Clingan Comes of Age in Oregon
The Story: The Phil Knight Invitational wasn’t just a chance to celebrate Nike founder Phil Knight‘s 85th birthday. It was also the coming out party for Dan Hurley and the No. 20-ranked Huskies, who won the tournament championship by beating Iowa State 71-53in Portland, Oregon, last night.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: If you couldn’t stay up late to watch, the Huskies put on an impressive display as Donovan Clingan, who was named tournament MVP, had 15 points and eight rebounds. Andre Jackson showed you don’t need to score to change the game with 10 points, 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals in his first major action of the season.
• Clingan dominated off the bench and in the three-game tournament was a handful for opponents. His size cut off the lane, and his abilities to defend without fouling and to finish at the rim are impressive.
• Jackson played 32 minutes out of necessity, and we don’t know how to keep him off the floor. He handles point guard duties a lot of the time and can create for teammates. He only shot 3-for-8 shooting, but he does so much more and plays such intense defense that the Huskies need him out there.
• Alex Karaban joined Clingan on the all-tournament team and chipped in with 10 points in a team-high 38 minutes.
DOMINANT WEEKEND: UConn was No. 20 in the AP poll coming into the tournament but we are expecting it to rise into the top 10 after beating Oregon by 24, No. 18 Alabama by 15 and Iowa State by 18.
WHO NEEDS STARS? Adama Sanogo and Jordan Hawkins are UConn’s top two players and they only combined to score six points. Sanogo had four in 22 minutes while Hawkins had two points in six minutes after foul trouble in the first half and a quick foul and a technical in the second led to his benching.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The bench did the work by scoring 40 points as the starters struggled. UConn dominated on the boards; it had 21 offensive rebounds and Iowa State had 19 total. The Huskies held a 48-19 edge on the glass.
OUR TAKE: We are blown away with the dominant 8-0 start. The Huskies showed the totality of their versatility and depth in three games that we may need to adjust our expectations upward. Consider, on Thanksgiving, the Huskies hit a school-record 17 3-pointers in a wipeout of Oregon. Yesterday, the Huskies dominated inside. They have size, shooting, skill, depth and superior athleticism everywhere. The Huskies can score and defend and are the only team in the nation in the top 10 in offensive and defensive efficiency.
Statement Made in Come-From-Behind Win
The Story: The No. 3-ranked women’s basketball team overcame an 11-point deficit and rallied late in the fourth quarter to beat No. 9 Iowa 86-79 yesterday afternoon and win the four-team Phil Knight Legacy tournament in Portland, Oregon.
FUDD DOES IT AGAIN: When the Huskies (5-0) need help, they turn to Azzi Fudd. The sophomore missed her first six shots, didn’t score until midway through the second quarter and had only two points in the first half, but she finished with 24 to help her teammates rally late.
• The Hawkeyes bottled her up with a tricky 2-3 matchup zone that neither Fudd nor the Huskies had seen all season. Once Fudd started making her shots, it was all over; she went 9-for-11 in the second half, including 4-for-5 from 3-point range.
• Iowa was up 70-66 with six minutes remaining before the Huskies turned on the jets. They embarked upon a 13-0 run over the next two-plus minutes that was paced by a pair of 3-pointers by sophomore guard Caroline Ducharme and a pair of buckets by redshirt freshman guard Lou Lopez Senechal. Iowa got back within five with 35 seconds left but that was it.
HEAVY WORKLOAD: Fudd and junior guard Nika Muhl, who had 13 assists, played all 40 minutes. But five players reached double figures in scoring as junior forward Aaliyah Edwards, the tournament MVP, had 20 points and 13 rebounds, and Lopez Senechal had 11 points and redshirt junior guard Aubrey Griffin had 10 points.
• Ducharme was a welcome sight. She has played limited minutes since neck stiffness cost her the first few games, but she was on the court for a season-high 24 minutes yesterday afternoon and scored 15 points. Her shooting added a tricky dimension for Iowa.
CLARK DENIED: Iowa junior guard Caitlin Clark finished with 25 points on 9-for-24 shooting but was held to 2-for-11 from 3-point range. Clark had 17 points in the first half and none in the third quarter, and she shot 2-for-11 after the break with the Huskies’ own zone defense keeping her in check.
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “It really was difficult to play against these guys because there’s just so many different things that you have to contend with. … It still comes down to you have to have players on the floor that are good enough to play in these moments, to make plays in these moments. And I’m fortunate, blessed, that I do. We have a will to win. That was evident today.”
WHAT DOES IT MEAN? The Huskies had to work more for their wins against Duke and Iowa than they did in beating Texas and N.C. State a week earlier. That bodes well, as we seem to think they might actually be a better team than we had expected.
• There’s much to like about what we saw in the 78-50 win against the Blue Devils and again yesterday. Edwards continues to emerge as a threat, more so than she did at any point last season, and Fudd is clearly the player that the Huskies figured they were getting out of high school.
• That the Huskies were able to recover from an 11-point hole, and do it against a zone defense that was designed to limit Fudd’s touches and keep them away from the basket, has to make Geno happy. We figure they had an indication Iowa might go that route, but it’s hard to adapt to that strategy mid-game and overcome it as well as UConn did.
• UConn will still be without redshirt senior forward Dorka Juhasz for probably two more games as she recovers from a broken thumb. We have to give Griffin credit for handling a tweener role in Juhasz’s absence; she’s undersized (in theory) for that role, but her athleticism, energy and tenacity make her a threat to score, rebound and keep a play alive.
UP NEXT: UConn gets a brief reprieve this week with no games until Friday, when it hosts Providence at Gampel Pavilion in its Big East opener before a quick turnaround and Sunday game at No. 7 Notre Dame.
Mitchell, Wortham Earn All-New England Honors
The Story: As UConn awaits the announcement of its upcoming bowl matchup, two players were recognized for their defensive excellence yesterday in linebacker Jackson Mitchell and defensive back Tre Wortham.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Mitchell and Wortham named to the All-New England team by the New England Football Writers. Mitchell, a junior Butkus Award semifinalist from Ridgefield, has been a tackling and playmaking machine for the Huskies. Along with a nation-leading five fumble recoveries, he was second in the country with 133 tackles, including eight for loss and 4.5 sacks. Wortham, a senior from Stockton, Calif., leads the Huskies with four interceptions and nine passes defensed.
• Playing as an independent doesn’t afford UConn the same opportunities for postseason accolades as conference-affiliated teams. Typically, players on independents hope for All-America recognition, which is obviously much harder to earn. So, it was nice to see honors for two worthy players such as Mitchell and Wortham, who were among 35 chosen from 16 New England-based FBS and FCS schools.
YES, UCONN WILL BOWL … BUT WHERE? There is still one week remaining before the college bowl matchups are revealed. But after a week of entertaining rivalry games across the country, one thing is certain: UConn is now guaranteed a bowl game.
How do we know the Huskies are a lock? For this reason: Of the 82 spots to be filled in 41 bowl games, there are only 79 bowl-eligible teams, with the Huskies among them.
• Based on several media projections, UConn is likely headed to a bowl game in Florida. The final bowl assignments will be announced Sunday at noon on ESPN.
Morning Reads
• The No. 6-ranked men’s hockey team didn’t fare well under the lights of Madison Square Garden on Saturday as it was defeated 6-0 by Cornell for its most lopsided defeat of the season. (The UConn Blog)
• A second-period goal was the difference on Saturday as the No. 15-ranked women’s hockey team fell to No. 4 Quinnipiac 1-0 in the final of the Nutmeg Classic. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Although the volleyball team beat St. John’s in the first round of the Big East tournament, it fell to top-seeded Marquette in three sets in the semifinals on Friday. (UConnHuskies.com)
• Andre Drummond is averaging a career-high 20.1 rebounds per 36 minutes, but the Bulls center is also averaging a career-low 16.1 minutes per game in a bench role. He said he’s trying to take the role as best he can. (NBC Sports Chicago)
Top photo: Donovan Clingan plays defense during the Huskies’ season opener against Stonehill. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
