What happened and what’s next for Huskies?
Prior to this year, the last time the UConn men’s basketball team had qualified for the NCAA tournament for a second straight season was Jim Calhoun’s final season at the helm.
The last time the Huskies were bounced from the first round of the NCAA tourney for a second straight season, Calhoun wasn’t even a college student yet.
There were positives to UConn’s 2021-22 season, which ended unceremoniously with a first-round NCAA tourney ouster to “mighty” New Mexico State on Thursday night in Buffalo. And there were negatives.
The Huskies won 23 games, their most in six years. They scored big wins over highly-ranked teams like Auburn and Villanova. They put two players on the Big East all-conference team and another on its all-rookie squad. The talent level continues to rise.
But UConn also went 1-5 against the other top three teams in the league standings. The Huskies sandwiched that emotional win over Villanova on Feb. 22 between two more losses to the Wildcats, who’ve beaten them five of six times since Dan Hurley has taken over the reins. (And only a cynic would point out that UConn’s lone win over ‘Nova came after Hurley was ejected from the game and Kimani Young took as head coach).
Still, that’s better than UConn’s 0-5 record against Creighton the past two seasons.
And now, consecutive first-round NCAA tourney losses.
Hey, losing a tournament opener happens. It happened to Calhoun in 2008. He followed it up with a trip to the Final Four the following season. It happened to Calhoun again in 2012. He retired after that.
Kevin Ollie made an indecipherable mess of the UConn program that Hurley has spent much of the past four years cleaning up. Still, Ollie’s NCAA tourney record is 7-1.
But it’s not supposed to happen two years in a row at UConn. And it’s not supposed to happen against New Mexico State.
The Huskies lost as a seventh-seed to 10th-seeded Maryland last season. OK, at least the Terrapins were a Big 10 program with some high-level talent. But New Mexico State? A 12-seed out of the Western Athletic Conference? Yes, parity reigns in college basketball (ask John Calipari). Still, hard to justify.
When the seed pairings were announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Sunday evening, Hurley approvingly nodded his head and clapped his hands. He carried a quiet confidence the rest of the week.
He knew this was a game UConn could and should win. Sure, Teddy Allen was “a bucket.” But no one player — Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Teddy Allen, Teddy Atlas — should be able to beat the Huskies.
And then Allen did just that.
Over the past two years, both Maryland and New Mexico State were bad matchups for UConn — Maryland with a small lineup, New Mexico State with a tough one. Tougher, on Thursday night, than the Huskies.
That simply can’t happen.
SO NOW WHAT?
Three seasons ago, after a narrow, non-conference loss at Villanova, Hurley boldly proclaimed his program was on the rise.
“It’s coming,” he famously promised.
After Thursday night’s loss?
“It’s crushing,” Hurley bemoaned.
The loss featured some familiar bugaboos. Too often this season, UConn allowed players to go off for big nights: Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond (27 off the bench), ‘Nova’s Eric Dixon (24), any number of Ryans from Creighton — Hawkins (23), Kalkbrenner (22). Now, add Teddy Allen to the list. And put him at the very top.
Some of those players (Richmond, Dixon, Kalkbrenner) weren’t necessarily at the top of UConn’s pregame scouting report. In the Big East semifinals against Villanova, UConn game-planned to stop Collin Gillespie and Justin Moore. That duo combined for just 11 points. Jermaine Samuels and Brandon Slater stepped up for a combined 36, including six combined 3-pointers.
Allen, of course, was at the very top of UConn’s scouting report. And still made 10 of his final 18 shots, and scored the Aggies’ final 15 points. And even with that, Aggie players not named Teddy Allen hit 7 of 10 3-pointers. UConn’s defense simply wasn’t as strong as Hurley wanted it to be.
Meanwhile, UConn’s offensive shortcomings were evident again. Not enough 3-point shooting (7-for-23), not enough from the bench (nine points). If any of the “Big Three” of R.J. Cole, Adama Sanogo and Tyrese Martin struggle … only Cole (20 points) really stepped up on Thursday.
So now what? Hard to say when it’s not clear who’ll be on the roster next season. Isaiah Whaley and Tyler Polley are definitely gone, their eligibility exhausted. Cole and Martin can return for an extra year, but will they? It certainly sounded like they were done after Thursday’s game, though Whaley admitted at this time last year, he thought he was done, as well. Cole’s mother recently told Hearst Connecticut Media that she felt R.J. had had enough of school.
If Cole leaves, the Huskies will be desperate to find a point guard for next season. Jalen Gaffney had a subpar junior season and it’s unclear if he’d be ready to handle the load. Freshman Rahsool Diggins barely played this season and, when he did, looked a bit overmatched. Redshirt freshman Corey Floyd Jr. is more a two-guard.
Maybe Andre Jackson handles some point duties? Maybe the Huskies hit the transfer portal, something Hurley was one of the few power-conference coaches in the country not to utilize last year. Point guard may be the trickiest position to bring into a new system and ask to be its oncourt leader.
Questions abound. Will Young remain as associate head coach? He’s reported to be UMass’s top choice to lead the program. If Young leaves, how does that affect UConn’s recruiting?
Will there be transfers? Hurley has done a very good job of fostering a family-like “culture,” but still has lost a few players to transfer in a quest for more playing time.
These questions and more will get answered in the coming weeks. UConn has a strong 2022 recruiting class — Floyd Jr. and Alex Karaban were early enrollees this season and are already acclimated to the program; Bristol Central 7-footer Donovan Clingan might as well have been.
Still, if Cole and Martin leave — particularly Cole — the Huskies have a major void to fill. The last time UConn qualified for three straight NCAA tournaments was 2003-06.
Accomplishing that next season without a seasoned, reliable point guard will be a challenge.