UConn secured an important 75-73 victory over Tulsa on Saturday night, earning the Huskies their 18th win of the season, and keeping them within striking distance of the top seed in the upcoming AAC Tournament.
The game featured a typical array of ups and downs. Omar Calhoun earned a start over Jalen Adams and Rodney Purvis. Asked why, coach Kevin Ollie responded, “it’s a team thing. We keep that internal.” Calhoun responded with 14 points, matching his season-high, in 28 minutes of action.
UConn led by as many as 20 in the second half. Its offense was unusually crisp and effective for most of the game. The Huskies shot 52.1 percent from the floor and hit 11 three-pointers.
Purvis, Sterling Gibbs, Daniel Hamilton and Shonn Miller all joined Calhoun, scoring in double-figures. Hamilton had a double-double with 12 points and ten rebounds.
Unfortunately for the Huskies, for the second game in a row, they squandered their big second-half lead as Tulsa hit seven of eight shots (five of them threes) to winnow UConn’s lead to five late in the game.
It would get within three before Purvis sealed the game with a floater in the lane with 42 seconds left. UConn made its final six free throw attempts to finish it off.
In their frantic comeback effort, Tulsa’s Pat Birt scored 21 second half points including five three-pointers. A sound defensive strategy after the first ten or so points would have been to guard him, maybe? The Huskies’ defense – normally stellar – was lost for stretches in the second half.
Compounding issues was UConn’s similarly-timed offensive lull. Yet Purvis, holder of those all-important bench points, sat on the bench. He entered the game with 15:16 on the clock and the Huskies holding a 19 point lead. 80 seconds later, the lead now down to 16, he sat back down. Purvis didn’t check back in until the 7:49 mark, at which point the lead had shrunk to single-digits. He hit a three-pointer on the first possession afterwards. What good are these mystical bench points if they are quite literally sitting on the bench?
It’s also fair to question if Ollie’s discipline of Adams affected his play. The freshman guard, who had played well prior to his second half benching against Temple, was a staggering -22 in only 18 minutes of action. He committed turnovers on half of the possessions in which he was directly involved. Ollie did praise Adams after the game, however, for securing the offensive rebound that precluded Purvis’ late bucket.
The last annoying part of this contest were the fouls. It took until there was 4:32 remaining in the second half for UConn to attempt a free throw. Tulsa had already taken 14. Ignoring the Huskies’ final seven free throw attempts (because of Tulsa’s intentional fouling), the disparity was 25-4. UConn may be a foul-prone team, but that’s insanity. Referees are, by general rule, terrible at their jobs. It’s frustrating when it becomes so obvious.
The Huskies will look to carry over the positives from Saturday’s game when they host conference-leading SMU in Hartford on Thursday night. Larry Brown’s Mustangs have lost three of their last six games but did earn a tough victory against Gonzaga this weekend. The Huskies will be wearing their road blue uniforms during the game and the university is asking fans to do likewise, calling for a “Blue Out” in the XL Center. Plan accordingly. Tip is at 8pm and the game will be on ESPN2.
Caron Butler was honored at halftime when he was inducted into UConn’s Huskies of Honor. We’ll have more on that ceremony soon.
Just thankful they won. But Jesus, seems like we need a 30 point lead in any game to feel somewhat comfortable. Defense can’t stop bring their A game for all 40 minutes. It would also be helpful if we established some regular pattern of rotations, as this squad has very little team chemistry. But as a diehard fan, I’m going to focus on the part of the game that had us up by 20 and looking like the dominant force we’re capable of being. We’re gonna need it for our opportunity against SMU.