Playing favorites
UConn suddenly finds itself favored to win the Big East tournament
If UConn goes on a threegame run to the Big East tournament championship, don’t call it a miracle run.
That’s reserved for the likes of Kemba Walker’s crew, who led a No. 9 seed to five wins in five nights 10 years ago. This year’s Huskies can’t stage a miracle when they’re the favorites to win the tournament.
Favorites, you say? Aren’t they the No. 3 seed? Well, yes. But, try finding someone who doesn’t think UConn will win this year’s Big East title. Las Vegas has them as favorites (SportsBetting.ag has them at +210 odds; top-seeded Villanova and No. 2 seed Creighton are next at +240 each). All five college hoops pundits at CBSSports.com have picked the Huskies, as have all the guys at FoxSports1 — including ex-Husky Donny Marshall.
“We have a lot more fans than we did two weeks ago, in terms of people on TV,
the talking heads on the different shows ... which is fine ,” coach Dan Hurley said on Wednesday night. “It should excite our players even more that the buzz is back with our program, and people are really excited about UConn again in March. Now, we’ve got to go out and perform.”
UConn (14-6) begins play on Thursday at 9 p.m. against upstart DePaul. The 11th-seeded Blue Demons (5-13) shocked sixth-seeded Providence on Wednesday night.
“We’re playing a team ... that may be just trying to play another day in their season,” Hurley said. “You can’t let people be more desperate than us.”
“We obviously have a lot of confidence,” Hurley added. “I’m proud of the group. Big step forward as a program, to this point. I’m feeling confident, but also understand that conference tournament play is a different animal, different level of intensity. So, we’ve got to keep that edge and understand how we’ve gotten to this point. With our defense, with our rebounding, having James (Bouknight) lead the way but also having other guys step up as secondary and third scorers, and having a lot of balance.”
Hurley’s message to his players entering Saturday’s “irregular season” finale against Georgetown was to finish. Finish the season on a high note. Keep the momentum going.
His message now: “Let’s take an even bigger step as a program. We’ve come such a long way, let’s try to do more. We have an opportunity to compete for a championship this week and have an exciting week next week, as well. But let’s get really, really dialed in for Thursday.”
One concern for Hurley is his team’s relative lack of experience in postseason tournaments. Sophomores like Bouknight, the team’s leading scorer, and Jalen Gaffney and freshmen Adama Sanogo and Andre Jackson have never played in a conference tourney.
“And the other group, the last time they played, they got beat by like 50,” Hurley pointed out.
Actually, it was “only” a 39-point loss to Houston in the 2019 AAC tourney.
“It didn’t go that well for the guys that did play in that one,” Hurley pointed out.
Now, the Huskies are the favorites in their first Big East tourney appearance since 2012. The fan base is buzzing, and Hurley noted that the players feel their support.
UConn was the first team inside the Garden for shootaround on Wednesday morning. The lights were dimmed when the team first walked in, but soon came on, eliciting a shout from Bouknight, the Brooklyn native.
“You sense with him that he knows what he’s done for the program,” Hurley said. “He’s helped us take a big step, both as a team and the profile he’s created in terms of being one of the best players in the country and a future lottery pick. It’s meant so much to UConn and us rebuilding this thing. But he also knows that he wants to try to turn the end of this season into part of his legacy.”
It all starts on Thursday night.
RIM RATTLINGS
Hurley had no major qualms with Bouknight not being named Big East Player of the Year. His scoring average of 20.2 ppg would have led the league, but he only played in nine of the Huskies’ 17 league tilts. Villanova’s Collin Gillespie and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl and Seton Hall’s Sandro Mamukelashvili shared the Player of the Year award.
“I think three was enough,” Hurley said. “Adding a fourth guy, it probably becomes more of an allconference team. Listen, James has a chance to make his case for being the best player in the league. I don’t think there’s much doubt, in terms of who’s the most talented player in the league. It’s James. If you choose not to vote for him because he didn’t play in enough games because he was hurt, I get that and I understand that. But I don’t think there’s much debate in terms of who the best player is.”
UConn has dealt with lengthy injuries to Bouknight, Jackson and Akok Akok, but are at full strength entering this tournament.
“This is the healthiest we’ve been,” Hurley said. “The extra day off that we earned helped recharge those guys.”