Bounce Back Or Spiral Down?
The Story: The men’s basketball team doesn’t have much time to stew on its weekend loss to Providence as it is taking on Marquette tonight in Milwaukee (9 p.m., FS1).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn dropped out of the top 25 as expected (but probably unfairly) and is 9-3. Its three losses this season are all Quad 1 defeats (against top-50 teams) and have been by a combined 11 points.
• Considering Adama Sanogo, UConn’s best player, is missing from the lineup with an injury, the Huskies are likely better than their ranking. That said, they are badly in need of a win and it isn’t going to be easy tonight at Marquette, which is 8-4 and in rebuilding mode with Shaka Smart in his first season at the helm.
WILL SANOGO PLAY? The Huskies struggled on Saturday without Sanogo’s ability to score inside. UConn’s offense, how it drapes the perimeter with three shooters and plays inside out, has vanished since Sanogo went down with an abdominal injury.
• The Huskies don’t play again until after Christmas, so if Dan Hurley truly wants to get a win, the Huskies may need to push the big man. After tonight, they will be back in action at No. 18 Xavier next Tuesday.
SHAKA POWER: The Golden Eagles beat West Virginia (which UConn lost to) and lost to St. Bonaventure (which UConn beat). Redshirt freshman Justin Lewis leads Marquette with 15.3 points per game while Maryland transfer Darryl Morsell, who was held to seven points in the NCAA Tournament win over the Huskies in March, is scoring 13.8 points per game.
Kemba Walker: I’m Not Done Yet
The Story: The Knicks were without nine players Sunday for their game against the Celtics, meaning Kemba Walker got his first chance to shine in more than three weeks — and he made the most of it with 29 points in 37 minutes in a 114-107 road loss.
FREED FROM THE BENCH: We’re this close to seeing a ton of “Free Kemba” signs in the crowd at Madison Square Garden. Walker fell out of Tom Thibodeau’s rotation after a Nov. 26 loss to the Suns because the coach would rather play the Knicks’ other guards, Derrick Rose, Alec Burks and Immanuel Quickley.
• Walker took 20 shots — in fact, five players in that game took at least 19, which is not uncommon in the NBA even though it just seems silly — and made eight of them. He went 5-for-11 from 3-point range and had six rebounds and three assists before fouling out.
• Seventeen of those points were scored in the third quarter to help the Knicks take the lead, but they fell short and lost for the ninth time in 12 games.
TAKE THE HIGH ROAD: Walker’s not the kind of player who would criticize his coach, but his comments after the game suggested that he knows he still has value despite a knee injury that limited him last season with the Celtics and led to his offseason trade.
• “I know I should be playing, so no question, it feels great,” Walker said. “But whatever situation I’m in, I’m gonna stay locked in, stay prepared. Whatever the team needs from me, I”ll be there for them.”
• But Walker also said: “I hate it. I want to play. … It is what it is. Guys went down. I got to fill in, do what I can until they get back.”
• Thibodeau, who has a history of rubbing people the wrong way, couldn’t utter more than Walker “played really well, really well” after the game.
SO WHAT’S THE DEAL? Thibodeau has said he can’t play Walker, Rose and Quickley together off the bench with Burks starting, but all that has meant is the Knicks (13-17) have lost quite a bit since they started 10-8.
• It’s trade season in the NBA, so that could mean Walker finds a new home. He signed a two-year, $20 million contract in the offseason, which is easy for a team to take on. But that team will want to carefully vet Walker’s health, which could make a trade tricky.
• Wherever it is, Walker still wants to play somewhere. He’s in his 11th NBA season (!!!), but he’s only 31. “I don’t know what the future holds, you know?” he said. “I do feel like I have a lot to give still. I don’t know. That’s up to these guys.”
#FireGeno: Huskies Fall Out of Top 10
The Story: The women’s basketball team was ranked 11th in the newest Associated Press poll, which means their streak in the top 10 ended yesterday at 313 consecutive weeks.
WE’RE NUMBER 1-1: The Huskies were last outside the top 10 on March 7, 2005, when they were also 11th. But don’t panic: They have still been ranked for 533 consecutive weeks — a streak second only to Tennessee’s record 565 and one that, if we’re being honest, won’t be ending anytime soon.
• UConn is 6-3 for the first time since that 2004-05 season after losses in two of its last three games (against Georgia Tech and Louisville, which rose to No. 3 and No. 17, respectively, yesterday afternoon).
MINOR STEP BACK FOR A MAJOR COMEBACK: The Huskies won’t play again until Dec. 29, when they host Marquette at the XL Center. There’s a chance Azzi Fudd, Nika Muhl and Aubrey Griffin could all make their returns from injury in that game, though Paige Bueckers is still out until at least mid-February.
• There’s no doubt the Huskies and South Carolina are the top two teams in the country when both are healthy. UConn’s stumbles might make for a bit trickier run through the NCAA Tournament, but the concern now is that they don’t lose too much ground and end up facing one of the country’s top teams before the Final Four.
Morning Reads
• Even though Jim Mora was surprised by the quality of players at Connecticut’s prep schools, the coaches at those schools thought Mora’s first recruiting class — which included four players — was just a sign of things to come. (Hartford Courant)
• Another player joining UConn’s recruiting class is Will Knight, a 5-foot-11, 225-pound running back out of Garden City Community College who was previously at Delaware and Old Dominion and holds Delaware’s all-time high school rushing record with an obscene 6,490 yards. (UConn Football on Twitter)
• Former UConn standout Tage Thompson is finally hitting his stride for the Sabres three years after he was the major prospect included in a trade with the Blues for Ryan O’Reilly. (The Hockey Writers)
• Sydney Watson, who became the lacrosse team’s first All-American a year ago, is going to start raking in the preseason honors. The senior midfielder earned preseason All-America recognition from USA Lacrosse Magazine. (UConnHuskies.com)
