How good is UConn? On Thursday, they looked phenomenal, knocking off a tough SMU team in Hartford. Less than 48 hours later, they fell to Cincinnati 65-60 while looking like a completely different team.
The Huskies have struggled with consistency all season. Their only consecutive wins over Top-100 teams (KenPom) came last week when they knocked off Tulsa, followed by the SMU win. Their defense has been good enough to carry them to 19 victories, but their offense has been mercurial, with no one player able to maintain success for sustained stretches.
Against Cincinnati, this manifested itself in another slow-motion affair. Both teams mustered only 63 possessions. UConn shot 37 percent from the floor, attempted only nine free throws (three well after the outcome was sealed) and made nine of their 23 three-point attempts.
Cincinnati’s zone defense seemed to confuse and frustrate the Huskies, which was somewhat surprising considering it was the second time the teams have met this year and the Bearcats are the conference rival with whom UConn has the most history. Omar Calhoun was given another start, and played 17 minutes, scoring only two points.
Luckily, bench points!
Rodney Purvis kept the Huskies in the game when they were in danger of being blown out in the first half. In the second, it was freshman Jalen Adams who kept UConn within striking distance with a game-high 19 points. Purvis played 28 minutes, Adams 25. In most of the Huskies’ games this season, the starting lineup has been relatively meaningless — because their opponents are barely basketball teams — but to continue to sabotage offensive productivity because… we really don’t know the reason… is silly. Tournament time is rapidly approaching and UConn needs its best players on the court as much as possible.
To that same point, both Shonn Miller and Amida Brimah got into foul trouble on Saturday, limiting their playing time. The referees of the American Athletic Conference aren’t exactly model employees but it’s now 27 games into the season and UConn’s front court needs to figure out how to adjust. Simply put, you can’t allow the refs to take you off out of the game.
UConn Players Other Than Purvis and Adams: 9-33 (27.2%)
Even when on the court, the pair disappointed. They combined for just eight points and nine rebounds. Brimah, who played arguably the best game of his career on Thursday, was 0-2 from the floor — though he did record three blocks. Daniel Hamilton also struggled, shooting 2-11 with four turnovers. Miller and Hamilton are UConn’s two best players. If one plays poorly, the team struggles. When both play poorly, there aren’t a lot of quality teams that the Huskies can beat.
Let’s be clear, this isn’t a terrible loss on paper. Cincinnati is a good team. They would be favored to win over anyone in the conference on their home court. The Huskies’ NCAA Tournament chances are relatively unchanged — though a win would have been nice for seeding purposes. As feels typical though, it’s the fashion in which UConn lost that makes it sting. Often times this year, they’ve simply looked unprepared. There was no demonstrable difference in UConn’s game plan or execution in their last game versus Cincinnati (when Brimah was out due to injury) and Saturday. Despite facing a large amount of zone defense this year, UConn has yet to show that it’s making the adjustments necessary to combat it.
If you’re inclined to look at the big picture, there are a lot of global positives to be found for the program. UConn’s defense under coach Kevin Ollie has been great — and has improved with this roster to be one of the most dominant defenses in the nation. Star recruits are on the horizon and the one currently on campus, Jalen Adams, looks more and more like a future superstar each game. Ollie has proven he can convince both prospects and transfers to come to Storrs and, generally, is well-liked by his players.
Yet, this year’s team is running out of time to put all of the pieces together. They will make the tournament. They may even put a legitimate team on the mat once they get there. But short of some big strategic changes, or a player catching a 2014-esque hot streak over the next few weeks, expecting them to win a string of big games in a row seems unrealistic.
Uconn would win most of these games if Purvis, Hamilton and Gibbs can finish around the basket. Uconn as a whole be missing too many easy buckets in the paint.