Time constraints and general malaise prevented me from giving you a full recap of UConn’s 67-60 win over Directional Florida University (UCF, if you’re nasty) on Thursday night, so today we’ll give you some snow day highlights and lowlights as the Huskies prepare to face Other Directional Florida University (USF) in Hartford on Sunday.
The Good:
Remember those three months when the Huskies couldn’t shoot? Well, after hitting 10 of their 20 three-point attempts against Stanford last weekend, UConn continued their hot shooting making another 10 IN THE FIRST HALF against UCF. They finished 11-20 in the game, mostly because every shot in the second half was a dunk. Speaking of…
There were a lot of dunks. The Huskies scored 26 points in the paint, 14 of which came from Amida Brimah, none of which came from outside one foot of the basket. Daniel Hamilton was Brimah’s main accomplice, getting into the lane and lobbing passes up to the big man for alley-oops that are rapidly becoming their trademark. Speaking of Hamilton…
He was phenomenal. His stat line is really impressive: 10 points on 4-7 shooting, nine rebounds, seven assists, zero turnovers, three steals and still just really great hair. The key number there is the turnovers. Hamilton’s been prone to freshman mistakes this season, but he looked poised and in-control on Thursday. He also demonstrated maturity by passing up a number of difficult shots, making an extra pass to get better looks for his teammates — specifically Omar Calhoun in the first half and Ryan Boatright in the second. Speaking of…
Calhoun started for the second straight game, and will start a third on Sunday. He scored 11 first half points against UCF, including three three-pointers and one thunderous dunk. His renaissance continues, and he should hold onto his starting role for the foreseeable future. Meanwhile…
Boatright got his groove back. The senior captain had been mired in quite the slump — most likely due to nagging injuries — but he broke out of it on Thursday. Boatright hit four first half threes and finished with a team-high 18 points, and matched Hamilton with seven assists. Even better, Boatright scored efficiently, going 6-13 from the floor and 4-6 from deep.
Individual performances aside, the most noticeable difference in UConn on Thursday was their attitude. They were mean, aggressive, loud, and fast. Basically terrible traits in normal life, but great on the basketball court. They played with intensity right from the tip and showed flashes of the confidence that was readily on display with last year’s squad.
.@UConnMBB Rodney Purvis reacts after making his layup while being fouled vs UCF Huskies won 67-60 #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/o1n3jZZn86
— Stephen Slade (@ssladephoto) January 23, 2015
Lastly, it was good to be home. Thursday’s contest was UConn’s first game in Gampel in 48 days — since their December 5th loss to Yale…wait, that can’t be right. That never happened. The crowd was great — not surprising. Afterwards, Kevin Ollie and the players all remarked on the support of the crowd and their love of Gampel. Almost like all college basketball games should be played on a college campus. Quite the concept.
Now let’s nitpick.
The Bad:
Free throws. Sample sizes be damned, here are the shooting percentages thrown up by UConn on Thursday: 48.1 / 55.0 / 46.2. Forty-six-point-two from the foul line! The mathematical result of a 6-13 performance, with all seven of those misses coming in the second half as they tried to close out the game. Speaking of…
UConn had trouble closing out the game. UCF was overmatched, never led in the game, and is generally bad. Yet they hung around the entire contest and were only down five points with three and a half minutes left.
There’s no true Robin to Boatright’s Batman on this team. On Thursday, Brimah (14), Calhoun (11) and Hamilton (10) all scored in double-figures — Rodney Purvis added eight points — but no one has emerged as a dependable second scoring option.
Boatright played 36 minutes. Against a bad team, I’d like to see Ollie steal him a little bit more rest, when possible.
UCF’s Justin McBride is hilarious. Wait! This should go in the good column! How can you not love the guy? He’s gigantic. UCF’s media notes list him at 6’10” 325 lbs which is a god damn lie. He shot only 3-13 from the floor, which is shocking considering he lives next to the basket. And he played only 21 minutes, which should be a crime — he averages only 14 minutes a game! UCF, this is why you’re terrible! Despite the bad shooting against UConn, his +/- was 10! The next highest on UCF was two! I need more Justin McBride in my life, and all who taunted him from the stands should be ashamed of themselves. If we can’t unite around a giant, goofy man playing for a terrible basketball team, what do we even have left as a people? Y’know?
Up Next:
UConn takes on USF in Hartford on Sunday. Tip is at noon. Buy tickets, because it’s a CBS Sports Network game and they are terrible.
