Thanksgiving Thriller
Sanogo leads UConn past Auburn with career-high 30 points
In a game of remarkable ebb and flow, with heroes and goats seemingly emerging every few minutes, UConn held on to win a double-overtime classic in its Battle 4 Atlantis opener on Wednesday.
Adama Sanogo poured in a career-high 30 points, R.J. Cole and Tyler Polley added 24 apiece and Jordan Hawkins netted 16 to lead the 22nd-ranked Huskies to a 115-109 win over No. 19 Auburn.
“Mind-boggling, mind-numbing,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said. “That was a special game.”
The Huskies trailed by 11 after the first 91⁄2 minutes, led by 15 with 11 minutes left in regulation and by four with 22 seconds left in the first overtime.
But Hawkins, a freshman, turned the ball over with less than 10 seconds left, and the Tigers’ K.D. Johnson scored on a drive with three seconds left to send the game to the second OT.
There, Polley put the Huskies up for good with a 3-pointer with 2:58 left, followed by a Sanogo inside score. UConn (5-0) upped its lead to as many as nine, but a couple of careless turnovers allowed Auburn to get within four, with freshman Jabari Smith getting an open look for a 3-pointer to get within a point.
Smith misfired, however, and the Huskies held on for a remarkable victory.
Polley’s 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in regulation gave UConn a two-point lead, but Johnson scored on a layup to tie it, and Isaiah
Whaley missed a long jumper to send the game to overtime.
“The amount of shot-making, playmaking, athleticism, skill and will,” Hurley said, “those are two teams that could see each other in the NCAA tournament.”
There was a scary moment at the end of the game, when Whaley fainted on the sidelines. But Hurley noted that Whaley simply “stood up to fast,” and that the fainting episode was likely more a result of battling Smith, a likely 2022 NBA lottery pick, and 7-footer Walker
Kessler for 43 minutes.
Auburn (3-1) was led by 27 points from Johnson and 22 from Smith.
Here’s what we learned about UConn from this instant classic:
DEPTH MAY BE THE HUSKIES’ BIGGEST STRENGTH
A quick scan of the box score reveals UConn didn’t have much scoring depth on Wednesday. Five players essentially did all the scoring. Add Whaley’s seven rebounds and four blocks, and really only six UConn players made significant contributions.
But UConn goes ninedeep, meaning when two or three players are struggling, there’s a good chance others will step up. When Andre Jackson, a starter, goes scoreless and attempts just one shot before fouling out, Polley pops off the bench and knocks down six 3-pointers, including some huge buckets down the stretch.
When Jalen Gaffney attempts just one shot and scores all six of his points from the foul line, Hawkins can jump off the bench, knock down all three of his 3-pointers and score 16 points in 17 minutes. When Akok Akok fails to score off the bench, Whaley, Sanogo or Tyrese Martin (14 points, eight boards) can pick up the slack.
The Huskies were also
able to withstand three players (Martin, Whaley and Jackson) foul out and two others (Cole and Sanogo) finish with four.
“Just having returning eight guys, bringing in a special, special player in Jordan Hawkins,” Hurley noted. “That stretch Jordan had in the first half, I think it really was electrifying. It did a lot for our confidence; Tyler, too.”
FAMILIARITY BREEDS SUCCESS
UConn was one of the few Power 6 conference schools not to take in a single transfer this past off-season. The only newcomers are four freshmen, only one of whom (Hawkins) played on Wednesday. All five who started against Auburn (Cole, Martin, Wahley, Sanogo and Jackson) were key players last season.
None of Auburn’s starting five — four transfers and a freshman — were even in the program last season.
Don’t underestimate that connectivity and familiarity.
“Their evolution the last third of Year 2, when we went 9-2 down the stretch and won our last five going into the AAC tournament ... that’s really when things turned here,” Hurley said. “Guys like Isaiah and Tyler, even R.J. was a part of the program, they’ve got their fingerprints all over that.
“When you go through that, going from bad to good to winning huge games last year to get an
at-large bid to playing at the top of the Big East, it changes your culture. You’ve got a winning culture, you believe in yourself and that you’re gonna win games like this.”
Said Polley: “That’s one of the reasons I decided to come back. Playing at UConn is something special. To have an opportunity to play well in games like this is why I came back. It’s just a huge blessing.”
NO ‘I’ IN TEAM
Hawkins came up huge for the Huskies, at one point scoring 11 of UConn’s 16 points as they turned a 21-21 game into a 37-28 lead late in the first half. He finished 5-for-7 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from 3-point land, scoring a career-best 16 points in just 17 minutes.
Yet his unforced turnover near the end of the first overtime nearly cost the Huskies the victory. He looked dejected after the play and didn’t play much after that. But his teammates had his back.
“I mean, you live to see another day,” Cole said. “Jordan was a huge part out there tonight, he gave us a huge lift off the bench. You don’t knock the guy down for something like that after the game. I mean, it happens. We told him, ‘We got you,’ and we got the win. At the end of the day, we always stay together. No matter who it is, we’re gonna make sure we take him in with open arms.”
BALL SECURITY
UConn turned the ball over 24 times on Wednesday. Sanogo had a whopping eight of them, but most of the rest could be attributed to Auburn’s fullcourt pressure, along with some carelessness down the stretch.
The Huskies could use another ballhandler. Cole and Gaffney are the only two point guard-type players. Hawkins, Jackson and Martin can put the ball on the floor, but none would be considered classic ballhandlers. This could be an issue against ball-hawking, high-pressure defenses the Huskies will see throughout the season.
READY FOR PRIME TIME
After blowout wins over four straight cupcakes to start the season, UConn proved it was ready for the big boys. It doesn’t get much easier on Thursday, when the Huskies face Tom Izzo’s Michigan State team at noon. The Spartans edged Loyola-Chicago on a last-second dunk on Wednesday.
“It’ll be an honor to coach against Tom Izzo,” Hurley said. “Guys like Tom Izzo, my dad (Bob Sr.), Coach Calhoun are guys I looked up to and tried to model the way I coach after.”