The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Red-hot Polley helps lift Huskies
Tyler Polley had been a fixture in UConn’s starting lineup the prior two seasons, starting 47 of 48 games until a torn ACL ended his season last January.
Polley has only started two games this season, but suffice to say he’s warming up to his new role as an instant-offense “Microwave” off the bench.
For the second straight game on Saturday, Polley bounced off the bench and led UConn’s offense with a blistering shooting performance. The 6-foot-9 senior knocked down five 3-pointers — including all four he took in the first half — and finished with a game-high 19 points in the Huskies’ 72-60 win over Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
“I’ve embraced my role with the team, just to be that hot hand, coming off the bench firing, I love it,” Polley said. “I can’t ask for anything more. I feel like there’s less pressure on me, just going out there shooting. I love my role right now.”
Just like in Tuesday’s comefrom-behind road win at Marquette, Polley finished 5-for-8 from 3-point land. And just like in that game, his performance was greatly needed, as the Huskies were without Big East scoring leader James Bouknight.
Bouknight suffered a hyperextended left elbow late in the first half of the Marquette game and wound up going scoreless in the latter half, while Polley was scoring all of his career-high 23 points. Bouknight didn’t play at all on Saturday, reduced to an engaged and vocal spectator on the bench as UConn tries to monitor his return.
“We’re communicating with doctors,” coach Dan Hurley said,
“and making sure we do the right things in terms of when we can get him back.”
Until then, UConn will continue to look to its great depth to get by — depth that now includes Akok Akok. The 6-9 sophomore, who suffered a seasonending torn Achilles tendon injury last Feb. 16 against Memphis, was back for the first time this season on Saturday. He checked into the game during a timeout at 11:14 of the first half, and 32 seconds later, took a pass from Tyrese Martin for a two-handed dunk in the lane.
“That was a lift for all of us,” said Hurley. “The dunk that he got there was a play that charged everybody up.”
“It was a great moment in my career,” Akok added. “A special day. I’ve been waiting for this for a long time. A lot of nerves for my first game back. As soon as I got in the game, I got over it. Made that splash play, cut to the rim for the dunk, that really started things off.”
Those would be the only points Akok scored in six minutes of action as other players picked up the slack. Martin, coming off a scoreless clunker against Marquette, knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.
“He could have gone in the tank today, coming off the Marquette game,” Hurley noted. “But he showed that he can be a real important guy in our program.”
Isaiah Whaley and Brendan
Adams added nine points apiece, and point guard R.J. Cole shook off a rough first half to finish with seven points and seven rebounds.
“If we don’t get that from Brendan today, we don’t win,” said Hurley. “He defended really, really well, minus a possession or two.”
UConn (6-1, 3-1 Big East) led by five at halftime, thanks largely to Polley’s 12 points, but quickly extended that to as much as 18 (54-36) within the first nine minutes of the latter half. UConn spread the wealth around a bit better, as six different players scored within that span.
Butler (3-6, 2-4) chipped away and got to within 10 (58-48) with a little over six minutes to play. But Polley hit his first 3-pointer of the latter half, kicking off a personal 7-0 run, and Whaley swatted away consecutive Butler shots during one 12-second span to secure the victory.
The Bulldogs, who entered the game averaging just over 10 turnovers per game, turned the ball over 15 times.
UConn owned a 33-28 lead at halftime, though it felt like it should have been more. The Huskies outshot and outrebounded the Bulldogs over the first 20 minutes, but turned the ball over 10 times, leading to 13 Butler points.
UConn turned the ball over just twice in the latter half.
Polley bounced off the bench three minutes into the game and quickly banked a 3-pointer, the first of four straight he made in the opening half. Between the second half of the Marquette game (23 points), and Saturday’s opening half, Polley was 12-for-14 from the floor and 9-for-10 from 3-point land for 35 points.
Hurley harked back to a conversation he had with Polley around Christmas.
“You’ve got the ultimate green light,” the coach told the shooter. “If he can get it off, he probably should shoot it.”
Polley remembered the conversation well.
“It helped me a lot, just to know that the coaching staff and Coach Hurley still believed in me,” he said. “I was not playing to my potential, but when he told me that, that gave me confidence. I knew he had my back.”
And with the Huskies’ best player unable to play on Saturday, Tyler Polley had James Bouknight’s and the rest of his teammates’ back with another scintillating shooting performance.
True, Polley didn’t do much of anything else — no rebounds, assists, steals or blocks. But a veteran player continued to embrace his new role, and it was just what the doctor ordered for UConn on Saturday afternoon.
“I like him coming off the bench,” said Hurley. “The matchups in this game were better for him coming off the bench, with the way that they substitute. It doesn’t matter. If you play 28, 30, (33) minutes, whatever, it doesn’t matter (if you start).”