In an uninspiring effort, the UConn Huskies lost 70-58 to the Cincinnati Bearcats on Thursday night, dropping their record to 11-8 and crippling their chances for an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament this year.
Ryan Boatright struggled at times, but still ended the game with 22 points, 38% of the team’s total on the night. And here lies the primary failure of this season’s team. Even on a night when Boatright wasn’t shooting well, he was still, by far, the most effective offensive weapon the Huskies had. Even as Cincinnati threw double teams at him, his teammates failed to hit open jumpers (and sometimes to even take them).
Make no mistake: Ryan Boatright doesn’t have enough help. While he scored 22 points on a mediocre 6/17 shooting, the rest of the team’s guards (Omar Calhoun, Terrence Samuel, and Rodney Purvis) combined to shoot 6/23 for 12 points and 7 turnovers in 71 minutes. Boatright is the only one consistently making open shots, but he’s rarely able to get them, because the other ballhandlers aren’t good enough to create offense when he’s off the ball. This team isn’t going anywhere while Calhoun, Purvis, Hamilton, and Samuel pass up or miss such a huge percentage of open shots.
One of the most frustrating aspects of this game is how much better prepared Cincinnati seemed. They made a lot of adjustments in how to defend UConn from the last matchup (a 62-56 UConn win), and the Huskies seemed woefully unprepared for them. I’m not about to call for Kevin Ollie’s head, but I’m not sure what is being worked on at this point. Whatever it is, it doesn’t seem to be working. I don’t know how you teach kids to shoot midseason, but getting them to take open threes seems to be a start.
Kevin Ollie at least seems to be aware that the ability to create offense is a problem. In addition to #24 recruit Jalen Adams, Ollie is rumored to be hotly pursuing LA point guard Tyler Dorsey, as well as Philly point guard Traci Carter.
Historically, UConn teams have fared the best when they have played two ball-handling guards together (Khalid El-Amin with Ricky Moore, Taliek Brown with Ben Gordon, Kemba Walker with Shabazz Napier, Napier with Boatright). That should be the model going forward. If Rodney Purvis wants to continue to get minutes, he’s going to have to start playing forward or he needs to tighten his handle dramatically. Despite his athleticism, Purvis has struggled to penetrate all season, and regularly turns the ball over when he gets into the lane.
I don’t think that this loss is a referendum on the team’s effort or character as many do, but it says some pretty ugly things about their current skill level and preparation. A lot of things are going to need to improve dramatically before the AAC tournament if UConn doesn’t want to end up NIT-bound.
Could not agree more. Anyone who questions the effort/character of the team is barking up the wrong tree. Confidence on the offensive end is at an all-time low, which is odd because the Calhoun quick-hook isn’t there anymore. It’s sad that at this point, I’m only expecting them to have scored 4 points (if that) by the under 16:00 timeout. Outside of Boat, they can’t dribble penetrate or hit open shots. This has the makings of a second round NIT exit (too generous?)
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