Cougars survive late scare
HARTFORD, Conn. — Sidney Wilson knocked down a 3-pointer with 3 minutes, 23 seconds left Thursday night, UConn’s 17-point deficit from about 3½ minutes earlier was down to seven, and the XL Center crowd was loud.
Ninth-ranked Houston had trouble getting a shot off on its ensuing possession, ultimately settling for a wild attempt by Armoni Brooks with about three seconds left on the shot clock that hit the side of the backboard. UConn’s Tarin Smith ran down the long rebound with a second still showing on the shot clock, and the Huskies had a chance for a fast break.
But official Gerry Pollard blew his whistle for a shot-clock violation, snuffing UConn’s op-
portunity to cut its deficit to five — or four.
UConn coach Dan Hurley went apoplectic, racing down the sideline while saying “I don’t believe it!”
But the call stood. Christian Vital eventually hit one of two free throws to get UConn to within six points with 2:28 to play, but UH’s DeJon Jarreau and Cedrick Alley Jr. sandwiched a drive and a pair of free throws, respectively, around a pair of missed Josh Carlton free throws, and the Cougars held on for a 71-63 victory.
“Obviously, things happen,” Hurley said. “There’s a chance there, if that’s not called, to cut it to five or four, potentially. Who knows what happens at that point? But we were able to get the ball and we didn’t execute. Obviously, that was a missed call, and he felt bad about it. Stand-up guy and a great crew.”
An inadvertent whistle? “Just a blown call,” Hurley said. UH coach Kelvin Sampson didn’t hear an explanation from Pollard, but he seemed to sympathize with the Huskies.
“That’s a terrible rule, though,” Sampson said. “Even if it was zero on the clock and the horn went off, they should just continue play. Because that’s a penalty to the offensive team. I don’t know why they stopped it, especially when there was time on the clock.”
Still, UH’s 17-4 start to the second half, coupled with UConn’s 14-for-25 foul shooting for the game, were the greater culprits in the Cougars’ ninth straight win.
“We made too many mistakes,” Hurley said, “to beat a team that has a chance to play in the Final Four.”
The Cougars (24-1, 11-1 AAC) rammed home no fewer than eight slam dunks and scored numerous other baskets on a variety of inside hoops, reverse layups and jump hooks.
And when UH wasn’t scoring from close range (30 points in the paint), it was knocking down 3pointers — 11 in all, on 21 attempts.
One place the Cougars didn’t do too much damage at was the foul line. They had attempted just two free throws until the final two minutes, when UH knocked down eight of its final nine.
After a Jarreau layup with 7:09 to play, the Cougars’ lead was 5841.
Jarreau led all scorers with 18 points off the bench.
“Coach always talks about the bench production,” he said. “The starters always get off to a good start, so it’s our job to come in and keep it going.”
Added Sampson on Jarreau: “He’s still not there yet. I’ve seen him in practice every day do some things that he hasn’t quite let himself do in games.”
The Huskies (13-12, 4-8), who made a game of it late with a 9-0 run during a two-minute stretch, were led by Vital’s 15 points.
“We might not be everything that we need to be, in terms of being whole and having everything we need to be what UConn fans are used to seeing on the court,” Hurley said. “But we’re not cowards, we’re not soft. We’re tough. We’re developing a culture here of not giving in and playing through.”