The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Backcourt chemistry on display in rout
There is no compass or Doppler radar that can measure the nautical distance between Bouk Island and James Bouknight’s assertion Saturday afternoon. But we do know a provocative quote when we hear one.
“I feel like we’re the best backcourt in the Big East and one of the best in the country,” Bouknight said after he and R.J. Cole combined for 45 points in UConn’s 80-62 rout of Marquette at Gampel Pavilion. “Without a doubt.”
Remember Bouk Island? Remember before the sophomore guard’s elbow injury and the 40 days and 40 nights without him? He scored 40 in the loss to Creighton and Captain Bligh, ah, coach Dan Hurley openly worried about not stranding his star player alone on an island to do everything. The worry extended through a UConn fandom hungry for the program’s first NCAA appearance since 2016.
As a proud basketball player, that had to sting Cole.
“It bothered me in the sense that I felt like I was leaving James on an island or a team was leaving him on an island at the beginning of the season,” Cole said after he followed up his 17-point, seven-assist, six-steal performance against Georgetown with the most important 21 points in this game. “I don’t really get into the outside noise. That doesn’t really bother me.
“It bothered me in the sense I felt like I wasn’t living up to my part and I wasn’t taking on my
responsibilities and helping out as a teammate.”
There were stretches and there were moments in this season’s penultimate home game that had to make the members of the NCAA Selection Committee think, wow, UConn may be all that.
Marquette scored a pathetic 13 points over the final 17 minutes of the first half. The Golden Eagles, who went into Chapel Hill and gut-punched North Carolina the other night, were outscored 20-4 in the paint in the opening 20 minutes.
Bouknight, Tyrese Martin, Jalen Gaffney, Cole and Tyler Polley took turns grabbing buckets. Isaiah Whaley and Andre Jackson put punctuation points on the dominance with a putback jam and an end-to-end slam. There was a play when Martin pulled down a rebound of a missed 3pointer by D.J. Carton. A pass ahead to Bouknight, one dribble and a pass ahead to Cole at the wing. Swish. Three. UConn 28-17.
Remember when the ball was moving in mud a few weeks ago at Providence? Well, it’s moving now. The Huskies were up 17 at intermission and scored precisely the kind of victory they needed if they are to avoid taking a late-season pratfall.
Afterward, after the Huskies had turned the ball over only twice in the final 35 minutes, navigated some foul issues and the Bouknight/Cole duo had turned up the offensive volume when needed in the second half, Hurley was asked about the showdown of bubble teams at Seton Hall on Wednesday.
“Are you sure we’re on the bubble?” Hurley asked.
Told the reference points were ESPN’s Joe Lunardi (who had UConn as one of the last four in) and Fox’s Mike DeCourcy (who had UConn a 10th seed), Hurley answered: “I look for people who have us in a better position. It’s good for my mental health. So I’m going to go with Jerry Palm as the guy. If Joe does better for us, then I’ll go to Joe.”
Palm, from CBS, had UConn as a steady eight seed Saturday.
“We need James and J.R. nightly,” Hurley said. “The strength of the group is the depth. If we have a point guard and James playing at that level, depth, rebounding and defense can take you to a pretty good season.”
Before the season, Hurley had harped on depth being the strength of the team, and as the injuries lightened their grip we have begun to see it. Then Adama Sanogo and Whaley got in foul trouble. Then Josh Carlton rolled his ankle. Then Akok Akok, still not whole after Achilles surgery, tried four minutes at the 5 … and now we see why coaches worry themselves sick at night. Immediately after the game, Hurley didn’t know how badly Carlton was hurt.
He did know that the second-half worries that emerged on post defense were erased as Bouknight and Cole scored all 19 of UConn’s points over the first 12 minutes to hold Marquette at bay. Yes, offense covered Saturday.
“R.J. has found his rhythm and timing at an important time,” Hurley said.
Cole didn’t start a few games. An old guard himself, Hurley didn’t think he played with the field generalship and controlled fury needed of a point guard. Three-pointers, pull-up 2s, drive, dishes, we’re seeing it now. The biggest turnaround?
“Just fighting back,” Hurley said. “Look, this is like being the quarterback at Notre Dame or playing quarterback at Alabama. When you’re the point guard at UConn, you have tremendous responsibility. Look at the history here of incredible point guards that have led this program.
“The challenge these players face with this COVID season, people have no idea what these kids are having to deal with and how little reward there is for them except for the opportunity to get out there and compete. When R.J. got to that down part of the year where he had to stand and fight and show who he was — or cave in — he stood and fought. Now he’s showing a lot of people how good he is.”
Cole said he has done his best to employ the elements of reliability.
“Stay the course. Trust the process. Never be too high or too low. Try to be steady. But mostly let everything come to me rather than try to force it. The game, the flow, being a leader, let it all come to me rather than force it.”
When Bouknight was out for eight games and UConn was fighting to stay above water, that wasn’t easy. Still, Cole has insisted he and Bouknight developed a strong chemistry off the court and at practices last year as he sat out following his transfer from Howard. Bouknight insists he feels more pressure at a Hurley practice than in games, so the two had time to grow. The chemistry between them in games was going to come.
“R.J. said it after the Georgetown game: We have a different kind of relationship,” Bouknight said. “We can talk to each other. When we see something on the court when one of us is not going hard or takes plays off to get some air, we have the relationship where we can talk to each other and tell each other to tighten up. That’s the type of relationship we need for this team to be successful.”
After he scored 24 points in the Xavier game following that disheartening loss to Providence, Cole talked about how he made sure he gave his heartfelt views in a players-only meeting. He said he decided that he finally had to step up and be a leader.
“I don’t know much about the meeting,” Hurley said. “I don’t want to know what they are saying; they might have said bad stuff about me. R.J did (speak) I know that. James is a big personality. Andre is a captain type. R.J is probably the next most vocal.
“We don’t have a huge personality team. That meeting gave them a chance to bring some things out into the open and vent a little bit. Whenever you’re vulnerable and you let other people know things that are bothering you, I think it takes tremendous strength to show vulnerability. They all showed a lot of vulnerability in that meeting and then collectively picked each other up.”
And for the second postgame, Bouknight said the team has adopted the most basic of survival mindsets.
“Kill or be killed,” he said.
Scoring more points than the opponents will suffice, James, although we do admire your competitive spirit.