That’s the Way the Ball Bounces …
The Story: The men’s basketball team, which faces Temple on the road at 7 p.m. on ESPNews, has lost several games this season by close margins and has been one of the least lucky in Division I.
HOW SO? The Huskies have lost their last four games by a combined 17 points. According to the sharp eye of Ed Daigneault of the Republican-American, the Huskies have never before lost four consecutive games by six or fewer points. Remember, too, that two of those four losses were in overtime, and one was a double-overtime defeat to Wichita State. They also lost to Xavier in double overtime in November and to Indiana by three points in December. All told, the Huskies (10-9, 1-5 AAC) have lost their nine games by an average of 6.8 points.
UNFORTUNATE SONS: Exactly how lucky a team has been is quantified by KenPom.com, which essentially evaluates the deviation between a team’s expected and actual winning percentage. Ken Pomeroy calculates the Huskies as being the 348th luckiest team out of 353, or, in essence, the sixth least-luckiest team in the country this season, behind VMI, Cornell, Fresno State, UT Arlington and Northwestern. (VMI, by comparison, has lost five games by three or fewer points.) We all know the Huskies should be better than they are by watching them, and there’s no doubt they’ve lost a few games they shouldn’t have.
WHAT DID DAN HURLEY SAY? “I’ve never seen anything like [it]. I mean, I’ve never, obviously, been through it as a player or a coach just where a group just fights so hard and competes. Two of those on the road against like, two of the hardest, most physical, kind of like the toughest teams to play against in Houston and Villanova, and just the fact that this group of guys just keeps putting themselves in position to win, you just hope you get rewarded soon.”
ABOUT TEMPLE: The Owls (10-9, 2-5 AAC), in their first year under coach Aaron McKie, have had their own share of growing pains this season. They’re one of the worst scoring and shooting teams in the conference at only 67.9 points and 40.2 percent per game. Still, they have one of the conference’s most dynamic scorers in Quinton Rose, who is scoring 15.4 points per game, and Nate Pierre-Louis is averaging 11.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
Who’s Going To Pass the Test?
The Story: Like their counterparts, the women’s basketball team is about to face its most difficult stretch of the season, starting tomorrow with a game against Cincinnati.
WHAT’S ON DECK? After the No. 4-ranked Huskies host the Bearcats, they will welcome No. 3 Oregon, a bona fide national championship contender, on Monday, and host Memphis on Feb. 7 in a rematch of a game UConn only won by 12 points earlier this month. Then they will hit the road to face No. 1 South Carolina three days later and follow up with a game at USF on Feb. 16. And that’s not including the exhibition loss against Team USA on Monday, which didn’t count.
WHAT DO WE KNOW? The Huskies aren’t one of the best teams in the country, but they’re no slouches, either, despite how much Geno Auriemma wants to pour water on their potential. Granted, they’re not blowing out AAC teams like they have in the past, but they’re playing well on the whole — especially as of late, with an emphatic win over then-No. 23 Tennessee followed by the loss to Team USA on Monday, when they actually led early in the fourth quarter. They’re not always the fastest-starting team, as evidenced by their struggles early against Seton Hall, Memphis and Wichita State, but they’ve been able to gather themselves and close out wins no matter how they happen. In fact, the only game in which they’ve looked totally overmatched was against Baylor earlier this month — and that was to be expected.
WHO’S BEEN THRIVING? UConn knows it can count on Crystal Dangerfield and Megan Walker each night, which is exactly what was expected of both players entering the season. Dangerfield, who was overshadowed by Napheesa Collier and Katie Lou Samuelson last season, is averaging 15.2 points and 4.0 assists per game. Walker, meanwhile, is leading the Huskies with 19.6 points and 8.8 rebounds per game and also has 3.2 assists per game. They’re valuable scoring threats, especially from deep, and are the engines that are pacing the offense. We’ll also say the Huskies are getting at least what’s been expected from freshmen Anna Makurat and Aubrey Griffin, who have alternated as valuable playmakers off the bench.
WHO NEEDS MORE? We’re hesitant to put Christyn Williams in this category, since she’s averaging 16.0 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, and we’re probably nitpicking, but her performance in the first half of the game against Tennessee was a concern even though she has reached double figures in scoring all but twice and bounced back with 26 points against East Carolina on Saturday. Olivia Nelson-Ododa got off to a hot start and was one of the most eye-opening players in the country, especially defensively, but she needs to be more of a presence in big games. And, really, any of the Huskies’ bench players could give more, since anything they prove can earn them a larger role when needed; just ask Kyla Irwin.
Morning Reads
PAYING HER RESPECTS: Like Breanna Stewart before her, Paige Bueckers wrote the names of the nine victims of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna on Sunday on her shoes, only hers were some slick-looking UConn kicks. (Paige Bueckers on Twitter)
ONE LAST RUN: Former UConn stars Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi are preparing to play in the Olympics for the fifth and final time this summer. (The UConn Blog)
GREAT EIGHT: Although he chose to wear No. 8 with the Celtics because No. 15 is retired, Kemba Walker said he’s considering changing it again in honor of Bryant. (NESN.com)
