Carlton Plays Game of Lost and Found
The Story: Josh Carlton was once a fixture in the rotation, but until Tuesday’s performance against Providence, he wasn’t heard from in weeks. Is Carlton on the comeback trail? His seven points and seven rebounds in 10 minutes against PC are exactly what Dan Hurley is looking for.
WHAT HAPPENED TO CARLTON? Carlton is 6-foot-9 and at one time the AAC’s most improved player and an all-conference candidate. He has played the fewest minutes of his career, by far, this season as freshman Adama Sanogo and classmate Isaiah Whaley have usurped his starting role. Carlton started 81 games in three years and averaged nine points and six rebounds per game as a sophomore. In 13 games this season, he is averaging four points per game. He’s limited in what he can do with his athleticism and offensively he struggles to finish, so with the emergence of Sanogo as an offensive threat and strong rebounder, his minutes dried up.
WE WANT MAD CARLTON: The knock on Carlton has always been his energy level. Carlton seems like a nice guy and is a gentle player on the court. That’s great in life, but we need Carlton to be mean on the floor. In his short stint against PC, he was impactful. He was physical inside and outplayed Sanogo and Whaley in his time in the pivot. We like Carlton, and against matchups that require that classic center, we think his size is a nice option to have off the bench. He isn’t a great offensive player — he shoots 51 percent from close range — but he has size and rebounding and can score in the post when he isn’t in a rush. If he can give the Huskies that production against Villanova on Saturday and beyond, it is like finding a $100 bill in your old blue jeans.
PATH TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: UConn needed wins over Xavier and Providence in the worst way. The Huskies’ NET rating (which replaced the RPI) is 54 and their KenPom rating is at 34. That puts the Huskies squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble with five games to go. When we check out Team Rankings’ predictions, the Huskies have a 74.6 percent chance to make the tournament and at 10-5, getting to 13 wins is what’s necessary to get into the discussion. Where’s the seeding, you ask? Does it even matter? Just get in. The Huskies are projecting as an 8, 9 or 10 seed. How will the committee treat James Bouknight? There are enough games left if the Huskies go on a run to impress to the committee.
Williams Keeps It Going Against St. John’s
The Story: The No. 1-ranked Huskies routed St. John’s 77-32 in Queens last night behind 21 points from Christyn Williams.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Williams is an enigma. She is an incredibly talented player but is inconsistent. She’s basically a modern-day Charde Houston. Last night was one of those times when she made it look easy. She went 8-for-11 overall and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. She has 40 points in her last two games after having scored six and then zero points. Which Williams is the real one? We think it’s closer to last night’s version, but we still need her to prove it.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “It was the best Christyn has played all year, and it’s funny how when you put your focus on winning … shots start to go in. That’s what she did today. If we know we could get that kind of performance from her every night, that would go a long way toward making us hard to beat in March.”
BUECKERS WITH A BORING 20: Paige Buckers had her seventh 20-point outing in her last eight games. She added nine assists and four rebounds. She proved she isn’t a perfect player, however, with one turnover. So let us get this straight: A freshman at UConn scores 20 points in seven of her last eight games and it was boring? Yup. We also like the moxie of Bueckers bouncing back from a subpar 19 points last game.
AN AWESOME GOOSE EGG: Evina Westbrook had zero points and missed her only shot. Why are we highlighting the box score? She had eight rebounds, seven assists, two steals and a block. If you’re not scoring, that’s what you should be doing.
GENO CHANNELS RICHARD SIMMONS: We love Geno. He has a regal, Pope type of gravitas and we expect him to drink wine, sleep on silk sheets and wear fine Italian shoes. So why did he look like he was straight out of a Richard Simmons workout video from the ’80s on Tuesday? He showed up at practice in a ridiculous getup and didn’t back down from his fashion faux pas after the game. Above all, Geno has a sense of humor and that is what makes the monotony of some of these blowouts fun.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies had some fresh legs to start out against St. John’s after having four days off. UConn led 18-9 after the first quarter and 46-15 at the half. The Huskies shot 76 percent (19-of-25) in the first half and dismantled St. John’s on defense.
UP NEXT: The Huskies (17-1, 14-0 Big East) play a road game at Xavier (4-6, 1-5 Big East) on Saturday afternoon.
Morning Reads
BIG EAST FAVORITES: The baseball team was picked to finish first in the Big East this spring. (UConnHuskies.com)
WINKEL BROTHERS READY: Chris Winkel returns for a fifth year on the baseball team and his little brother Pat will return from Tommy John surgery. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
