The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Taking Care of Business
Huskies roll from the start in blowout of Wildcats UCONN 91 NEW HAMPSHIRE 66
HARTFORD — UConn would have lost this game a year ago
No, that’s not right. No incarnation of UConn basketball over the past 30 years would have lost to what the University of New Hampshire put on the XL Center floor Saturday afternoon.
But UConn would have probably struggled a little too much to put the Wildcats away last season. Probably would have led by, like, six or eight points at halftime, put together a little 10-0 run at some point in the second half and won by, say, 16.
Instead, the Huskies pretty much dominated from the start — a Josh Carlton dunk 15 seconds in — and rolled to a 91-66 victory over UNH before 8,351.
What a difference a year can make.
“We don’t even think about last year anymore,” junior guard Christian Vital noted. “We knew what we were supposed to do. We’re supposed to beat teams like this by a good amount, in a game where everybody can get in and have fun. Just a great team effort, everyone contributes. We realize where we’re at.”
Carlton dominated inside early and often and finished with a career high-matching 17 points, leading five UConn players in double figures. Jalen Adams also scored 17 on 8-for-10 shooting, Vital notched his third career double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds), Tyler Polley matched his career best with 12 points and
Alterique Gilbert added 11. A fun game for all. “Generally pleased with getting a comfortable win,” said hard-to-please head coach Dan Hurley. “(And) just kind of being able to handle our business.”
The news got even better after the game, when UConn announced that redshirt freshman forward Sid Wilson has been reinstated for all basketball competition. Wilson had been allowed to practice with the team, but not play, since his suspension was announced on Oct. 31. It’s still not clear what his violation was.
“I think he fits Coach’s system well, playing a small forward and at the fourspot,” Carlton said of Wilson. “He’ll be able to bring shooting and rebounding, a toughness. I think he’s gonna be a real good addition to the team.”
Not that it was all perfect on Saturday. The Wildcats, who entered the game hitting just 35 percent of their shots against Division 1 competition, had a few too many open looks and were hitting at a 49 percent clip as late as a few minutes into the second half.
“We either played really good defense, or we gave up an embarrassing basket, which was very frustrating, at time,” Hurley noted.
But by the midway point of the latter half, New Hampshire (2-4) had pretty much been reduced to the role of Washington Generals, as the Huskies pulled away on an array of impressive drives to the hoop by Adams, Gilbert and Vital.
The type of blowout win that seemed to be in short supply in recent years.
“These types of games, where you have the better team, that’s what you’re supposed to do,” said Hurley. “We haven’t done anything that we weren’t supposed to do (Saturday) or against Morehead (State) or Cornell. I coach these guys so hard coming into these buy games that it borderline ruined Thanksgiving for everybody. Because you’ve got to keep them on edge. There’s such a tendency to relax.”
And Hurley isn’t exactly the relaxing type.
“We’ve done nothing the last couple of years, nothing this season,” he pointed out, “to warrant overlooking anybody.”
RIM RATTLINGS
⏩ If UConn fans are expecting Wilson to be a quick fix, they may want to be a little more patient.
“Listen, we didn’t stop the season waiting for Sid,” said Hurley. “Sid’s gonna have to earn his minutes in practice here ... We do have depth. He’s got to carve out minutes and opportunity for himself in practice. That’s something he should have been thinking about in the last week. Now that he’s eligible, he’s gonna have to earn it in practice. He’s gonna have to kick Tyler’s butt, get after these guards and fight his way onto the court.”
If and when that does happen, however, the Huskies will be getting a nice addition to the rotation.
“I don’t think people have really seen the type of athlete Sid is,” said Vital. “Especially now. He’s had a couple of years in college to grow his body and add to his game. I think he’s gonna be a really big piece to us. He’s definitely gonna help us out a lot.”
⏩ Mamadou Diarra, who has yet to play this season after summer knee surgery, has been doing light conditioning work in practice, according to Hurley, but still isn’t close to full strength. The coach had said a month ago that mid-December would probably be the earliest for Diarra’s return.
⏩ It was a rough game for New Hampshire’s two Connecticut products. Newington’s Nick Guadarrama finished with five points on 1-for-4 shooting and three rebounds in 16 minutes. Mark Carbone of Wethersfield played 10 minutes and had three points on 1-for-3 shooting.