The first half belonged to UConn. “It was beautiful to watch,” said coach Kevin Ollie. Ryan Boatright scored at will. The Huskies’ defense pestered the Fordham Rams (2-9) into 13 turnovers, and UConn managed to not get out-rebounded – as both teams headed to the locker room with 15 boards apiece.
At the half, UConn led by 29 points and seemed poised for a blowout victory. The key was their smothering defense. “We came out aggressive,” said Boatright, who had 3 of the Huskies’ 10 first half steals to accompany his 20 points and 7 assists. UConn seemed to finally harness their quickness – leading to 21 fast break points, all off Fordham turnovers. Said guard Shabazz Napier, “we played tremendous defense in the first half. That’s the way we should play. Those steals help our transition offense.”
After intermission, however, UConn struggled to recapture their first half swagger. UConn went exactly five minutes between baskets as Fordham exploded on a 19-0 run. “We played the scoreboard,” said Ollie, “we relaxed.” As usual, it was rebounding that damned the Huskies. As the final buzzer sounded, UConn had been outrebounded 40-28. “In the second half, they dominated us on the backboards,” said Ollie, “luckily, we did some things to mask it.”
One of the masks Ollie mentioned was ball pressure. “We’re small but we’re fast and we have great hands,” said Boatright, whose defense sparked a UConn effort that helped seal a victory. “Boat is playing great D,” said Napier. “When you see him playing great defense, you want to do it. He’s that energy guy.”
When all was said and done, UConn managed an 88-73 victory over a Fordham team that kept the game reasonably close. Boatright finished with a career-high 26 points and 9 assists. Freshman Omar Calhoun, DeAndre Daniels and Napier all scored in double-figures.
There were enough positives to keep optimism high as UConn heads into the Christmas break, but their schedule is about to get very tough. With the Big East schedule one game away, the Huskies will need to build on their strengths and continue to mask their weaknesses to prove to the country that they’re serious contenders in the dying conference.
Notes:
- It’s a safe bet that the Enosch Wolf experiment is over. Hampered by foul trouble, Wolf played only 8 minutes and didn’t attempt a shot.
- Meanwhile, Tyler Olander pulled down 6 rebounds – his highest total in almost a month. At this point, take that as a positive.
- On rebounding, Ollie said “we can’t go out and get Patrick Ewing. He’s not around. We’re gonna play with the guys we got.”
- A festive final note from Ollie: “I got a great Christmas gift from them with a victory.”
Up next:
UConn will take on Washington in the final out-of-conference game before the Big East Schedule begins. The game is on Saturday, December 29th at 7:30pm at the XL Center in Hartford. It will be televised on ESPN2.
