On a day when UConn honored one of the most accomplished teams of the program’s past, the current squad put on a performance destined more for the waste basket than the rafters.
SMU embarrassed the Huskies Sunday in Gampel Pavilion. The Mustangs, led by Hall of Fame coach Larry Brown, shot over 50% in the second half, while holding UConn to a paltry 25% clip. Their defense confounded and frustrated the Huskies, who also committed 16 turnovers.
UConn’s starting lineup of Amida Brimah, DeAndre Daniels, Lasan Kromah, Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier shot a combined 25% (11-44) on the game. While Boatright’s shot wasn’t falling, he was UConn’s best player, getting to the line 11 times and finishing with 15 points and three assists. As a team, UConn had only one assist in the second half.
Remarkably, the Huskies had ample opportunity to seize control of the game in the second half. Down five with four minutes left, DeAndre Daniels got an open look from three. He missed. SMU came back down the floor, got an offensive rebound and buried a three of their own. The Huskies found Daniels again on the ensuing possession, only to see that attempt go wanting as well. He was 0-4 from deep. From there, the game was basically over. UConn would not get closer than eight points until the clock hit zero.
The victory secured SMU (22-6, 11-4) over UConn in the AAC standings. The Huskies (21-6, 9-5) are now fifth among the five legitimate teams in the league. The good, and bad, news for UConn is that all of the top five teams each have two games left against the others. The Huskies will host Cincinnati in Hartford next weekend and close the season at Louisville (with layups at USF and Senior Night against Rutgers mixed in). Winning the conference is probably farfetched at this point, but closing the regular season with some big wins would certainly boost their NCAA Tournament prospects.
Notes:
- The highlight of the game was the halftime celebration honoring the 1999 National Championship team. All five starters — Jake Voskuhl, Kevin Freeman, Ricky Moore, Richard Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin — were in the house, along with Souleymane Wane, Beau Archibald and walk-on Richard Moore. Coach Jim Calhoun also took the floor to stand with his former players.
- The team received a banner in the Huskies of Honor section of Gampel Pavilion — to the right of the scoreboard in the auxiliary student section. And El-Amin received a banner of his own. He joins Hamilton who was previously bestowed the honor.
Up Next:
UConn travels south for a much needed vacation. They’ll take on USF in Tampa on Wednesday night (Feb. 26th). Tip is at 7pm and you may or may not be able to watch it because it’s on CBS Sports again. Gross.
