UConn begins their February stretch drive against St. John’s
STORRS — Geno Auriemma walked into the interview room at Providence’s Alumni Hall looking more like he had played 40 minutes for the UConn women’s basketball team rather than coaching.
His Huskies had defeated the Friars by 10 for their 14th straight win on this Feb. 1, 2023 night, but the Hall of Fame coach knew something wasn’t right. February’s the stretch drive of the regular season and with all the injuries and adversity he wasn’t sure his team could get to the level it needed to be at to get through
March and into April.
“You can always improve and get better at certain things,” Auriemma said. “I don’t know that we can get significantly better . ... You hope there are one or two players that have it that night and kind of ride that wave they have. Other than that, we can’t practice enough to get better. We can’t spend enough time at practice to get better.”
He was right. After a spirited effort in a loss to unbeaten South
Carolina four days later, UConn lost at Marquette. That marked the first time it had lost back-toback games in 30 years spanning 1,083 games. Two weeks later, the Huskies lost to St. John’s at home giving them three February losses for the first time in 30 years. UConn did get two of its injured players back and found the resolve to win its 10th consecutive conference tournament title and reach the NCAA Sweet 16 for the 29th straight year but a loss to Ohio State ended its streak of Final Four appearances at 14.
The calendar has turned to February again and again the Huskies have dealt with injuries.
didn't score at all while being guarded by Castle.
“He's a great player,” Castle said of Soriano. “I was just happy I was able to get those stops. That was big for the outcome of the game.”
The Huskies have now won 10 straight. They also kept alive their quest to go undefeated at home this season. OK, MSG isn't truly their home. But don't tell that to the good portion of the 19,812 that packed the World's Most Famous Arena and often refer to the building as “Storrs South.”
“You have a big player out of the game, you start making excuses: ‘It's OK to lose' ... hell no,” Hurley said. “We came here to win.”
Hurley had labeled Karaban a gametime decision on Friday afternoon, but when the 6-8 sophomore forward was seen draining 3-pointers during pregame warm-ups, it looked like he might have a shot to play.
“We kinda knew,” Hurley confessed. “We were shooting realistically for Tuesday (at home against Butler). We were hoping for some kind of miraculous recovery for today.”
Karaban had injured his ankle early in Wednesday night's win over Providence, though still logged 32 minutes and scored 14 points. Senior guard Hassan Diarra replaced him in the starting lineup on Saturday.
“Gametime decision-ish,” Spencer quipped, “but we were focused on not having him, just in case we had to figure it out and what we were going to run without him, which guys would step up. I think the coaches did a good job preparing us without him. But, obviously we'd love to have Alex back soon.”
It was a truly back-andforth affair for the first 27 minutes, with no less than 17 lead changes and eight ties. St. John's led by one at halftime and took a 46-45 lead at the 13:13 mark of the second half. It would be short-lived.
Spencer countered with a 3-pointer that provided the final lead change of the game and kicked off an 11-3 UConn run.
The Huskies continued to increase their lead, even with both big men saddled in foul
trouble. No worries, Castle took the Soriano assignment and 6-6 frosh Jaylin Stewart also logged some minutes at the five as UConn closed it out.
UConn outrebounded St. John's (13-9, 5-6) by a 38-23 margin.
“That speaks to how we showed up here today,” Hurley said. “The edge that we brought.”
Even with their “problemsolver” sitting on the bench in street clothes.
Rim rattlings
• Hurley addressed some of the testy remarks that St. John's coach Rick Pitino has made about UConn over the past month.
“It's a fascinating league. You've got Rick Pitino come into this league, and we've already got all these incredible coaches ... it's an unbelievable coaching league to be in. Some of the stuff we do pisses each other off. Recruiting, sometimes, you don't like how someone recruited a player. Same thing in-game, they may not like how I coach with the refs, with the emotion. It causes friction. I think it's good. It brought a lot of interest into this game, it packed the arena, and I'm sure a lot of people watched.”
Hurley was asked if he thought it was ironic that Pitino, known for sideline antics of his own in his younger days, has now been criticizing Hurley's behavior.
“I watched him. I tried to emulate some things that he's done in his career, just like you study all the great coaches. Whatever, man. I don't think we're going to become best friends this summer.”
“But,” Hurley added, “I respect the hell out of him.”
• There was also some chippiness between Spencer and Soriano late in the game. At one point, Spencer was barking at Soriano while walking back to the team huddle during a timeout, and Soriano seemed to be following Spencer until he was re-routed by an official.
“Just a big game, a lot of emotions involved,” Spencer reported. “I have a lot of respect for him as a player and what he brings to their team. Coach Pitino, as well. A lot of respect for those guys. Heat of the battle. You're just trying to go out and win the game.”