Bob Stowell
It was all Huskies all the time Tuesday night in Storrs, as UConn (11-3, 1-1) manhandled the DePaul Blue Demons (10-6, 1-2) 99-78. DeAndre Daniels led the Huskies offensively with a career-high 26 points, eight rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
“We came out and played aggressively,” UConn Head Coach Kevin Ollie said. “We attacked their pressure early and often. I thought we passed the ball very, very well.”
The Huskies took control from the opening tip, scoring the first nine points of the game, and going five-for-six in the first three-and-a-half minutes.
DePaul looked completely at sea, while UConn guards Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright did pretty much whatever they wanted. They hit three-pointers and scored on drives to the hoop. They had some flamboyant assists, and plagued DePaul on defense.
[Boatright]’s one of the fastest guys I’ve ever been around,” Ollie said. “When he pushes it and plays with that force and plays with that pace, we’re tough to beat. Not only does he get up and down the court very, very fast, he explodes and he gets to the rim. It’s not like he’s a little guy going in there; he’s a little guy with power.”
UConn went on an 11-0 run, stretching the lead to 20 points with 11:30 to go in the first half, and the Huskies never looked back. The Huskies maintained their lead throughout the first half. The game was so in hand that German-export freshman Leon Tolksdorf got a few first-half minutes, even attempting a three.
DePaul implemented some full-court press, but Napier and Boatright attacked the defense, breaking through with relative ease.
“When a team puts three players in the front court [against us], it should be a layup every time if [we] execute [our] press break right.” Boatright said.
Boatright finished with 22 points going 8-16 from the floor and 3-5 from behind the arc. Napier had 16 points, as well as eight rebounds, seven assists and four steals.
The brightest spot of the night was the fact that Huskies actually managed to get some rebounds. They out-rebounded the Blue Demons 46-26. Yes, you read that right. UConn pulled down FORTY SIX rebounds. That’s by far their best effort of the season.
Tyler Olander got into foul trouble early, but looked much better than he has in recent games while he was on the floor, scoring ten points and grabbing five rebounds. Enosch Wolf had 17 excellent minutes off the bench, nabbing seven rebounds, three off the offensive glass, while blocking two shots and scoring eight points on four-for-seven shooting.
“We were boxing out, just team rebounding, making sure we get the rebound first before we run our break,” Olander said. “We have good athletes who can get out ahead even when we attack the boards.”
The Huskies took a 20-point lead into the half. DePaul managed to cut the lead to 12 with 14 minutes to play, but the Huskies hit three quick shots and pulled the lead back out to 18.
Notes:
- For the second straight game, point guard Napier led the team with eight rebounds (tied with Daniels). Napier leads the team in rebounds on the season.
- Coach Ollie got some of his walk-ons (and former walk-ons) in the game for the final few minutes with Tolksdorf and freshman Philip Nolan. The crowd let out a big groan of disappointment when walk-on Keifer Lammi missed a wide open three. On the final possession, Ollie signaled for his players not to score, but Tolksdorf missed the sign, and drove to the hoop for his only two points of the game.
- DePaul’s Brandon Young had a career-high 35 points, amounting for almost half of DePauls point total.
- DePaul was missing starters Donnavan Kirk and Charles McKinney, who were suspended by their coach, Oliver Purnell, for a violation of team rules. Derrell Robertson and Durrell McDonald started instead.
- The Huskies continued their impressive performance from the free-throw line, hitting 21 of 27. Going into the game, the Huskies were second in the Big East in free-throw shooting percentage, just behind Rutgers.
- UConn’s 99 points was the highest total of the season, and the highest since the infamous 2009 six-OT game against Syracuse in the Big East tournament.
- Coach Ollie on not playing in the post season: “We’re not going to the tournament. So what? We’re playing each and every day. People are still watching you. You’ve still got pride to put on that jersey. That’s the prize. That’s the goal. You get the opportunity to put on a jersey. You get to wake up in the morning and go to a great university. And if guys pay attention to that, we’re fine. And that’s what they’ve been doing. I’ve got a terrific group, I love them to death and they played very, very well. But we do have a prize: Every day trying to get better.”
