UConn dominates in final home game
“Our fans deserve better than for us to sleepwalk through an eight-point win today.” Dan Hurley
HARTFORD — The UConn men’s basketball team looked Novembergood once again on Wednesday night.
Not November-good as in the PK Invitational, the competitive tournament they won with ease over Thanksgiving weekend. November-good as in blowout wins over Stonehill, Delaware State or any of the low-majors the Huskies beat up on early in the season.
The 14th-ranked Huskies made DePaul look like a low major, closing out their home schedule with an 88-59 beatdown at sold-out XL Center. Adama Sanogo’s 26 points, one shy of his season-high, led five UConn players in double figures.
“Our fans deserve better than for us to sleepwalk through an eightpoint win today,” coach Dan Hurley noted. “They’ve shown up in big numbers in both places and created a great atmosphere for us.”
UConn (23-7, 12-7 Big East) jumped out to a 29-2 start as DePaul missed 13 of its 14 shots as well as both of its free throws.
“It feels good to be able to be up that much, early in the game,” Andre Jackson Jr. said. “It definitely gives you a little confidence.”
Huskies’ lead ballooned to as much as 42-8, and a Sanogo inside hoop just before halftime gave them a 51-19 lead at the break. That was “only” UConn’s third-largest halftime lead of the season, surpassed by a 35-point advantage on Dec. 10 over LIU and a 33point lead over Delaware State on Nov. 20.
Of course, unlike DePaul, neither of those teams reside in the Big East.
“First-half performance was as good as you can hope for on both ends of the court, disruptive defensively and offensively,” said Hurley. “The 17 assists in the half was impressive.”
DePaul (9-21, 3-16 Big East) actually outscored the Huskies in the latter half, 40-37. But the damage had been done.
“It was unreal of me to think we were going to win 110-45,” Hurley said. “Those (DePaul) kids have pride, Tony (Stubblefield’s) an excellent coach. I was happy it didn’t get under 20 and turned into a real “S”-show. It was really the turnovers that made me crazy. We started doing some low-level stuff with the ball. And that’s not good.”
Indeed, UConn shot 55 percent from the floor for the game and doled out 24 assists on their 35 baskets. But those 13 turnovers managed to stick in Hurley’s craw.
“There’s always got to be something,” he pointed out. “We’ve got to stop doing that. It should have been a 30-assist game for us. That’s bothering me.”
With one game remaining in the regular season, the Huskies have clinched at least the No. 5 seed in Big East Tournament, which runs March 8-11 at Madison Square Garden.
The Blue Demons have now lost 11 straight games.
Tristen Newton followed Sanogo in the scoring column with 12 points and Jackson Jr. messed around with a triple-double, finishing with 11 points, eight rebounds and nine assists. He knew he was close in the final minutes.
“I wasn’t trying to put too much emphasis on it,” Jackson said. “I was trying to psyche myself out not to think about it, so I could get it. But, it’s all good. I’ve got two more years here, so I’ll get it eventually.”
Two more years of Andre Jackson Jr. surely must sound like music to UConn fans’ ears.
Alex Karaban also scored 11 points, and Donovan Clingan added 10 points, his best output since dropping 20 on Marquette on Jan. 11. Meanwhile, Jordan Hawkins, who entered the game leading the Big East in scoring at 17.7 ppg, scored just three points on 1-for-9 shooting. The 6-foot-5 sophomore seemed to tweak his ankle late in the game and limped off the floor when the game was over, but Hurley pronounced him “fine.”
“He’ll be practicing (Thursday),” the coach promised.
The dominant performance allowed UConn to try a few new things. Samson Johnson, the 6-foot-10 sophomore who missed most of the first two months with a foot injury, got into a game for the first time since Feb. 4, checking in with a little under five minutes left in the first half. Johnson wound up playing seven minutes.
“It was good to get him some minutes,” Hurley said. “We’re trying to hammer into our conversations with him, ‘Stay with us, man.’ It’s hard to miss two months, miss all the buy games, all the nonconference. For us to try to jam you into these Big East games ... you’re hoping he stays with us, because the guy’s got tremendous talent and has a big future.”
It was the final home game of the season for UConn, meaning the final home game in the short, sweet Husky career of Joey Calcaterra. The San Diego transfer knocked down a trio of 3-pointers for nine points in his finale.
Newton, Nahiem Alleyne and Richie Springs, all of whom have at least a year of eligibility remaining, had been honored on Senior Night a week earlier at Gampel Pavilion. Springs scored the final basket of the game in ostensibly his final home game.
RIM RATTLINGS
• Prior to the game, a moment of silence was observed in remembrance of former UConn player Norman Bailey and coach Fred Shabel, both of whom passed away recently.
• Alleyne was presented with a commemorative ball prior to the game after having scored his 1,000th career point on Saturday against St. John’s. Alleyne played his first three seasons at Virginia Tech.
• Hassan Diarra missed his second game in a row with an abdominal strain.