Huskies Run Out of Gas at Villanova
The Story: James Bouknight looked like the best player in America in the first 20 minutes against Villanova on Saturday but, like the rest of the Huskies, didn’t have enough in the tank in a 68-60 loss.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: The loss doesn’t doom UConn’s NCAA Tournament chances. Winning would have bolstered its resume immensely, but it was a good showing in many ways. It was also very disappointing. Bouknight hit six of seven shots early and had 14 points at the half. He finished 1-for-10 in the second half and at times looked out of sorts. Villanova’s defense threw two and three players every time Bouknight drove to the basket. He also hasn’t played so intensely in months and was exhausted. He didn’t have the same lift or burst on his drives and finished with 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting and five turnovers. But boy, those first 15 minutes of action by Bouknight were as magical as a UConn player has looked since Kemba Walker wowed us.
WHERE WAS THE HELP? Villanova tried to play straight up. It had no hope of guarding Bouknight. So what did the Wildcats do? They had help on every drive, they never lost him in transition and they forced him into the playmaking role. Bouknight didn’t get much help his teammates. R.J. Cole was 2-for-10 for 10 points and Tyrese Martin was 3-for-7 with nine points. Adama Sanogo (or, as Bill Raftery renamed him, “Sunoco”) had eight points and is going to be a major factor, but asking to see more from him we think is too much.
THE STRETCH RUN: UConn has four regular-season games left. It is disconcerting that it won’t make up some postponed games, but at 10-6 and 7-6 in the Big East, the Huskies are squarely on the NCAA Tournament bubble with plenty of chances to make an impression. The Huskies have Georgetown twice and Marquette, and a return date against Seton Hall. They figure to be favored in three of the final four games and should be about even with Seton Hall.
BOTTOM LINE: UConn has plenty of runway to improve. As Dan Hurley said, the Huskies have to integrate Bouknight into the team and play off him. There is no question Bouknight is as talented a player the Huskies have had in more than a decade, but one-on-five doesn’t work, as Bouknight found out. In a normal year, the Huskies would have had this problem solved by late February, but the stops and starts have made building chemistry difficult. Hurley still doesn’t have his rotation down (no Josh Carlton or Brendan Adams?) and the Huskies are still growing. The concern is whether they will put all of the pieces together before the NBA takes away UConn’s brightest star.
Shocker: Women Win Big East
The Story: The women’s basketball team returned to the Big East this season and it feels like it never left. Thanks to an 83-32 win on Saturday, the Huskies clinched a share of the conference title.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Christyn Williams continued her resurgence and scored 22 points in the rout of Xavier. UConn is 15-0 with three Big East games left and can clinch the title outright with another win. So, essentially, the Huskies have won the Big East title once again. Aaliyah Edwards added 16 points and 11 rebounds for the Huskies in the rout.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “For us, our goal is to win the conference. Our goal is to win every game in the conference. So far we’ve done that and we’ve got three more to go. We’re going to do everything we can to make sure that we win all three and go into the Big East tournament undefeated.
LET’S TALK FRONTCOURT: We talk about the backcourt constantly and with good reason. Paige Bueckers (11 points, seven assists) is one of the best point guards in the world (the WNBA included) and Williams’ up and down struggles are a roller coaster. We also criticize the 3-point shooting regularly. But how about inside? Edwards had her first double-double and Olivia Nelson-Ododa added 11 points, eight rebounds, and six assists. That production inside is often overlooked for the Huskies thanks to their dynamic guard and wing play. That doesn’t mean Nelson-Ododa, Edwards and others aren’t going to have to contribute mightily if the No. 1 Huskies are going to make a run at the Final Four and another national title, which they haven’t done in four long years.
Bleak Morning Reads
HUSKIES BUY HOUSTON FOOTBALL: The football team’s schedule for this season is complete as it will host former conference foe Houston next year in a one-off game in which UConn is paying the Cougars $150,000 to play. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
BASEBALL DROPS SET TO UVA: The baseball team dropped two of three at No. 5 Virginia with a 4-2 loss on Sunday. The Huskies did win 10-9 on Saturday. (UConnHuskies.com)
MEN’S HOCKEY LOSES TO BU: The men’s hockey team lost its third straight, falling 3-2 to Boston University on Saturday. (Hartford Courant)
SOFTBALL FALLS: The softball team lost an extra-inning thriller to Florida Gulf Coast 5-4 on a walk-off home run. The Huskies are 3-2 on the season. (UConnHuskies.com)
WOMEN’S SOCCER BLANKS URI: The women’s soccer team defeated Rhode Island 2-0 over the weekend. (UConnHuskies.com)
