Are the Huskies Weak and Easy?
The Story: The men’s basketball team, once considered the best in the country, has lost four of its last five games and all of its momentum as Dan Hurley searches for an answer after a Sunday loss to St. John’s.
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: UConn is No. 15 in the Associated Press poll, a far drop from No. 6 and a precipitous drop from No. 2 just three weeks ago. Losing 85-74 at home to St. John’s has a way of depressing enthusiasm.
• The defense was porous for the third time in four games as the Red Storm shot over 50 percent.
• UConn has given up 80 points or more in losses to Xavier, Marquette and St. John’s, and given their defense on Sunday, they can’t blame the officials or playing on the road.
• The issues for the Huskies continue to be guard play and guard production. UConn shot 42 percent against St. John’s, 30.8 percent from 3-point range, and struggled to defend.
WHAT THE BLEEP IS GOING ON? We can’t put our finger on it. UConn’s defense, a trademark under Hurley, has disappeared. UConn’s guards can’t keep opponents out of the lane and are being scored on with ease.
• The production from the point guards is not very good. Tristen Newton, who averaged nearly 18 points per game at East Carolina last year, had zero points and took shot in 18 forgettable minutes. He isn’t defending, scoring or making plays. For the season, Newton is averaging 8.8 points per game and shooting 34 percent.
• There isn’t much help off the bench. Hassan Diarra is a good defender but isn’t much of a scorer. Joey Calcaterra has cooled off from 3-point range since the beginning of the year and Naheim Alleyne is shooting 28 percent from 3-point range. Newton and Alleyne, in particular, were higher-volume 3-point shooters who made shots at a rate better than 35 percent a year ago.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “Didn’t see it coming. Thought we would play a lot better. And just looked weak — looked weak and unprepared. Disappointing is just the beginning to describe it.”
CHANGES COMING? Hurley said he was going to search for a spark, and there better be one. What can he do?
• There is the go-big fantasy that has Adama Sanogo and Donovan Clingan on the court at the same time. That has some appeal though the Huskies have to take Alex Karaban off the floor and he has been a solid offensive player and is the third-leading scorer. It still doesn’t solve the offensive, shooting or defensive issues unless the Huskies go zone.
• They could insert Calcaterra, Alleyne or Diarra into the starting lineup. Newton hasn’t played well for several weeks and may need a different role. The Huskies need his scoring to return.
• Work in Samson Johnson when he returns. Johnson has played only one game, but did win a starting position out of the preseason. Karaban is an excellent offensive player who has struggled defending when he has been paired with Sanogo, which has happened on 33 percent of possessions. Pair Johnson with Sanogo and Karaban with Clingan and that can solve the defensive issues with another 6-foot-10 athletic player on the floor.
BOTTOM LINE: UConn remains a top-10 team in the NCAA’s NET rating, though a 4-4 record in the Big East is going to make it tough to get back into the regular-season race. The Huskies are at a crossroads. Are they the team that looked like national title contenders in November and December, or are they the aimless, energy-starved squad we have seen lately? We’ll find out tomorrow at Seton Hall.
Fudd Reinjured; Status TBD for Seton Hall
The Story: The No.5-ranked women’s basketball team could be back to “square one” tonight at Seton Hall as sophomore guard Azzi Fudd reinjured her right knee (7 p.m., SNY).
WHAT HAPPENED? Fudd collided with Georgetown senior center Ariel Jenkins in the second quarter of the Huskies’ unnecessarily close 65-50 home win on Sunday and did not return.
• Fudd was making just her second appearance since missing eight games and the better part of six weeks with a right knee injury. She spent the rest of the game with an ice pack on the right knee and was examined afterward.
• There has been no announcement yet about Fudd’s availability, but Geno Auriemma alluded to the Huskies’ season-long problem after the game. “If Azzi is out any period of time — like, if she doesn’t play Tuesday — we’re right back to square one, right?” he said.
LUCKY SEVEN: The Huskies are expected to have only seven healthy players tonight if Fudd can’t go. They remain without sophomore guard Caroline Ducharme and freshman forward Ayanna Patterson, each of whom is still recovering from concussions.
• Coincidentally, this game was scheduled to be played Thursday but was moved up two days to account for the need to reschedule UConn’s meeting with DePaul. That was postponed because the Huskies didn’t have the Big East-minimum seven players healthy.
CHALLENGE ACCEPTED: UConn had a visitor at practice on Saturday in Tina Charles, and Geno got her to play a quick game of one-on-one with junior Aaliyah Edwards. Charles won, as you’d expect from the 2012 WNBA MVP and a future Hall of Famer.
ABOUT SETON HALL: The Pirates (13-5, 6-2 Big East) lost 98-73 at UConn on Dec. 21, when the Huskies had nine players available and six reached double figures in scoring. It seems like so long ago, doesn’t it?
Morning Reads
• Northeastern scored three goals in the third period to spoil the men’s hockey team’s debut at Toscano Family Ice Forum and win 4-3 on Saturday. (Hearst Connecticut Media)
• Maya Moore announced yesterday on “Good Morning America” that she has retired from playing basketball, four years after she last played a game for the Lynx. (Minneapolis Star-Tribune)
Top photo: Dan Hurley during the season-opening win over Stonehill. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
