Hurley Takes On Seton Hall, His Alma Mater
The Story: The men’s basketball team is back on the court, we hope, on Saturday when it plays old friend Seton Hall, the alma mater of our own Dan Hurley, at noon on Fox.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The Huskies will have not played since a 63-51 win over Butler on Jan. 26. COVID-19 has been the Huskies’ most difficult foe this season as it is February and they have only played 11 games. The last pause, which was the result of a referee testing positive for the disease, drove us nuts here at the Daily and we are sure it did for you, too. Butler played two days later while the Huskies went into their third shutdown of the season. UConn is going to be rusty, and it’s going to be tough sledding against Seton Hall, which snapped a three-game losing streak with a win over Providence on Wednesday.
JACKSON, AKOK, BOUKNIGHT! We don’t think we are going to see James Bouknight anytime soon. He’s still a couple of weeks away, or the way things are going, two games (we have to look on the bright side!). But the time between games should have allowed time for small forward Andre Jackson and power forward Akok Akok to heal more. Could we see Akok on Sunday? We hope so. Jackson being on the floor will be a blessing. His freshman year has been a wash as he broke his left wrist in practice before Christmas and we think that has to have been a miserable experience. But if his wrist has healed, the Huskies could sorely use some more athleticism and slashing on the wing and in transition. Jackson isn’t a shooter, but he is a scorer and will attack the hoop with his athleticism. We like Akok as a center option who can shoot the 3. He can block shots and be an inside presence as the Huskies are a grinding defensive team.
WHY PLAY SO SLOW? Hurley talked a bit about UConn’s offense on The Coach’s Corner podcast this week. We hate UConn’s plodding offense, yet we understand it. UConn’s pace is one of the slowest in the nation and Hurley acknowledged that, but he said the reason is the lack of creators with Bouknight out. UConn just doesn’t have the skill to break down defenses easily and is more reliant on running plays and taking good shots. Do we buy it? Absolutely. Do we like it? No. But all indications are Huskies are going to increase the tempo a little more once they get more players who can create off the dribble.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “I would love to play faster. … We don’t have a ton of creators. Our offense is tied to our defense and at times we are pretty good, sometimes really good defensively. It slows the game down.”
HURLEY AT SETON HALL: We remember Hurley as a player. He was kind of like he is as a coach — intense and combative — and if he wasn’t on your team, he was annoying to play against. (We won’t show the tight shorts he played in.) He was a good player who scored more than 1,000 points in his career and averaged about 25 minutes per game.
ABOUT SETON HALL: The Pirates (10-8, 7-5 Big East) have played an amazing 18 games. During their three-game losing streak, they lost twice to Villanova by a total of 10 points and also lost by four to Creighton. So, Seton Hall is much better than its record, showcased by the 17-point win over Providence. Sandro Mamukelashvili is averaging 17.7 points per game and guard Jared Rhoden is averaging 14.7 points per game. The Pirates are a defensive-oriented team under Kevin Willard and we aren’t expecting a barrage of 3-pointers as they shoot just 33 percent.
THE WEEKS AHEAD: UConn is two games away from hitting the minimum 13 games for NCAA Tournament qualification and we want to see the Big East tournament in MSG happen, though there may not be any fans in attendance — even family. The Huskies play Providence twice in the next two weeks, on Wednesday and on Feb. 16, and play Xavier on Feb. 13. That will set up a showdown at No. 3 Villanova before the stretch run. There are nine games scheduled between now and the end of the season, and as crazy as it seems, it’s February and the stretch run has already begun.
Will Williams, Griffin Play at Marquette?
The Story: The No. 3-ranked women’s basketball team could be without Christyn Williams and Aubrey Griffin tonight when it faces Marquette (12-2, 9-1 Big East) at the Al McGuire Center in Milwaukee for the first time in more than eight years.
LACKING STARPOWER: The Huskies were without Williams in Wednesday’s win over St. John’s after she injured an ankle in shootaround earlier in the day, and Griffin didn’t even play two minutes after injuring a knee in practice on Tuesday. Both players are crucial to UConn’s success: Williams is averaging 16.8 points per game, second to only Paige Bueckers, and Griffin is averaging 8.5 points and five rebounds, though those numbers have increased to 11.6 and seven, respectively, in the five games she has started. Remember, she was starting only because Anna Makurat has been out with an ankle injury of her own. Other teams would kill to have that kind of problem.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “Are there more (injuries) this year than past years around the country? I don’t know. They all seem to be, knock on wood, manageable, but it just takes time. … Maybe it’s just bad luck. I can’t put my finger on it.”
YOUTH MOVEMENT: Not only did Bueckers and Aaliyah Edwards have career nights on Wednesday, but the entire freshman class pulled quite a bit of rope. Those two combined to score 54 points, and the freshmen accounted for 79.9 percent of the scoring. The Huskies had five freshmen (or, as Geno said, “four freshmen and a high school kid”) on the court for 4 minutes, 10 seconds on Wednesday, and between Bueckers, Edwards and Nika Muhl, they started three freshmen for the first time since the 1998-99 season. We’re thinking it won’t be the last time something like that happens this season. You’re looking at the future, folks.
ABOUT MARQUETTE: The Golden Eagles have had a bit of a renaissance since UConn found itself on Elba Island, winning the Big East regular-season or tournament titles in three of the last four seasons. Now coached by Megan Duffy, the former Notre Dame standout, they have won their last six games. One of the better defensive and rebounding teams in the conference, Marquette is led by senior guard Selena Lott, who is averaging 16.1 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, and forwards Camryn Taylor and Chloe Marotta, each of whom are grabbing 6.6 rebounds a game. It will probably be one of the better tests the Huskies will face in the Big East all season.
Two Huskies Enter. Only One Will Emerge
The Story: Call it a dog fight. Call it an identity crisis. Whatever canine cliche we didn’t use, use it: The men’s hockey team (7-6-2) can continue to make a name for itself tonight as it heads north for a game at No. 14 Northeastern at 5 p.m.
MOMENTUM SWING: The Good Huskies scored six goals against Merrimack twice last weekend, capping their January with a 5-2-1 record after a pair of wins. The second was powered by junior right wing Jonny Hogan Evans, who scored four goals and became the first UConn player to do so in the Division I era (since 1998).
OFFENSE ON DEFENSE: One of the reasons for the Huskies’ uptick in scoring in recent games has been the offensive performance of their defensemen. As our favorite beat writer Daniel Connolly noted, the defensemen combined to account for two goals and eight assists in the pair of wins over Merrimack, providing supplemental scoring that good teams can routinely count upon.
PRIDE ON THE LINE: Routine observers of the Huskies say this has been one of their better performances in many seasons, and after a “win” against No. 1 Boston College two weeks ago, another marker can be laid down tonight against Northeastern. The Bad Huskies lost 6-2 to BC on Tuesday, and UConn has won four of the last six meetings, so we’ll see what happens.
AND MOST IMPORTANTLY … Northeastern has a freshman named Gunnarwolfe.
Morning Reads
THE MAINE EVENT: The women’s hockey team will try to end a four-game losing streak this weekend when it hosts Maine tonight and tomorrow at the Freitas Ice Forum. (UConnHuskies.com)
SOME THINGS NEVER CHANGE: In its first season without recently retired coach Nancy Stevens, the field hockey team has been named the preseason favorite to win the Big East. (UConnHuskies.com)
