DeAndre Daniels greeted the press with a giant bag of ice on his right forearm. The cause of the ailment? “I hurt it on a dunk. I threw it down too hard.” That was the only thing that went wrong for #22 UConn (19-5, 7-4) in their 83-40 pounding of USF on Wednesday night.
Daniels said he’s fine, by the way.
In a game that saw 12 Huskies play, and all of them score, there were no shortage of bright spots. UConn shot 52.% on the game (64% in the first half before the starters all took a breather). They out-rebounded the Bulls 41-31. They held USF to 24% shooting, forced 15 turnovers and cured several infectious diseases (possibly).
Daniels, who had missed the previous two games due to injury, scored a game-high 12 points to accompany five rebounds. He only played 23 minutes. Freshman Kentan Facey was the only other player (on either team) to score in double-figures. Despite fouling-out late, Facey impressed, scoring ten points and hitting a three just to rub in the ridiculousness of the affair.
“Everybody who stepped on the court got a basket and I thought that was amazing,” said head coach Kevin Ollie. “I’m very proud of the bench and it shows how deep of a team we are.”
Ollie’s bench outscored the starting lineup, 42-41 — and actually outscored the entire USF team (40). The gigantic lead, and stellar bench play, allowed guards Ryan Boatright and Shabazz Napier to steal some much-needed rest.
Freshman point guard Terrence Samuel made the most of his time relieving his mentors. He controlled the offense, looked strong when driving the paint, and displayed quick hands on defense.
“I enjoyed Terrence out there running the show. Kentan came in and got right in the four-hole and made his first shot,” said Ollie. “He gave us a lot of energy. we didn’t lose any rhythm with our two best guys on the bench.”
All-in-all, it was a cakewalk for UConn. They’ll have two days (snow permitting) of practice before Memphis visits the XL Center on Saturday. They’ll have to practice pretty hard since they didn’t face much competition against USF.
Notes:
- Shabazz Napier played only 18 minutes, but in that time managed to pass both Donyell Marshall and Khalid El-Amin on UConn’s all-time scoring list. He now stands alone in tenth place with Cliff Robinson ten points away.
- Lasan Kromah played phenomenally well. He tied for the team lead with five rebounds and handed out seven assists without committing a turnover.
- Amida Brimah had six blocks on the game despite some typical foul trouble.
- Walk-ons Pat Lenehan and Nnamdi Amilo (subbing for a wounded Tor Watts) each saw minutes, and each scored. Amilo sank two free throws. Lenehan hit one of his own before burying a corner three, much to the delight of the scant XL Center crowd.
- Ollie on Lenehan: “He does a great job for us. He’s selfless. Sometimes I have him on defense the whole practice and he keeps playing hard. I’m happy we got his name on his jersey.”
- Lenehan got his name on his jersey.
Up Next:
#20 Memphis ventures to Hartford on Saturday looking for revenge. The game tips at noon and can be seen on ESPN.
