Don’t Worry, James Bouknight Is Close To Returning

Fear Not, Help Is On the Way!

The Story: The men’s basketball team lost 80-73 to Seton Hall on Saturday, but don’t fret. Help is on the way as James Bouknight‘s return is imminent and the Huskies may have found something in Andre Jackson and Jalen Gaffney.

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: We aren’t going to dwell too much on the loss to Seton Hall. Gaffney scored a career-high 20 points and Jackson made an impact in his return from a broken wrist. UConn lost, but we are more interested in the future and there were some good things to take away. Moral victory? Of course not. There is no such thing, and this is UConn, after all. But you are either moving in the right direction or the wrong direction. There is no staying put, and we think when Bouknight returns, he is the answer to what ails the Huskies. So what happened? UConn couldn’t score in the first 16 minutes and trailed by 18. It had plenty of chances to pull off another big comeback win but Seton Hall was too good offensively. Trailing by 18 puts a team in such a poor position that even getting the game in balance in the last five minutes requires almost perfect play.

WHAT WE LIKED: We’ve been clamoring for weeks for Gaffney to get more minutes at the point. UConn is better with R.J. Cole off the ball. Cole is a fine ballhandler, but he is better when he is a shooter and scorer and not really worried about running the team. Once Gaffney got confident, he was driving into the lane and scoring or creating for others. The offense ran better when he was at the point and he hits his free throws. His points were scored on deep 3s and on slashes to the basket. Cole scored just seven points, but we liked his looks and the spots where he got the ball. The goal should be to get him in positions where he can score. Let Gaffney or Bouknight, when he returns, worry about creating for others. Cole can be the primary point guard. That doesn’t mean he should, and Gaffney showed for the first time this year he could run the team.

WOW ON JACKSON: We got our first real look at Jackson and were stunned by his impact. Dan Hurley did an excellent job integrating the prized freshman into the game. Jackson made an impact defensively as his ability to guard and pressure on the perimeter caused Seton Hall problems. He is a good passer, though he showed a little too much flair on some passes for our liking. He also showcased his incredible athleticism with a thunderous putback dunk. We also liked that he made a 3-pointer off the catch. The shot has a long ways to go, but he has athleticism, size and skill to be a terrific player. His energy and athleticism is something the Huskies haven’t had since Bouknight was hurt. Jackson had seven points in his first real action of his career.

SANOGO LOOKS LIKE A VET: Adama Sanogo‘s inside play makes him look like a 15-year pro. He has tremendous footwork, touch and size and showed a nice 15-foot jumper that will become a staple. He’s going to be a terrific player. He’s probably UConn’s most consistent offensive player until Bouknight returns. He needs more shots and looks, and those are going to come with time.

BOUKNIGHT INCOMING! OK, we buried the lede intentionally. Bouknight might be back as early as tomorrow’s game against Providence, when he will be a game-time decision. Bouknight could just as easily opt out of playing the rest of the season and declare for the NBA Draft. Right now, he is looking like a first-round lock, and with it comes a pretty hefty salary. Bouknight’s absence has cost the Huskies some games, but in the long run, we think it is going to benefit them. Bouknight’s is on borrowed time and getting Gaffney, Sanogo and Jackson playing impactful minutes is going to be good for the program next year and beyond. UConn was going to go through growing pains like it has had this year with its young players. Now? We know the Huskies can defend and score a bit without Bouknight. Now they can add him in and maybe prevent those awful offensive lulls that happen every game.

CONCERNS WITH THE ELDERS: That said, we are concerned about the on and off play of Tyler Polley, who scored points, the inability to get Cole going and very low production from Isaiah Whaley, who has to score more than the two points he had on Saturday. UConn was really hurt on the defensive boards, where Sanogo and Whaley, surprisingly, couldn’t control the glass. The Huskies were outrebounded 28-23 and gave up eight second-chance points. Also, Josh Carlton can’t get on the court with Sanogo’s play and he seems to be the odd man out as there is only room for two centers in the rotation because Hurley likes to play small. Carlton and junior Brendan Adams, who had five points, are better than their production. We are hoping once the Huskies get into a rhythm and cadence for playing games we will see better production.

WHAT ABOUT THE NCAA TOURNAMENT? UConn is 8-4, but we think the committee is going to like what it has seen from the Huskies. UConn is holding its own without a top player and we think getting Bouknight back will push UConn over the top in some of the tougher Big East games coming up. Team Rankings gives the Huskies a 67% chance at a bid following the loss. We think that’s fair and it means the Huskies are in a good position, but they still have a lot of work to do.

Feeling Cocky? Huskies Ready For SC

The Story: The No. 3-ranked women’s basketball team is about to face its stiffest test of the season as it hosts No. 2 South Carolina tonight at Gampel Pavilion (7 p.m., FS1).

PLENTY OF CHANCES: The Huskies should have had a good idea of what to expect at this point in the season had they played Mississippi State, Louisville, Baylor and Tennessee earlier this season. Instead, the first three games were wiped out because of the pandemic, the Huskies came from behind to beat the Lady Vols and a hastily scheduled game against then-No. 15 Arkansas led to their first loss this season. South Carolina (15-1, 10-0 SEC) has not yet played Tennessee but it beat the Razorbacks 104-82 three weeks ago, so that’s a heck of a warning shot.

HEALTH CONCERNS: Geno Auriemma said yesterday that Paige Bueckers, who had her second consecutive 30-point game in the Huskies’ 87-58 demolition of Marquette on Saturday, has still not fully recovered after spraining an ankle against the Lady Vols. Christyn Williams returned against the Golden Eagles and scored 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting in 34 minutes, but Aubrey Griffin did not make an appearance as she heals a bruised knee. Evina Westbrook and Nika Muhl are also apparently banged up, according to the coach, so that stretch of 10 games in 27 days to close the season is sure going to be grueling.

ABOUT THE GAMECOCKS: A bona fide national championship contender, South Carolina is going to present all kinds of challenges the Huskies have not yet seen. It has one of the nation’s best rebounders in Aliyah Boston, whose 11.3 rebounds per game rank 18th in the nation and complement her 13.7 points per game. It has one of the nation’s best distributors in Destanni Henderson, whose 5.9 assists per game lead the SEC and rank 13th in the country. And it has a dynamic scorer in Zia Cooke, who is averaging 16.3 points per game. Put those pieces together, and add in a 11th-best offense nationally at 82.4 points per game and the 48th-best defense nationally at 58.9 points allowed per game, and it’s easy to see how daunting the challenge will be against the Gamecocks, who won the meeting between the teams last season.

WHAT DID GENO SAY? “Games like [tonight] are huge for [the freshmen] regardless. If we win and play great, it’s a huge confidence builder for them, knowing that they can do that. If we play great and don’t win, that’s still something that they can build on. The big games are coming up in March and this is kind of a preview of what those games may be like.”

WHAT’S A SUCCESS? Well, a win, obviously. But look, this is the biggest spotlight the Huskies’ freshman class will have been in this season. It’s an important game for Bueckers, who is turning heads and earning more attention as the season goes on. It’ll be important, too, for Aaliyah Edwards as she matches up against one of the country’s best players in Boston. If the Huskies can play well defensively and be competitive late, that’s a good sign. South Carolina can have tonight. After all, the Huskies will be winning each of the next four.

Men’s Hockey Waxes NU; Top 20 Next?

The Story: The men’s hockey team continued to flex its muscles on Friday with a 4-1 win over No. 14 Northeastern, with the Good Huskies scoring all four goals after their opponents struck first.

RESILIENCE ON DISPLAY: Northeastern scored a power-play goal at the near midpoint of the first half and entered the first intermission with a 1-0 lead. But the Huskies failed to sit and stay, with Artem Shlaine and Jonny Evans scoring in the second period, Ryan Wheeler adding insurance in the third and Kale Howarth finishing off the scoring with an empty-netter with 1:39 to play. Tomas Vomacka finished with 24 saves.

QUALITY WIN? A win is a win, and the Huskies (8-6-2) will take it at this point. But Northeastern was playing only its second game since a COVID-19 shutdown (the first was a 6-2 loss to No. 1 Boston College earlier in the week) and was without two of its best players and its top goalie. UConn was ranked No. 16 in the College Hockey News poll last week, but the standard poll is the USCHO ranking, in which the Huskies were receiving votes. Could this be the week it breaks through?

UP NEXT: Another challenge awaits as the Huskies head to No. 20 UMass-Lowell for a game tomorrow at 5 p.m. televised by NESN.

Morning Reads

ENDING THE SLIDE: The women’s hockey team beat Maine 3-0 on Friday afternoon to snap its four-game losing streak, but the follow-up game Saturday was canceled by Hockey East without explanation. (UConnHuskies.com)