Huskies Chasing History in NCAAs
The Story: The UConn men open the defense of their national title this afternoon when they take on No. 16 seed Stetson in the first round of the East Regional in Brooklyn (2:45 p.m., CBS).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: There’s no more time to discuss metrics. Who cares what the betting odds say. It doesn’t matter what the talking heads think. As we saw yesterday, you can’t run away from the game in a one-and-done format.
• UConn (31-3) has a goal of becoming the first back-to-back national champions since Florida won the title in 2006 and 2007. How rare is a back-to-back champion? UConn would become only the third team to do it in the last 50 years, with Christian Laettner and Duke also pulling off the feat in 1991 and 1992.
• The Huskies play Stetson (22-11), the Atlantic Sun champion, which beat Austin Peay 94-91 in the final on March 11. This is Stetson’s first appearance in the NCAA Tournament in school history.
• No. 1 seeds are 150-2 against No. 16 seeds, but we all remember Purdue’s exit last year at the hands of Fairleigh Dickinson.
PLAYING UNDER PRESSURE: UConn has enormous pressure to get back to the Final Four as the overwhelming favorite to win the tournament. That doesn’t bother coach Dan Hurley, who has embraced the pressure and scrutiny that come with coaching at UConn.
WHAT DID HURLEY SAY? “It’s really easy to get seduced into thinking it’s going to be easy to do it again, or it’s going to be easy to make another run. Especially when we did it in such dominant fashion like we did last year.”
• “I’ve been tougher on the group throughout the season because I’ve just been trying to like root out any form of complacency or entitlement with this team. You’re not entitled to nothing — especially this time of year.”
BARCLAYS IS UCONN TERRITORY: The Huskies are in the friendly confines of Barclays Center, which is six miles away from Madison Square Garden (yet it takes about 45 minutes to drive it). It isn’t likely to be as crazy of a crowd as the one at MSG, but the expectation is for a healthy pro-UConn crowd.
• UConn is the second game of the day, with No. 8 Florida Atlantic, a Final Four team that has everyone returning, and No. 9 Northwestern squaring off beforehand. UConn faces the winner on Sunday.
HURLEY’S SUPERSTITION: Hurley is a nutcase. We say that in the nicest possible way. We know about his superstition of not changing his dragon underwear during winning streaks, but he also has an M&M thing. He eats eight M&Ms before the game, but none the color of the opponent. We guess that means no green ones today. The term “mad scientist” fits the bill for the head coach.
ABOUT STETSON: UConn has had a scare in a No. 1 vs. No. 16 game. It was facing life and death against Albany until the final 10 minutes. Heck, even last year, when UConn was a No. 4 seed, No. 13 seed Iona was the one team all tournament that actually outplayed the Huskies for a half.
• For Stetson to scare us, it will have to get a huge game from Jalen Blackmon, who averages 21.5 points per game and scored 40 in the Atlantic Sun final.
• The Hatters play four guards and are a perimeter-oriented team, and — this scares us — they’re a good 3-point shooting team. They’re making 37.5 percent of their attempts, good for 37th in Division I. They play fast and have size inside with 6-foot-11 center Aubin Gateretse, who’s averaging 11.5 points per game, and 7-foot center Treyton Thompson, a Minnesota transfer
OUR TAKE: UConn should roll. The only way the Huskies are in a game is if Stetson shoots from 3 similar to what Oakland did against Kentucky last night. UConn, however, is a much better defensive team than Kentucky and has veterans with championship experience. It’s going to take some time, but we expect a rather comfortable UConn win.
— John Silver
Edwards Ready for ‘One Last Dance’
The Story: Aaliyah Edwards will not return to UConn for a fifth season in the fall and instead will wrap up her time in Storrs with one final NCAA Tournament, which begins for the No. 3 seed Huskies tomorrow at Gampel Pavilion against No. 14 seed Jackson State (1 p.m., ABC).
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Edwards, a senior and third-team AP All-American, had one season of eligibility remaining because of the pandemic. She has chosen not to use it and instead will enter the WNBA Draft, where she is expected to be chosen early in the first round.
• Edwards shared a brief video on her social media channels yesterday evening that discussed her decision. She’ll join Nika Muhl in beginning a pro basketball career, while Paige Bueckers and Aubrey Griffin will return to the Huskies next season.
• UConn has had a number of great post players over the years, including Rebecca Lobo, Tina Charles and Breanna Stewart, and Edwards will be remembered fondly for her time in Storrs. She broke onto the scene as an unheralded freshman with Bueckers the star of the recruiting class, and her rugged play, her constant improvement and her reliability will linger in fans’ minds long after she’s moved on.
WHAT DID EDWARDS SAY? “We’ve achieved a ton, but there’s still that one big goal waiting for us. We’re not done yet, although I’ve got to savor every moment because this is my last jam at UConn. I’m all in, ready to bring that championship glory back to Storrs with my squad by my side. Let’s have one last dance.”
ABOUT JACKSON STATE: The Tigers (26-6, 18-0 SWAC) are making their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years, though they’ve never won a game.
• Redshirt senior guard Andriana Avent, senior guard Ti’lan Boler and sixth-year senior guard Miya Crump are all averaging more than 10 points per game for Jackson State, with 6-foot-6 redshirt senior center Angel Jackson chipping in 9.9 points and a team-high 6.9 rebounds per game.
• Jackson State rotates its players almost like it’s a hockey game, with 11 players averaging at least 10 minutes per game and 15 players appearing in at least 15 games. Avent, despite being the Tigers’ leading scorer, has only started two games.
• The Tigers beat St. John’s 60-56 in Puerto Rico in November but went through the usual SWAC gauntlet thereafter by losing at Kansas State, at Oregon State, at Mississippi State, at Miami and at Texas in December.
• Jackson State held opponents to 56.6 points per game, 33.6 percent shooting (which ranks second only behind South Carolina) and 26 percent from 3-point range (which ranks seventh in Division I). But, we say this politely, consider the level of competition as a caveat.
AFTERWARD: A game against No. 6 seed Syracuse or No. 11 seed Arizona, which beat Auburn 69-59 at Gampel Pavilion last night in a First Four matchup, awaits in the second round.
— Zac Boyer
Morning Reads
• The softball team will ride an 11-game win streak into Indianapolis this weekend for a three-game series against Butler that begins today at 3 p.m.
• Two former UConn standouts are still trying to earn spots with major-league teams as Nick Ahmed may be slugging his way into the Giants’ opening-day lineup and Matt Barnes is in contention for a bullpen role with the Nationals.
• We have no links again this weekend to direct you to, but the baseball team begins a three-game series at Rutgers today and the women’s lacrosse team is at Denver on Sunday afternoon.
Top photo: Cam Spencer shoots during the Huskies’ Big East Tournament game against Xavier. (Ian Bethune for The UConn Daily)
