percentage of 57.9% and a block rate of 6.8%. Sanogo has three 20-point games, and at his best is unstoppable against defenders, constantly bulling him. He scored 30 points and had six rebounds in the tournament win against Auburn, scoring in a variety of ways. Sanogo’s two big weaknesses as a player right now are his reluctance to pass out of the post when covered and a tendency to get into foul trouble, though he has improved in the second area a lot this week.
Against St. Bonaventure, Sanogo could have gone toe-to-toe with the “6-10” Osun Ossuniyi on both ends, who’s averaging 3.3 blocks. Sanogo’s ability to block shots and shooting touch would have allowed him to have a solid game against the Bonnies. Looking ahead one game, Sanogo’s absence could hurt the Huskies on the 21st against Providence, as Friars center Nate Watson is averaging 15 points and 5.3 rebounds.
With no Martin and a limited Sanogo against UM-ES, UConn’s performances have been inconsistent so far between that game and West Virginia. Against a poor UM-ES squad, the Huskies played their worst game of the season and won by just nine points (72-53). They looked flat throughout, with RJ Cole (25 points and four assists) and Tyler Polley (14 points) basically dragging them to the win. UConn shot just 43.7% and outrebounded UM-ES just 33-30. UM-ES shot 47.1% and was in the game until the very end.
The Huskies rebounded against Grambling State last Saturday, winning 88-59. UConn dominated the boards, outrebounding GSU 48-33, and limited GSU to 39% shooting while forcing 16 turnovers and earning 10 blocks. Cole overcome a poor shooting day to go 10-11 at the line and score 18 points. He added seven assists and four steals. Whaley continued to be a rock inside, going for 12 and 8, and Jordan Hawkins recovered from a tough few game to score 15 points and knock down three treys. Akok Akok, had one of his best games of the season, finishing with 10 points and six rebounds.
If the depth UConn displayed against GSU made any fans think winning at West Virginia could be easy, they had another thing coming. The Huskies were a mess offensively for much of the game against the Mountaineers excellent D, and again lacked composure and efficiency at the end of a close game in the 56-53 loss. While much of the blame for the loss can be put at the feet of the Huskies shooting 3-21 from beyond the arc, there were a ton of other issues. The team’s ball handling was atrocious at times and UConn finished with 16 turnovers. Its rebounding was also lackluster, as the Huskies allowed WVU to earn 12 offensive rebounds and did a poor job boxing out. Finally, there was a huge disparity among the teams in foul shots and UConn went just 6-11 at the line. Their offensive showing negated an excellent defensive performance. The Huskies held the Mountaineers to 39.6% shooting and had eight steals. Their scoring was very unbalanced, as Taz Sherman and Sean McNeal scored 39 of the 56 points. Cole and Whaley were again UConn’s best players, scoring 14 (along with three assists and steals) and 15 points respectively. Cole had consecutive threes midway through the second half to finally put the Huskies in front for the first time.
The Huskies were able to overcome their offensive limitations and the pressure of the Mountaineers defense by dominating the paint and especially executing well on cuts in the first 30 minutes and were eventually able to take a 47-43 lead. From this point on however, West Virginia successfully upped the pressure even more and crawled back to tie the game. In the final five minutes, UConn had three turnovers, all generally unforced, multiple shot clock violations, scored just four points and committed six fouls. Even more concerning, Husky players were unable to adjust at all to a 1-3-1 zone that WVU coach Bob Huggins threw at UConn, and everyone besides Cole and Whaley looked like they didn’t want to take such high-pressure shots.
West Virginia was a loss that made me want to panic, as silly as that sounds. It wasn’t the fact that UConn lost, as this wasn’t a big surprise when the time was playing in a hostile environment down two strong players. It was having to see UConn crumble in the final minutes of a game again, with the team unable to avoid silly mistakes or adjust. I don’t know how much that is on the players just screwing up or not being prepared in general partially due to Danny Hurley. Eventually however, the program must show the ability to hold the lead in close games, particularly if they are on the road. Even as Hurley has gained more talent, he and his players have not demonstrated this is a major step they can take.
UConn should get the chance to prove they can win a close game against St. Bonaventure, particularly if Kyle Lofton (17.4 points and roughly six assists) returns to play and Martin is not available. If he does, it would change the complexion of the game. Even down two players however, the Huskies have faced tougher competition and the Bonnies defense does not measure up too many teams UConn has played). To win, the team will have to cut down on mistakes, adjust if their offensive approach is not working, and continue to rebound and defend well. I will give the Huskies the benefit of the doubt and say they get their second high-quality out of conference win. If they do, the WVU loss will be a blip on the radar. If UConn loses again however, I would be concerned about the team’s state of mind entering Big East play.
HUSKY NATION 