We Want Syracuse!
The Story: UConn’s second game under Dan Hurley re-emphasized what we learned from the first — we love the style. The Huskies played uptempo and spread the ball around as they cruised to a 94-66 win over UMKC behind 22 points from Tarin Smith. Jalen Adams added 20 points.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Smith, easily, with a calm and cool 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting. He’s under control, knows his game, is athletic and can score at all three levels (3-point, mid-range and at the rim). He was the Atlantic-10 Sixth Man of the Year last season at Duquesne, and most definitely will be in the mix this year in the AAC if he remains on the bench.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “I think Tarin is one of our very best players. I recruited him at Rhode Island and he went to Nebraska on me. I guess that’s why I’m not going to start him … maybe I hold grudges.”
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies shot 53.8 percent from the floor and 44.4 percent (12-of-27) from 3-point range. Per Katie Sharp, the Huskies’ 27 points off turnovers and 26 fastbreak points are the most in any game over the past five seasons.
WHAT WE REALLY REALLY LIKED: Adams’ efficiency over two games. He’s scored 36 points in 22 shots over two games and is shooting over 60 percent from the floor (14-of-22). He isn’t forcing anything and looks comfortable off the ball as a scoring threat. It’s coming easy for Adams as the bulk of the ballhandling abilities have been shifted to Alterique Gilbert, who is well worth the wait after two years lost due to injury. Now, what we need going forward is more shots from Adams. He isn’t the facilitator anymore. He is the scorer, and he needs to become the dominant scorer on this team.
VITAL’S SLOW START: Christian Vital has been the only one on the team pressing in the early going. While Smith’s play has been smooth, Vital has been overaggressive with a questionable shot selection. He was 2-of-13 on Sunday, and those 13 shots were the most on the team. He has to get under control and be more efficient. He is 5-of-21 and 2-of-12 from 3 with 13 points in two games.
BOTTOM LINE: It’s a good 2-0 start for the Huskies, who now find out where they are when they take on No. 16 Syracuse at MSG on Thursday. We like where this is headed with the style of play and the guard play. There are still a lot of analysts hedging their bets on the Huskies, and with good reason. But, Adams is looking like an NBA-caliber combo guard and Gilbert’s play is encouraging. The Huskies’ backcourt is loaded with talent and experience. The pace of play and the defense is going to give teams fits, and if Josh Carlton and Tyler Polley can play well against better competition (and what about Sidney Wilson?), the talent is there for an NCAA berth. Still, it’s too early for that talk, and the competition will be much better Thursday. That’s something we want to see.
UP NEXT: Syracuse! At MSG at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
New Year, More Of The Same (Domination) For Women
The Story: The UConn women opened up the season with another white-washing of an opponent, this time taking out Ohio State 83-52 before over 10,000 fans at Gampel Pavilion. Katie Lou Samuelson led the Huskies with 19 points.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Crystal Dangerfield scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and added four assists and five rebounds in 32 minutes. The junior point guard was in command throughout.
BREAKOUT PERFORMANCE: Megan Walker stepped into the starting lineup and was stellar with 15 points, including nine in the first quarter. Walker was the No. 1 recruit in the nation out of high school, but all that bought her on a loaded UConn team was a role off the bench. She averaged 15 minutes per game and 5.8 points per game last year. She’s going to need to do much more than that this year if the Huskies are going to live up to that No. 2 ranking. Walker is off to a good start. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies scored 42 points in the paint and 29 points off turnovers, and had 29 fastbreak points.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “I think when you come into a program like ours, there’s such a high premium put on competing and you have to be a very ,very competitive person in order to be successful here. I thought last year, right from the beginning, right from [Walker’s] first week of summer school, she was almost unaware of the fact that, ‘Oh, I have to compete?’ and it may have been a shock to her system, but there really wasn’t any of that last year.”
BOTTOM LINE: Ohio State was no match for the Huskies, who may be replacing two big-time starters but remain one of the more talented teams in the nation. They don’t have quite the depth they have in years past, but reaching a 12th straight Final Four doesn’t seem like a reach.
NEXT VICTIM: Oddly, the Huskies have an exhibition game on Thursday against Southern Connecticut State. Their next real game is Saturday against Vanderbilt.
Huskies FB Scores Lots, Allows Lots More
The Story: At least it was exciting. UConn lost to SMU 62-50 at Rentschler Field on Saturday to fall to 1-9 on the season. Not since 2009, when they dropped 56 on Syracuse, have they scored more points against an FBS team, and man, does that seem so, so, long ago.
ELITE COMPANY: Quarterback David Pindell threw for 214 yards and four touchdowns, and he ran for 181 yards and twice crossed the goal line, as he continues to march toward one of the most spectacular seasons in school history. As the Waterbury Republican-American’s Ed Daigneault pointed out, Pindell is set to join Dan Orlovsky as only the second player since 1952 to account for more than 3,000 yards in a single season
It’s hard not to feel for players such as Pindell, a senior and junior college transfer who committed to UConn expecting much better things. Instead, what he will end up accomplishing will likely be forgotten in the misery of the season, and we can only wonder what he could have done with significant talent around him on both sides of the ball.
WELCOME HOME: The Huskies were overjoyed to have linebacker Eli Thomas serve as an honorary captain for the first time since he suffered a stroke prior to a team workout on Oct. 10. Thomas, who has been recovering at home in Elmira, New York, is able to walk but is still regaining his ability to speak.
WHAT’S NEXT: UConn travels to the state of East Carolina for its annual barnburner. The Pirates, 2-7 and picked to finish behind the Huskies in the preseason media poll, would have had one more defeat if their game at Virginia Tech in September wasn’t canceled because of Hurricane Florence.
Morning Read
GRAD TRANSFER SMITH STARS: Tarin Smith is coming off the bench, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t worthy to start. (Hartford Courant)
EYES TOWARD EXCELLENCE: For Alterique Gilbert, there were flashes, good signs. But those who remember the kind of player he was coming out of high school know UConn fans have seen only the surface scratched. (Hartford Courant)
GENO ON WALKER: Not every “great” high school player gets it right away. For Megan Walker, it took her a year to figure it out. (The UConn Blog).
UCONN-UMKC IN PICTURES: Photo gallery of UConn’s win over UMKC (The UConn Blog).
SAME OLD JIM: Jim Calhoun was back on the sidelines on Friday, smashing stools, riding officials and, yes, even earning a technical in his debut coaching Saint Joseph. (Hartford Courant)
RASH SCRATCHES AN ITCH: Rashamel Jones, who won the national championship with UConn in 1999, has joined up with Calhoun at Saint Joseph as an assistant coach — a job he has loved to take on. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
GILBERT ALWAYS HAD THE GAME: Alterique Gilbert, a former McDonald’s All-American, is fitting in just fine after two years on the shelf. (Journal-Inquirer)
FIELD HOCKEY OUT: The No. 5 UConn field hockey team was eliminated from the NCAA tournament after an overtime loss at Maryland on Sunday.
HOMETOWN RALLIES AROUND THOMAS: Eli Thomas‘ hometown is holding a fundraiser after he suffered a stroke last month. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
MMM, BETTING: The Huskies are -18 against East Carolina, coming this Saturday.
