New Haven Register (Sunday) (New Haven, CT)
A ‘gut-check’ win
UCONN 80 XAVIER 72 Cole, Martin, Whaley lead charge past Xavier
R.J. Cole was coming off the bench for a second straight game, the result of inconsistent play over the prior few weeks.
Akok Akok, he of the season-ending torn Achilles tendon less than a year earlier, was playing in a game for the first time in nearly a month due to a shin issue. Isaiah Whaley and Tyrese Martin, bothered by ankle injuries a couple of days earlier, were essentially game-time decisions — particularly Martin, who caused coach Dan Hurley to emerge from his usual “fetal position” in the pregame locker room to observe how he was moving and feeling.
“Let’s go, be a soldier, get out there,” Hurley told Martin when he revealed he felt about 85 percent healthy. “Give us what you can give us.”
Those four players couldn’t have given UConn much more in a much-needed, 80-72 win at Xavier on Saturday afternoon in Cincinnati. The Huskies had lost two straight and four of their prior five games.
“Tremendous gut-check,” Hurley labeled the victory. “Man, what soldiers. That’s what you’re supposed to do as an athlete. If you can give us 80 percent, give us 80 percent. That’s what warriors do — they get out there and give you what they’ve got.”
Cole notched season-highs with 24 points and seven assists (and just one turnover). Martin scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, snared nine rebounds and helped hold Xavier top dog Paul Scruggs to nine harmless points on 3-for-10 shooting. Whaley notched a double-double (12 points, 10 boards) while also swatting away five shots.
And Akok bounced off the
bench about 6 minutes into the game, with UConn trailing by nine, and immediately hit a 3-pointer and scored on a George Gervinlike finger roll to spur the Huskies to a six-point halftime lead.
“That’s an underrated for reason for the success today,” Hurley said of Akok, the 6-foot-9 sophomore. “When he went into the game, things weren’t going great. His energy last year, the fans could sense it, we fed off it as a team, just the joy he plays with.”
Indeed, Akok’s megawatt smile was back on Saturday. And so was the Huskies’ swagger — even if leading scorer and superstar James Bouknight remained in street clothes on the bench.
“We said if we’re gonna start making a run at it, this was gonna be the time to do it,” said Whaley.
UConn (9-5, 6-5 Big East) tossed up 26 3-pointers and canned a season-high 11 of them. The Huskies’ offense flowed so much better than it had in recent weeks as they put up their most points in a game since an 82-61 romp over DePaul on Dec. 30. UConn had 21 assists on 28 baskets and turned the ball over just 11 times.
No one was better than Cole, the junior point guard who knocked down 5 of 7 3-pointers.
“This is the best I’ve felt in a long time,” said Cole, who netted a team-high 14 points in his first game off the bench in the Huskies’ 70-59 loss at Providence three days earlier. “I was just happy to be there for my teammates today. It took me a while to get to this point, but I’m happy that I could do that today and step up.”
Tyler Polley added 10 points for the Huskies and Akok added seven in 10 minutes.
Zach Freemantle poured in a career-high 30 for Xavier (11-3, 4-3), which hadn’t played since Jan. 30 and had played just once since Jan. 10 due to COVID-19 pauses and postponements.
For the third straight game, UConn got off to a slow start, missing six of its first seven shots (and all four 3-pointers) and falling behind 16-7 within the first six minutes. But Akok entered the game with 13:37 left, quickly hit a 3, then sandwiched his finger roll around a Cole 3-pointer. A Whaley jumper tied the game, and UConn built up as much as an eight-point lead before settling for a 38-32 edge at halftime.
A 9-0 Xavier run early in the latter half tied the game at 49, but consecutive conventional 3-point plays by Martin and Whaley gave the Huskies a little breathing room. UConn pumped its lead up to as much as 14 late in the game. The Musketeers — and some missed UConn free throws — made things interesting in the final minute, getting to within four with 16 seconds left.
But Martin and Whaley combined for four straight free throws to close it out.
With Martin and Whaley banged up, Akok coming off an injury and Bouknight still out, Hurley told his players the inspirational story of Jarvis Garnett, whom Hurley coached at Rhode Island. Garnett broke his upper jaw and played half a season wearing a hockey-like mask for the Rams, and even played through ulcers, losing 15 pounds, as a junior.
“You don’t necessarily have to play yourself to death,” Hurley noted, “but I tried to give them an example of somebody that a coach will never forget.”
Cole continued to embrace and thrive in his new role off the bench. Martin and Whaley played through injuries and played well. Akok, whom Hurley acknowledges wants to be out there 40 minutes, gave a surprise infusion of energy.
Gut check.
“My programs are built on rugged, tough-ass dudes that refuse to lose,” Hurley continued, “and will rip the ball out of someone else’s hands and finish in traffic.”
Meanwhile, Bouknight, who was a full participant in pregame warm-ups, appears to be looming in the not-toodistant future.
“When we’re fullyformed, we’re probably a really good team,” Hurley reasoned. “When the band is fully back together again, hopefully we’ll be able to prove that.”
RIM RATTLINGS
Brendan Adams, who had started six of the Huskies’ prior seven games, and Josh Carlton, did not play at all.
Xavier was without senior forward Bryan Griffin (4.8 ppg, 4.9 rpg), who was unable to play due to COVID-19 protocol.