Life without Bouknight

Here’s how next few weeks could look without star guard

Life without James Bouknight will be the UConn men’s reality for a significant portion of a shortened season. The Huskies’ leading scorer and marquee player has missed the last two games and on Wednesday had surgery to correct his elbow injury.

UConn, which did not release details of the injury or type of surgery, is not giving a timetable for his return; coach Dan Hurley had said Bouknight might only miss a couple of weeks, but that was before the decision to have the surgery was made. Indications are that it is not a season-ending surgery, but it’s likely to be four weeks or more for recovery. “We’ve got to be very cautious with him with everything he has in front of him,” Hurley told Jeff Goodman on a podcast this week, recorded as Bouknight was about to see a specialist prior to surgery.

Here are some things to consider for the

Huskies (7-1, 4-1 in the Big East), ranked 25th in the AP poll, as they head into a potentially crucial part of the season without their best player:

The injury

Bouknight was injured late in the first half at Marquette on Jan. 5 when an opponent, Koby McEwen, landed on his left arm as both dove for a loose ball. The collision hyper-extended Bouknight’s elbow. He returned to action in the second half, but was limited in his use of the left arm and did not score, and tried to practice when the team returned home, but was also limited. He did not dress for the games at Butler or DePaul. He had a brace on his elbow and, in retrieving balls for teammates in the pregame warmups, used his right arm only. After consulting a specialist back on campus, it was decided he would have surgery to correct the issue rather than try to play with it or put off surgery. Bouknight is considered a first-round pick in the next NBA Draft, so finishing this season healthy is important on that front.

Scoring load

Bouknight is averaging 20.3 points per game, which is nearly twice as much as the Huskies’ next highest scorer, Tyrese Martin (10.6), though those figures are skewed by Bouknight’s 40-point game vs. Creighton and Martin’s scoreless game at Marquette. Tyler Polley is averaging 10.3 points, but 17.0 since Bouknight’s injury.

The Huskies have several other scoring options with room to improve, including R.J. Cole (9.6) in the back court and Isaiah Whaley (9.1) in the front court. Replacing Bouknight’s offense and rebounding will have to be a team-wide effort, with Akok Akok, just returned from his Achilles tear, Josh Carlton, Jalen Gaffney and Brendan Adams, who has been starting in Bouknight’s place.

Bouknight’s absence was really felt on offense when they played at DePaul on Monday, winning 60-53. With Bouknight scoring 20 points, the Huskies beat DePaul 82-61 on Dec. 30.

Jackson’s return

Freshman Andre Jackson, who is expected to be the heir apparent when Bouknight leaves, is out with a broken bone in his wrist, sustained in practice Dec. 23. The timetable for his return was estimated four to six weeks, so he’s about halfway through. So Jackson could return before Bouknight and get an opportunity in February to show what he can do in the spotlight.

Upcoming schedule

The Huskies’ scheduled game vs. No. 3 Villanova on Friday was postponed, so that’s a high-profile, highstakes game that could be made up in February or March, when UConn is whole again. As the schedule, always in flux due to the pandemic, stands now, UConn has eight conference games between now and Feb. 13. Those include home and away games vs. St. John’s and Xavier, road games at Creighton and Providence and home games vs. Butler and Providence. Creighton (10-2, 6-1 Big East) is the only team to beat UConn so far, in OT on Dec. 20 despite Bouknight’s 40 points. Seton Hall (9-5, 6-2) and Xavier (10-2, 3-2) have the most impressive records so far.

March picture

Like everything else in sports, the NCAA Tournament selection process will be altered due to the pandemic. Teams will play a disparate number of games, and nonconference opponents. As of Thursday, UConn is 23rd in the NCAA NetRankings, which is a metric emphasized by selectors, and 24th in the Ken Pomeroy power rankings, which are also influential. That’s solid footing to make the tournament, but with postponements and makeups — windows to make up postponed games from here on are closing fast — there is no way of estimating how many games UConn will play without Bouknight or after he returns. So each game takes on added value for postseason purposes starting with next Monday