Showtime in Las Vegas for Huskies
The Story: The Sweet 16 is tonight, and the No. 2 seed UConn men take on No. 8 seed Arkansas in Las Vegas (7:15 p.m., CBS).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Dan Hurley was hired to coach UConn in games like these. The Huskies are two games away from the Final Four in Houston and will have to go through a talented team in Arkansas, one that is starting to live up to its advance billing.
• The Razorbacks have arguably the most NBA prospects of any team left in the NCAA Tournament. Freshman guard Nick Smith, considered a potential lottery pick, averages 14 points per game but has had a quiet tournament and was held without a point by Kansas.
• Smith was out for two months and returned in mid-February to help Arkansas get off the bubble and into the NCAA Tournament as a No. 8 seed. He was on a tear at the end of the regular season and is capable of putting up 20 or more points in a game.
• Anthony Black, who also has returned from injury, is another top-flight freshman to worry about on the perimeter. Jordan English is the third guard in one of the best freshmen classes in the country.
• The Razorbacks’ backcourt remains their strength with NBA-level size and athleticism as they play small. Ricky Council IV and Davonte Davis combined for 45 points in the win over Kansas and are an explosive tandem. Council averages 16.1 points per game while Davis checks in at a hair over 11 as the duo likes to attack the basket off the dribble.
• Arkansas is a defensive team that plays physical. Its adjusted defense, per KenPom, is ranked 15th, and we see the talent level of the Razorbacks as closer to a No. 4 or No. 5 seed than as a No. 8 seed.
GO BIG OR GO HOME: Adama Sanogo torched opponents in Albany by scoring 28 and 24 points in two games. The Razorbacks’ weakness is inside as they don’t have the size to handle Sanogo or backup center Donovan Clingan, who is having about as much of an impact on a game as one can have in 13 minutes.
• Clingan’s ability to protect the rim and shut down the paint should loom large tonight. Arkansas, for all of its NBA talent and tremendous athleticism in the backcourt, doesn’t have 3-point shooters. It likes to get to the basket and shoots only 31 percent from 3-point range.
• Kamani Johnson and Makhi Mitchell are the only Arkansas big men who play consistent minutes.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “Obviously, a part of this game is going to be played in a really physical way on the backboard. For us, I don’t know that we have maybe quite the same level of athleticism. So, we’ve got to be more fundamental in terms of putting a body on a body, being in inside position, and then being really physical at that point. But we pride ourselves on winning the rebounding battle as they do and it’s going to be a war when the ball goes up tomorrow on the glass.”
HOTEL ISSUES: The Las Vegas digs weren’t good for the Huskies, and the team decided to check out of its hotel and into a different one ahead of the game after the conditions of the rooms were found to be reminiscent of a scene from “The Hangover.”
BOEHEIM FAVORS HUSKIES: Jim Boeheim is no longer the Syracuse coach for the first time in our lives, and he thinks the Huskies are the best team left in the tournament. We agree with Boeheim.
WHAT ARE THE ODDS? Did you think we would get through a Vegas game and not spend a word on the line and spread? The Huskies are the favorites and are -3.5 in the point spread and -180 on the money line.
• We wanted to put the mortgage on getting the Huskies to the Sweet 16 because we liked the draw. How are we feeling about the Razorbacks? We’re really unsure how to measure them because of their injuries this season. It might be good to sit this one out.
— John Silver
Top photo: Jordan Hawkins goes up for a layup in the Big East quarterfinal win over Providence at Madison Square Garden in New York. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
