Huskies Fight Through Funk, Top Cincinnati
The Story: The women’s basketball team had to sweat out another ominous start, but the Huskies eventually got their act together and throttled Cincinnati 80-50 at Gampel Pavilion last night. Crystal Dangerfield scored a game-high 24 points and Megan Walker had her seventh double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
ALL EYES ON WALKER: Walker, who scored her 1,000th career point on a layup with 4:21 left in the first quarter, had yet another strong game despite twice being poked in the eye. She missed most of the third quarter after it happened for a second time but returned to start the fourth. She probably didn’t need to return as the Huskies were up 54-40, but she said she felt obligated to help her teammates and thus pestered Geno Auriemma for the opportunity.
A SLUGGISH SECOND: The Huskies led 26-9 after the first quarter but were outscored 22-9 in the second, meaning they headed into halftime with only a 35-31 lead. They went just 4-for-16 in the second quarter and missed all five of their 3-pointers, while Cincinnati shot 10-for-19 and made two of its three 3-point attempts. It was an unusually stagnant quarter for UConn, which seemingly felt like it was set for another cakewalk after the romp at East Carolina last weekend. It might be due to the schedule: The game was the Huskies’ fourth in eight days.
WILLIAMS STEPS UP: Christyn Williams has been off and on with her shot in recent games — she went 9-for-33 in the three games leading up to the ECU win, in which she went 11-for-17 for 26 points — and she had another similar performance last night. She finished with 12 points, 10 of which were scored when Walker and Olivia Nelson-Ododa sat during the third quarter, but also missed wildly overshot a corner 3-pointer and attempted a layup that went off the bottom of the backboard. She’s shooting 47.4 percent this season, which is still a very good mark, but she’ll need to start ironing out that consistency. (So, too, for that matter, will Nelson-Ododa, who had 12 points and nine rebounds in 23 minutes while again battling foul trouble.)
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “It’s a tiring stretch that we’re in. It’s been pretty grueling. Maybe it just caught up with us a little bit and we needed to get our second wind at halftime.”
UP NEXT: The Huskies (19-1, 9-0 AAC) will play what is likely their biggest game of the year on Monday when they host Sabrina Ionescu and No. 3 Oregon (18-2, 8-1 Pac-12), a national championship contender, at Gampel Pavilion.
Hurley to Kids: Show ‘Em What You’ve Got
The Story: It appears the keys to the Huskies are being handed over to the young’ns as Jalen Gaffney, James Bouknight and Akok Akok are all in position to continue to start against Memphis tomorrow (1 p.m., CBS).
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Gaffney became the last of the Huskies’ freshmen to start when he did so against Temple on Wednesday, finishing with nine points and five assists in 36 minutes in UConn’s 78-63 win. Gaffney stepped into the lineup in place of Alterique Gilbert, who did not play because of what Dan Hurley called “personal reasons,” and though he only shot 2-for-10, he played with poise and excitement.
WHAT’S UP WITH AL? The short answer is that we don’t really know, but it seems like Gilbert would like to take a few games to clear his head and refocus after a very trying season. Benched for all but six minutes in the second half of the loss to Tulsa on Sunday, Gilbert is averaging 8.9 points and 4.4 assists per game, but he’s also shooting 32.8 percent and has missed at least six shots in 11 of his 20 games this season. Remember, Gilbert was a McDonald’s All-American in 2016 alongside players such as Lonzo Ball, Jayson Tatum, De’Aaron Fox and Markelle Fultz, and after losing two seasons because of injury and struggling when he has played, he’s undoubtedly a bit lost right now.
A GOOD OMEN? The last time the Huskies started three freshmen in a game was in the national championship game in 2011, when Jeremy Lamb, Roscoe Smith and Tyler Olander shared the court with Kemba Walker and Alex Oriakhi. Those three ended up having very different careers — Olander, if you’ll recall, has won more national titles than Jim Boeheim — but it was evident they were quality players. Let’s hope Gaffney, Bouknight and Akok have the opportunity to play at that level at some point.
THE NUMBERS: Let’s take a quick look at the freshmen’s season averages:
- Akok: 20 games, 20 starts, 29.1 minutes: 6.8 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.0 blocks, 44.2 percent shooting
- Bouknight: 17 games, 5 starts, 21.5 minutes: 9.9 points, 3.4 rebounds, 47.7 percent shooting
- Gaffney: 20 games, 1 start, 14.6 minutes: 3.1 points, 1.7 assists, 33.3 percent shooting
WHAT DID AKOK SAY? “This is what the program is coming to. People who are Hurley-recruited, like myself, are going to try to come out there and show what we can do.”
WHY NOT? Good things were happening in the second half against Tulsa, and the win over Temple on Wednesday was an utter blowout. With the Huskies at 11-9 and 2-5 in the AAC, why not give the younger players some time and see what they can do and let them establish a foundation for next season and beyond?
ABOUT MEMPHIS: The Tigers (15-5, 4-3 AAC) have had a precipitous fall since James Wiseman was declared ineligible and then left the school. They peaked at No. 9 in the Associated Press poll but fell out of it completely on Monday following an incredible 80-40 loss at Tulsa last week. Freshman Precious Achiuwa, a former top UConn recruiting target, leads the team with 15.2 points and 10.2 rebounds and D.J. Jeffries is averaging 10.8 points per game. Memphis’ strength is its defense, Tulsa aside, and that does not bode well for UConn, which hasn’t had the most fluid offense this season.
UConn Inks Games vs. Michigan, UNC
The Story: The football team has added three more games to its upcoming schedules, securing a guarantee game at Michigan in 2022 and a home-and-home with North Carolina for later in the decade.
WARDE TO THE RESCUE: The Huskies will return to The Big House on Sept. 17, 2022, with Michigan paying UConn $1.8 million to travel to Ann Arbor to play the game. A tip of the hat goes to former athletic director Warde Manuel, who took that job in 2016 and certainly helped grease the palms to make it happen (though why couldn’t he be a nice guy and pay just a little bit more?!). It’s a good move for the Huskies, who need those kinds of games financially. They’ve also booked a pair of guarantee games for November 2021, when they’ll play at Clemson for $1.2 million and at UCF a week later for $1 million, and one for 2023, when they’ll head to Tennessee for $1.8 million. (All of the future schedules can be found here.)
TAR HEELS UNDER FOOT: North Carolina will reappear on the Huskies’ schedule in 2026 and 2027, with UConn hitting the road for the first game before hosting the second. Before you ask, yes, it’s ridiculous that teams are scheduling games six years in advance, but that’s the cost of doing business these days — and given that UConn has 12 dates to fill, instead of the four or five most teams have, it’s smart to get ahead of the curve.
A WORTHY TRADEOFF: Look, we still have no idea how independent life is going to go for the Huskies — there’s no word about television windows or potential bowl agreements — but consider how much the quality of the opponent has drastically increased. The guarantee games (well, at least three of them) are against historic programs and the home-and-home series are against a good selection of Big Ten and ACC teams. Sure, there’s the matter of winning the games, too, as nobody’s going to care to see any opponent if the Huskies aren’t competitive. But at least there’s some kind of appeal to seeing name-brand teams like Purdue and Maryland cycle through Rentschler Field instead of AAC teams like SMU, East Carolina and Oklahoma Panhandle State.
BEAUDRY, HERRING-WILSON FIND HOMES: Two more former UConn players found new teams yesterday, with quarterback Mike Beaudry, who was born and raised in Saskatchewan, subtly announcing on Twitter he is transferring to Idaho and cornerback Tahj Herring-Wilson, born and raised in Hartford, landing at Arkansas State.
Morning Reads
CRUNCH TIME: The women’s hockey team (14-11-1, 11-7-1 HE) will hit the road for a game at Northeastern this afternoon before returning home to face Providence tomorrow afternoon. (UConnHuskies.com)
STUFF THE XL: The men’s hockey team (9-12-4, 6-7-2 HE) is on a mission to sell out the XL Center for its game Saturday afternoon against New Hampshire, the second in a weekend home-and-home series. (UConnHuskies.com)
ISN’T IT OBVIOUS: Even though she’s a sophomore in high school, Isuneh Brady always knew she wanted to play for UConn and Geno Auriemma, which is why she committed in November. (Hartford Courant)
USJ RESPONDS TO LAWSUIT: Saint Joseph denied allegations of discrimination and sexual harassment fostered in its athletic department by Jim Calhoun and Glen Miller in a response filed in federal court earlier this week. (Hartford Courant)
IT’S A RUFF LIFE: What exactly does Jonathan, the live mascot, do during a game? He brings plenty of happiness to those who get the chance to meet him. (The Athletic)
