The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Fall a tall task for Huskies
UCF center shooting 80 percent for season
HARTFORD >> Tacko Fall missed a shot on Tuesday. In fact, he missed all six shots he attempted.
That constitutes a news flash, since the 7-foot-6 UCF center is on pace to smash the NCAA single-season field-goal percentage record. Even after his 0-for-6 clunker in a win over East Carolina on Tuesday, Fall is still making a whopping 80 percent of his shots this season. The Division I single-season record is 74.6 percent, set in 1980-81 by Oregon State’s Steve Johnson.
Fall promises to be quite a handful for UConn (5-9, 0-3 AAC) on Sunday at 5 p.m. at the XL Center (CBS Sports Network). Not only does he rarely miss, he’s also the American Athletic Conference’s leading rebounder (11.2 per game) and ranks fourth in blocked shots to go with a 14.3 points per game scoring average.
“He’s 7-6 and he’s got an 8-foot wingspan, so he presents a lot of problems,” said UConn coach Kevin Ollie. “He uses his body very well, he’s gotten a lot stronger and his balance his better. And they are feeding him.”
And Fall is hardly the only player who’ll be a problem for the Huskies on Sunday. UCF (123, 3-0 AAC) is the surprise of the league in the early goings, though maybe it shouldn’t be such a sur-
prise. Along with Fall, the Knights are paced by point guard B.J. Taylor, the league’s top-scoring freshman two years ago who sat out all of last season with an injury; Matt Williams, a sharpshooter hitting 37 percent of his 3-pointers; and A.J. Davis, who tore down 15 rebounds in Tuesday’s ugly win over ECU.
The Knights also have a new coach, former Duke star Johnny Dawkins, who took over after being fired by Stanford last spring.
“They have gotten off to a good start and it looks like they are playing with great confidence,” said Ollie. “Coach Dawkins implemented a different style.”
But the story is Fall, who a little over a year ago was little more than a 7-6 curiosity who was battling NCAA eligibility concerns. He’s now the premier big man in the league, with all due respect to UConn’s Amida Brimah.
“He’s a good player,” Brimah said of Fall, a native of Senegal. “I’ve got to come ready to play (on Sunday).”
Brimah is still the AAC’s leading shot-blocker (2.9 per game) and has been playing much better lately. He grabbed a career-best 15 rebounds in Thursday night’s loss at Memphis, and the 7-foot senior is second on the Huskies in rebounding at 6.1 per game. Kentan Facey (6.8) leads the team.
“I’m trying to make the team better,” Brimah said. “Whatever I can do to make the team better, I’ll do it.”
No doubt, Fall represents the biggest and most intriguing challenge yet for Brimah. Fall spearheads a UCF defense that is holding opponents to 38.5 percent shooting, best in the nation. The Knights’ 57.9 points allowed per game is fourth in the country, and in their last two games have held opponents to 11 and 15 points, respectively, in the first half. That doesn’t bode well for a UConn team that ranks 10th out of 11 AAC teams at 65.1 points per game.
“We need to win games,” Brimah said, matter-offactly. “Everybody on the team’s got to come ready to play.”
There’s no question about that, even if it hasn’t always happened for the Huskies this season.
“We need to win games. Everybody on the team’s got to come ready to play.” — Amida Brimah