By all reasonable metrics, myself and other readers and devoted fans of the Huskies should be pretty satisfied with how the season has played out. UConn is 15-5 and 6-3 in the Big East, just came off of a five-game win streak and in the top 25 in both the AP polls and multiple ranking systems like NET and KenPom. In addition, the team has a few impressive wins already, including one of the best of the entire college basketball season against No. 1 Auburn. And yet the last five days have been extremely stressful for Husky fans, especially after Tuesday’s 59-55 home less to Creighton.
The Huskies quickly morphed from one of the best offenses in the Big East to one that struggled to create shots and convert on quality opportunities against DePaul in a 57-50 win and the Bluejays, as well as being way too reliant one or two players. Combine fears of a limited offense with the Huskies issue of winning close games, and everybody is on edge going into Saturday’s game a t powerhouse Villanova and then a tough schedule for the remainder of February.
After six consecutive games in which UConn scored at least 75 points and demonstrated depth and ability to shoot from the perimeter, that came to a screeching halt against DePaul (10-10, 1-9) last Saturday. The Huskies missed a ton of open shots and struggled with careless ball-handling, went into halftime struggling 29-28 and really didn’t gain control of the game until midway in the second half. R.J. Cole single-handily kept his team in the game in the first half, as the redshirt senior made a serious of tough layups and jumpers on his way to 16 of their first 21 points.
In the second Adama Sanago gave UConn a huge lift by scoring six consecutive points to open the game and Cole continued his brilliant play. A relentless defense limited the Demon Deacons to just six points in the first 10 minutes of the half and the Huskies did enough from there to secure a hard-fought win. Cole finished with 25 points on 9-17 shooting and 5-5 at the free throw line and Sanago had 10 and eight rebounds. Andre Jackson scores seven points, snatched 13 rebounds and added three assists. The Huskies shot just 37% overall and 2-15 from three, but took control of the game in the second half partly by dominating the boards, where they outrebounded DePaul 45-35. Besides Javan and Brandon Johnson, who scored a combined 32 points, no one else on their squad scored more than seven as they shot 28.8%.
I’ll go into specific details about the Creighton game a lot more below, but it was extremely painful to watch the 59-55 loss. The Bluejays (13-7, 5-4 as of Monday morning) entered the game coming off two tough losses and on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament, and from the opening tip looked more energetic and stronger than UConn. It shot just 28.6%, with the Huskies ever forcing shots against a big and physical defense or missing wide-open shots. Against one of the best rebounding teams in the country, Creighton outrebounded UConn 27-16 and earned 11 second-chance points in the first half. The Huskies did a poor job boxing out around the rim and getting to loose balls. They managed to stay in the game only due to the performance of Isiah Whaley, wo scored their first nine points and finished the half with 11 points on 5-8 shooting, and solid defense around the rim that helped hold Creighton to 40%.
The second half shared a lot of similarities with UConn’s loss to Providence in December. Its defense improved their switching and rebounding and altered more shots at the rim, and Adama Sanogo and R.J. Cole briefly stepped up to support the hot-shooting Whaley. Two threes by a wide-open Whaley tied the game at 37 with 13:18 to go, and a key Whaley block and Sanago hook shot gave the Huskies a 41-39 lead at 10:13. After the teams scored baskets for a short time, Alex O’Connell gave Creighton the lead with a dunk off a turnover by Whaley with 5:22 remaining and his team stayed in front the remainder of the game. UConn failed to make a field goal for more than seven minutes starting with 7:56 left, missing numerous open jumpers and putback attempts as Bluejays defenders continued to push them around. Despite a valiant defensive effort by the Huskies, Creighton did just enough on offense and at the free throw line to escape Hartford with a 4-point victory.
While UConn won many of the team statical categories in comparison to Creighton, its ineptitude on offense and lousy start led to its downfall Tuesday. The team ultimately shot just 29.9%, including a ridiculous 34.2%% from three, and Whaley was the 3-point offense for the Huskies, going 4-8 to his teammates 1-13. While Whaley was excellent, going for 20 and nine rebounds, no teammates was efficient on offense. Andre Jackson and Tyrese Martin combined for just 12 points on 4-20 shooting in 69 minutes, and Cole and Sanago struggled to score against Creighton’s size and physicality, ultimately finishing with a combined 23 points. Most egregiously, the Huskies four bench player scored just two points and went 0-8 from the field, with only Tyler Polley playing significant minutes (Creighton’s bench had 13, with Tyler Alexander scoring 11 points). The Bluejays may have shot just 39.3% and had more turnovers and fewer steals and blocks, but to UConn fans they are empty numbers. Hurley definitely summed up the feelings of myself and other fans when he called the loss an “embarrassment” and “stunning”.
Despite the sense of frustration after Tuesday, there are a lot of positives to take from the DePaul and Creighton contests. UConn played excellent defense, R.J and Whaley had signature performances and the team again showed the ability to rally from poor starts to take control of games. And at times they again showed the ability to dominate the glass, even if the Huskies don’t take advantage of this enough. Now, it’s time for the program to get a signature road win against a powerhouse for the first time in forever at Villanova tomorrow. Below, I talk about my observations about UConn’s offensive and defensive play the last two weeks, the impact of good Cole against bad Cole, and concerns about poor bench contribution, among other topics.
UConn Suffered on Offense in Each Game in Different Ways
Against Butler, the Huskies offensive issues were more due to missing open high-quality shots and sloppy turnovers as well as foul trouble for the big men. It’s not like Martin, Jackson, Polley and Jordan Hawkins didn’t get good open looks from the deep or the opportunity to finish at the rim. They just didn’t, for reasons like poor spacing and rushing spots to bad bounces. Jackson, Whaley and Sanago, who combined for 10 of the 13 turnovers, were too loose with the ball against a Demon Deacons squad that gave UConn a lot of trouble due to their physicality. Luckily for the Huskies, Cole was brilliant at finishing shots (more on his performance below) and Sanago and Jackson did just enough to help the offense escape Chicago with the win.
In contrast, the Huskies biggest offensive issues against Creighton were more buried in shot selection and not moving the ball effectively. In the first half, players forced a lot of midrange or 3-point attempts that they were short on or took off balance instead of looking harder for the open man. Creighton’s size and physicality made it difficult for UConn’s guards and bigs, especially Cole, to finish shots, and the Huskies found it difficult to push the pace and get fastbreak opportunities due to rebounding issues. Especially in the first half, the offense looked incredibly static and didn’t seem to be running a lot of creative sets. Who knows how much of that is on the players and then on Dan Hurley.
While the Huskies briefly got going on offense in the second half, largely thanks to Whaley, the team fell into a trap of playing hero ball and returned to being static as the BlueJays retook the lead and the clock got closer to zero. Cole, in particular, found it very difficult to finish against bigger guards. Sanago had issues establishing position deep in the paint against defender Arthur Kaluma and his teammates didn’t look for him hard enough. UConn could have made it easier for itself by scoring on putbacks or earning and making free throws, but it instead looks helpless on second-chance opportunities (Not going up hard enough? Bad technique? Poor luck? Probably a combination of all these factors). If the team could have converted on three or four more second-chance opportunities and missed fewer front end free throws, they would have one. Frankly however, the team didn’t deserve to.
The Defense was On Point for Nearly 40 Minutes in Both Games
No, the Bluejays and Demon Deacons are not anyone’s idea of offensive juggernauts, and UConn benefited from the absence of star Javon Freeman-Liberty against DePaul. However, the Huskies still have a lot to be proud of from these efforts. They shut down the paint in both games, consistently altering shots and pressuring ball-handlers using their athleticism. After poor starts in both games, UConn did a much better job of challenging perimeter shooters in second halves. UConn did a great job of keeping DePaul off the offensive boards. And most importantly, the Huskies never seemed to lack energy on defense in either game in contrast to its offense. Cole, Martin and Whaley did a particularly strong job of playing defense between the games.
Between DePaul and Creighton, the Huskies held both teams under 40% shooting, 23 turnovers, just 12 assists and only a combined 47 points in the game’s second halves. After a lackluster defensive showing against Georgetown, the defense could have easily been discouraged and slacked off in the next two games. Instead, it shook things up and demonstrated better fundamentals and communication in the following games, and that is why UConn’s identity is centered on its defense.
R.J. Cole is Jekyll and Hyde
Cole is by far UConn’s most indispensable player. When he is on, the Huskies have a dynamic player who can create shots and facilitate others and the offense runs much smoother. When Cole is contained or off and no one else steps up as a leader sand shot creator, the team is almost guaranteed to suffer a loss. Cole was absolutely brilliant in the win over DePaul. He scored 16 of UConn’s first 21 points to keep it within striking distance. Cole knocked down a series of jumpers and used his athleticism to beat defenders at the rim. In the second half, Cole continued to score effectively and facilitate well on offense while playing aggressive defense and helped close the game out at the line. He finished with 25 points and five rebounds.
The Creighton loss showed how thin the line is between winning and losing for UConn when Cole doesn’t play well. The Bluejays weren’t a great matchup for the redshirt senior with their size and physicality, and with almost no teammates playing well everything was put on Cole’s shoulders. He could not score effectively at the rim, and when Cole’s outside shots weren’t falling at the beginning of the game, he seemed to lose confidence in them. While Cole struggled to get to the line, he missed multiple key free throws late that helped kill a UConn rally, a mistake that is inexcusable for someone that is almost automatic at the charity stripe. By the end too much was being asked of Cole on both ends and it clear he was completely fatigued.
Even with his poor play against Creighton, I don’t put too much blame on him for the loss. Cole was doing his best to provide leadership and play excellent defense as well on offense, and ultimately the challenge was too big for him against a team that is a bad matchup. While Cole needs to be more efficient offensively, he cannot be at his best unless others are making outside shots to open up the lane for him. When Cole has performances like Tuesday’s it shows just how glaring the absence of more shot creators and a reliable backup point guard is for the Huskies.
Another Game, Another Slow Start
It seems like you can count on one hand the number of games UConn has gotten off to a quick start, no matter the level of competition. The team fell behind by double digits early in the first half against both DePaul and Creighton, with the defense and a single player (Cole against DePaul and Whaley against Creighton) keeping the offense afloat before it improved its play in the second half. In the opening half against Creighton, everyone named Isiah shot just 18.5% Such slow starts will put heavy pressure on the team and certain players as the Huskies force even tougher competition in February starting with Villanova tomorrow. There is a lot of adjustments the team can make to get going earlier, such as increasing the pace of play, running more creative sets and changing around the starting lineup, which Hurley has alluded to. Whatever is done, a team supposedly at the level should not experience this issue again and again.
The Bench is Nonexistent
Against DePaul and Creighton, the bench of Tyler Polley, Jalen Gaffney, Jordan Hawkins and Akok Akok scored a combined six points while making just one field goal and missing all their 3-pointers despite Hawkins and Polley’s reputation as 3-point specialists. With none of the quartet reliable against the opponents and Polley the only one playing a large number of minutes, it is understandable that the starters tired against Creighton and in other games, especially Cole. The depth Dan Hurley talked about before the season has largely been nonexistent outside the starters, and unless the bench starts showing up the Huskies will struggle heavily to beat the upper echelon of Big East teams. At least one of Polley and Hawkins has to be reliable every game, and Gaffney has to be able to be a reliable backup guard who can generate points off the bench (its hard to get a handle on Akok’s role at all right now). I am confident there is a decent chance UConn could kick-start the bench by experimenting with the starting lineup, but I never imagined it would be this unreliable by February.
HUSKY NATION 