Adams Boosts Huskies in a Big Way
The Story: Jalen Adams begged his way back onto the court for the season final and scored 13 points and dished out 12 assists as UConn ended the regular season with its first road win in an 82-73 victory over East Carolina yesterday.
Josh Carlton had 20 points and 10 rebounds and Tyler Polley added 19 for the Huskies, who, at 15-16 and 6-12 in the conference, are headed to the AAC tournament as the No. 9 seed.
ADAMS BACK? ‘MOST DEFINITELY’: Adams, recovering from a sprained MCL in his left knee, was asked by Dan Hurley if he could play despite the Huskies having little on the line. No one at UConn was pushing him to play, and there are many reasons he could sit out with a looming pro career, but Adams wanted to play. So, Hurley gave in to his request. All we got was one of the better games of Adams’ career as the senior, playing for the first time since Feb. 6, played a team-high 36 minutes and matched his career high in assists.
It was reminiscent of times of old for Adams, who took over as the Huskies’ point guard with Alterique Gilbert out because of a concussion and looked more than comfortable on the court. With 1,672 points, he’s also two shy of moving past Wes Bialosuknia into 10th all-time in scoring at UConn.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “He’s had in his mind since he’s been injured that he wanted to wear that uniform again. It meant a lot to him. He didn’t want to come out of the game, because he desperately wanted to get this win and get a little momentum going into next week.”
HOMECOMING FOR CARLTON: Carlton was again dominant as he missed only one shot and finished with his third double-double of the season. Playing just minutes from his home in Winterville, North Carolina, Carlton made his family proud with one of his best efforts of his career. On the bad side, he had six turnovers, most on travels, and if he learns to dribble, he would have even had several more easy baskets.
POLLEY POWER: Polley had 19 points and was 5-of-7 from 3-point range to finish one point shy of his career high. Polley’s shooting has stabilized since a midseason slump and he is shooting 39.7 percent from 3-point range on the season.
ROAD WARRIORS: UConn avoided going winless on the road for the first time since the 1968-69 season. It was the Huskies’ first road win since Feb. 18, 2018, also at ECU. The last time they won a road game against a team other than the Pirates was on Jan. 13, 2018, when they won at Tulane.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies shot a season-high 62.5 percent (30-of-48) and had 20 assists on 30 baskets. They even hit 16-of-19 from the free throw line for a cool 84.2 percent. UConn dominated in the paint, holding a 40-22 advantage in inside scoring, and had 10 fastbreak points while holding ECU to zero. Shawn Williams had a team-high 20 points for the Pirates, who shot 49.1 percent (26-of-53) and made 8-of-15 3-pointers.
UP NEXT: The Huskies will play No. 8 seed USF in the first round of the AAC tournament in Memphis on Thursday at 1 p.m. The winner plays No. 1 seed Houston in the quarterfinals on Friday.
It's here! The 2019 @AirForceReserve @American_MBB Championship bracket is set – all the action begins on Thursday at @FedExForum!
📝Bracket Announcement and Team-by-Team Info: https://t.co/Gx4CyDeyhv pic.twitter.com/9PWxqmI6T8
— The American (@American_Conf) March 10, 2019
Huskies to Battle Knights for Crown
The Story: Top-seeded UConn defeated No. 5 seed USF 85-41 in the AAC women’s basketball tournament semifinals yesterday, setting up a game against No. 2 seed UCF for the conference title tonight at Mohegan Sun (7 p.m., ESPN2).
TITLE TIME: The Huskies, playing in a conference tournament final for the 15th consecutive season, won the event in each of its first five years. They’ll face the Knights for a third time, having won 93-57 in Hartford on Jan. 27 and 78-41 in Orlando on Feb. 17. UCF last played in a tournament final in 2013, when it was part of Conference USA.
FILLING THE VOID: The Huskies have been playing without Katie Lou Samuelson, who was ruled out on Friday because of a back injury — a scenario we envisioned that morning. And while Napheesa Collier, named the AAC Player of the Year before the tournament, continues to do Napheesa Collier things, it’s been nice to see her teammates step up in Samuelson’s absence.
Olivia Nelson-Ododa started in Samuelson’s place in the first two tournament games and had an eye-opening 17 rebounds and five blocks in the 92-65 win over ECU in the quarterfinals on Saturday. She had seven points and four rebounds yesterday as Megan Walker did the heavy lifting, scoring a team-high 24 points with seven rebounds. “Coach expects a lot out of me, because [Collier and Samuelson] can’t do it by themselves,” Walker said.
AS FOR COLLIER…: Collier, who had 37 points and 13 rebounds against the Pirates on Saturday, followed up with 23 points and 12 rebounds against USF and made three of four 3-pointers. Notably, with Samuelson out, Collier passed her and moved into fourth place on UConn’s all-time scoring list, leaving her 72 points shy of Tina Charles for third.
A DEFENSIVE BATTLE: UConn’s two regular-season games against USF were a bit odd, with Geno Auriemma pulling his starters in a line change in the first meeting in January and another lethargic, uninspired performance in the rematch last week. The Huskies were much more in control and focused this time out, partly because the Bulls were playing their third game in three days with essentially a six-player rotation. USF shot 26.2 percent (16-of-61) and made just one of 16 3-point attempts.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “What a big difference from a week ago. Our defense kind of set the tone for everything that happened the rest of the game. We were really locked in right from the beginning and that created a lot of great opportunities for us at the other end, and then [Collier] and [Walker] just made shots.”
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies shot 53.3 percent and 47.1 percent (8-of-17) from 3-point range. Oddly, they held just a 38-34 edge in rebounding, outscoring the Bulls 16-11 in second-chance points and 30-24 inside.
Our 2019 @American_WBB Championship matchup is set! Here's an updated look at the #AmericanHoops bracket as we head into tomorrow's title matchup.
All the box scores, recaps, highlights & Monday's links are at https://t.co/2THLUCNRHg! pic.twitter.com/WbnfUrElG6
— The American (@American_Conf) March 11, 2019
Morning Reads
MEET THOMPKINS: Kevin Mensah is one of the more productive running backs in the AAC and he is going to get help from grad transfer Art Thompkins, a speedy back from Toledo who he averaged 6.2 yards per carry with the Rockets. (Hartford Courant)
HUSKA SIGNS WITH RANGERS: Goaltender Adam Huska, a 2015 draft pick of the New York Rangers, signed an entry-level contract on Saturday and made his debut for the Hartford Wolf Pack yesterday in a 5-3 loss to the Hershey Bears. (HartfordWolfPack.com)
OUT ON A HIGH NOTE: The men’s hockey team, which will miss the Hockey East tournament for the first time, ended the season in grand fashion by defeating No. 2 UMass 4-3 on Friday night behind a pair of goals from Benjamin Freeman. (UConnHuskies.com)
HUSKIES LOSE FINALE: The baseball team’s three-game winning streak was snapped with a 5-3 loss at Texas State yesterday, though it still managed to win the series. (UConnHuskies.com)
