Adams Benched as Hurley Makes Statement
The Story: Josh Carlton had 20 points and 16 rebounds and Christian Vital scored 18 points as the men’s basketball team (13-9, 4-5) routed ECU 76-52 on Super Sunday in Hartford. Notably absent from the scoring column was senior Jalen Adams, who was benched in the second half.
HURLEY SETS TONE: Adams had a horrible first half and was 0-for-5. He got taken out of a close game early in the second half and walked away from Dan Hurley, uninterested in what his coach had to say. That was a mistake as the Hurley didn’t put his star guard back in. What transpired was a humbling and embarrassing result for Adams — zero points for the first time since his freshman season, and then his team won by more than 20 points, going from a 37-31 lead at the time to outscoring the Pirates 39-21 the rest of the way. It is embarrassing and a bit disheartening for a senior of Adams’ caliber to have this happen to him.
But, players can’t act like that in public towards their coach and he paid a high price. What does this mean going forward? Hurley is building something for future years, and if you can yell at your star like that, it sets a tone for the program — and one we fully endorse.
HURLEY ON ADAMS: “He had a moment of weakness there. He’s better than that. As a senior, you have a responsibility to set a great example for your teammates about accepting coaching and playing the right way. I think a little bit of his frustration from the game, little bit of frustration from how he was playing, crept into that. We’ll obviously sit down and talk about what happened shortly, and you will not see that again.”
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Carlton is a talented big man. He has excellent footwork and touch and when he puts it together like he did yesterday, he gets results. The struggles with Carlton are his activity level and motor. He plays like he is an extra on the cast of The Walking Dead and that drop in energy is the only thing that can literally slow him down. Carlton had energy with the biggest and most dominant game of his career. He isn’t consistent yet, but he has the ability to perform and impact a game at a high level.
NO GILBERT ONCE AGAIN: Alterique Gilbert missed his second straight game as he rests because of a shoulder injury. Count us as concerned. Is it precautionary and just sore? Maybe, but when you miss two years from a shoulder injury and then get hit in the same shoulder and can’t play, it’s worrisome.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: The Huskies, without Adams and Gilbert, had four players in double figures, which is a sight for sore eyes. We loved Sidney Wilson‘s 5-for-5 line and career-high 12 points, and Brendan Adams took the bulk of Jalen Adams’ minutes, finishing with 21 minutes — the most he’s played since the Lafayette steamrolling. The Huskies also shot 56 percent in the second half without Adams on the floor, including 5-of-9 from 3-point range.
BOTTOM LINE: Hurley let the rest of the roster, and future roster, know he isn’t going to allow disrespect in poor play. It is a shame Adams was the player who had to feel the wrath, but we’re hopeful the senior guard takes it to heart and shows his teammates that he can be relied upon. We also like the fact Vital and Carlton got ample shots and that Wilson had the best game of his young career. That trio is the building block of next year’s team and we liked the look — at least against East Carolina.
NEXT UP: The Huskies are at Temple on Wednesday and then at Memphis on Sunday. We think they’re are in a fight to make the NIT, but if they wanted to make a move in the American, wins on the road would be a good first step to doing so.
A Win is a Win as Women Bounce Back
The Story: Senior Napheesa Collier scored 20 points, including the 2,000th of her career, as the No. 2-ranked women’s basketball team rebounded from an unspeakable loss at No. 3 Louisville to claim an unsightly 65-55 win at Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon.
Crystal Dangerfield scored 17 points, Katie Lou Samuelson added 12 points and Megan Walker had her third double-double of the season with 10 points and 10 rebounds against the Bearcats (14-8, 6-3), who lost 82-38 to UConn on Jan. 9.
BURN THE TAPES! This one wasn’t pretty for the Huskies (19-2, 8-0), who appeared significantly exhausted following their loss to the Cardinals. They had just one day between games, a travel day, and then had the early start.
Outscored in the third and fourth quarters after a 38-23 halftime lead, they shot just 39.6 percent (21-of-53) for their worst performance in a win this season and made only two of their 15 3-point attempts, their fewest since they made two of 17 attempts against Oklahoma.
Still, those are the (only?) benefits of playing in the AAC, where even the worst off nights can lead to a victory.
ELITE COMPANY: Collier, who reached 1,000 rebounds against Louisville, became the 10th player to score 2,000 points for the Huskies and just the fifth to hit both benchmarks (after Rebecca Lobo, Tina Charles, Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart) when she scored from the paint with 1:28 left in the third quarter.
“It feels really good and being there with those names is pretty awesome,” Collier told reporters after the game. “Those names are some of the best in women’s basketball ever. I’m really honored.”
WHAT DID GENO SAY? “It was actually kind of the response I thought we’d get coming off that [loss at Louisville. That game the other night took a lot out of us. We had like one day in between, and it was pretty taxing on a lot of our guys. We looked a little tired today at times.”
UP NEXT: The Huskies will benefit from the comforts of home for more than a week after their grueling road trip. They’ll host East Carolina (11-10, 2-6), who ended a five-game losing streak by beating Tulane on Saturday, at the XL Center on Wednesday before games against Temple and No. 16 South Carolina.
Morning Read
LEADING THE WAY: What better way is there for Akok Akok to become acclimated to UConn than to have another former Putnam Science Academy standout in Mamadou Diarra show him around? (The Day)
LONG CLIMB BACK: It seems ridiculous for a team that will likely still be ranked in the top four, but after losing to Louisville, the women’s basketball team will surely be a No. 2 seed in the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2007. (ESPN)
HUSKIES ADD QB TRANSFER…: A graduate transfer from West Florida, Mike Beaudry, will play for UConn next season. He led his team to the Division II national championship game in 2017 but played just one game last season with a foot injury. (Mike Beaudry on Twitter)
…AND WR FROM CANADA: UConn also added a wide receiver in Kevens Clercius, a 6-foot-2, 195-pound prospect from Montreal. (Kevens Clercius on Twitter)
MELIFONWU WINS RING: Although former UConn safety Obi Melifonwu was inactive for the Super Bowl, he’ll get a ring after the New England Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams. (The UConn Blog)
LIFELONG LEARNER: As the Division III season winds down, Jim Calhoun and the Saint Joseph players have learned several things about each other. (The Washington Post)
EAGLES SOAR: Even though Ruslan Iskhakov scored two goals and assisted a third, the men’s hockey team lost 5-3 against Boston College on Friday. (The UConn Blog)
HUSKIES DROP TWO: The women’s hockey team has now gone six games without a win after losing to No. 3 Northeastern 2-1 on Friday and then 3-1 at Providence on Saturday. (UConnHuskies.com)
SALEH TURNS PRO: Midfielder Munir Saleh, who would have been a senior this fall, has instead left the men’s soccer team to turn pro after signing a contract with York 9 of the Canadian Premier League. (CanPL.ca)
MAKING CONNECTIONS: UConn has set up a social networking site so former athletes can discuss business opportunities and, more importantly, easily donate money to the ailing university. (Associated Press)
