Sports: UConn men fall to Memphis, 83-79
Struggling Huskies turn 10-point lead into 23-point deficit in loss
Storrs — UConn experienced one of its trademark prolonged power outages on Sunday. With a flick of the switch, the Huskies went from energized to a powerless team, watching a 10-point lead turn into a 23-point deficit at Gampel Pavilion.
Far too long of a stretch and too big of a deficit to overcome against Memphis.
An 83-79 loss dropped the Huskies to 13-16 overall, 6-10 in the American Athletic Conference. It guarantees they'll finish with a losing league record for the first time in five seasons in the AAC. They went 9-9 last season.
"Definitely, it's frustrating," junior Jalen Adams said of the energy lapses. "We know what we've got to do to win so we've just really got to step up and just do it . ... Nobody really hangs their heads too much. We know what we've got to do going forward."
Only two regular season games remain for the Huskies to figure out a solution. Hard to be optimistic that they'll see the light now. They've lost nine of their last 12 games.
"We dug ourselves a hole," said UConn coach Kevin Ollie, whose brief postgame press conference lasted about two minutes. "We were down 23 points . ... I believe we scored 39 points in the last eight minutes. I was very proud of those guys that they didn't lay down. We've just got to stay positive."
Adams returned to the lineup after missing the Cincinnati game because of the flu, finishing with a game-high 25 points, including 21 in the second half, while sophomore Christian Vital added 17 points and Antwoine Anderson had 10. Kwintin Williams provided a spark off the bench, chipping in seven points and a teamhigh seven rebounds in 10 minutes. But it wasn't enough. "We can't wait to see we're down 20-25 and then start playing," Vital said. "We have to start from the beginning of the game. That's been one of our consistent challenges. But as long as we still have games left, we still have a chance to fix it. That's my mindset. I believes that's the guys' mindset that as long as we have another game just try to get better and try to win the next one."
The Huskies took solace in staging a late comeback.
Facing a 63-40 deficit with nine minutes, 12 seconds left, the Huskies finally woke up. With Adams, Vital, Anderson, Williams and Mamadou Diarra on the floor, they staged a furious comeback.
"They just played with energy and effort," Ollie said.
Adams scored 16 points in the final 6:43. His driving layup cut the deficit to 81-77 with 7.6 seconds remaining. An active Williams also was a huge factor.
"I just do whatever it takes to help my team win," Williams said.
But Kareem Brewton, Jr. hit two free throws with 6.6 seconds remaining for Memphis to ice the win. Mike Parks, Jr. and Jamal Johnson each scored 18 points for the Tigers (18-11, 9-7), who played well despite recently losing AAC leading scorer Jeremiah Martin with season-ending foot injury. They converted 11 of 22 from 3-point range and scored 27 points off 16 turnovers.
The game got away from the Huskies after they seized a 23-13 lead. The Tigers dominated from there, ending the first half with a 28-8 blitz to take a 41-31 advantage at intermission. And they continued to dominate in the second half, with plenty of help from the Huskies.
UConn stumbled and bumbled its way to five turnovers in its first seven possessions after intermission. The Huskies had only one field goal in an 11-minute stretch. It was dreadful basketball. "We came out with a lot of energy," Adams said of UConn's fast start. "Once we got up, we got laid back and that's when they went on their run. It was hard to stop them once they got on their run."
The Huskies will try to regroup in time for Wednesday's regular season home finale against Temple on Wednesday.
There could be some changes in the rotation, with Williams a candidate for more playing time after Sunday's inspired effort.
"I thought he played tremendous," Ollie said. "Hopefully, he comes back (Monday) in practice and plays with the same energy and he'll definitely be playing the next game. But we go off of practice in this program. I'm not saying he wasn't practicing hard, but we have to see that each and every day." g.keefe@theday.com