Spirited win was just what the doctor ordered
They were in desperate need of feeling good about themselves.
Without James Bouknight, without nearly enough offense nor rabid-dog stops on defense, they walked out of Alumni Hall on Wednesday without the joie de vivre needed to carry a team through four losses in five games, through disconcerting COVID-19 pauses and an assortment of injuries.
UConn’s 11-point loss at Providence had been a bad one, and the games ahead stood as a dose of reality that while the jump back to the Big East was necessary, the path to immediate success was far from guaranteed.
Dan Hurley called the group demoralized. Only a few weeks earlier, he said, UConn was one of the darlings of college basketball. The same bracketologists who had been counting the Huskies in the NCAA Tournament suddenly had them among the first four out. Scattered chirps of criticism, something Hurley hadn’t heard since taking over the job in 2018, could be heard. And this was before Tyrese Martin rolled his ankle in shooting drills Thursday.
In Hurley’s opening statement Saturday, when he made mention of “turning off the noise,” he said the greatest team builder is care. Care about each other, about win
ning, about the team. That care over the past few days, he insisted, led the way to the Huskies’ rousing 80-72 victory at Xavier.
Hurley called it a gut-check W. It was a triumph of the spirit, too.
With this Quadrant One win, the second of the season, the Huskies showed themselves what they are capable of doing until Bouknight returns.
They showed themselves how mentally and physically tough they can be.
They showed themselves what commitment to each other can mean.
And, yes, how powerful and contagious a big smile can be.
Let’s start with the players’ meeting on Thursday night.
“We were down of course with the losses, but came together and the mood changed,” said R.J. Cole, who scored a career-high 24 points. “We figured some things out. We came into the game with a pretty good mindset. We knew what we had to do.
“For me, it was figuring out where I fit in and incorporate myself within the flow of the game. I was struggling earlier in the season to get that flow. I think I figured it out.”
Cole knows a team doesn’t win without an effective point guard. He also knew he couldn’t stay quiet at the meeting.
“I had to be a leader,” he said. “I finally had to step up and be a leader. I’ve been trying to figure it out all year. I told each guy what we needed from them, what I felt they’ve been lacking, what I felt I’ve been seeing out there. How we looked as a team. How we looked on film. We each addressed it.”
Much has happened this season and Hurley refuses to call them excuses. He said they are reasons and reasons had worn on his team. He also said there was a good emotional tone when the players arrived at practice Friday. He didn’t know if they’d win at Xavier, but he was certain he wasn’t going to feel as bad as he did after Providence.
Hurley has made it clear he wants more out of Cole. He pulled him from the starting lineup for Jalen Gaffney at Providence. Cole responded with 10 points in the first 20 minutes yet melted away. Hurley pulled Cole aside at halftime Saturday after he amassed 12 points and five assists. Finish it off, he implored. Cole did, with a final line of 24 points, including 5-for-7 on 3s, and seven assists in 35 minutes.
“During the meeting, we were all trying to make sure we established roles and make sure everybody on the team knew what their role was,” Isaiah Whaley said. “We were telling ourselves if we want to start making a run at it, this was going to be the game. It was time. Everybody collectively came together and we showed it.
“Trust was part of the meeting, too.” Whaley pointed to a stat that demonstrated that trust in each other: There were assists on 21 of the Huskies’ 28 baskets. Even when they fell behind 11-2, they stayed connected. They spread the floor better. They got stops, rebounded, moved the ball quicker up court. You make a season-high 11 high 3s and guys are more willing to take shots a little earlier in the shot clock. The ball doesn’t become an anvil.
Martin had been a game-time decision. Hurley, who said he usually rolls himself into the fetal position in the locker room before games, came out to check on Martin’s status. He was a go. Whaley, who had banged up his ankle at Providence, also was able to play. Neither were 100 percent. They only played like they were, Martin scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. With his 10 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks, Whaley played with the unbridled energy needed every night.
“Man, what soldiers!” Hurley said. “That’s what you’re supposed to do as an athlete. You’re supposed to sacrifice for your team … That’s what warriors do.”
Hurley loves to talk about toughness. He’s really good at it. On this day, he would say, “My programs are built on rugged, tough-assed dudes that refuse to lose.” The words make for
great copy, inspire his players and lead the fan base to drink hot sauce. He said he had done a lot of thinking in recent days and decided at times he hasn’t given enough examples of unforgettable former heart-and-soul players.
So he told his team about Jarvis Garrett, who played the final 10 games of his sophomore season at Rhode Island with what Hurley called a “Friday the 13th hockey-concoction.” Garrett had three teeth knocked out and suffered a broken jaw against St. Joseph’s. He couldn’t play the next game. The mask wasn’t ready, but he returned to score a career-high 26 points in one of the most gruesome masks Hurley had ever seen. It was so cumbersome he couldn’t even take the mask off during the game. He had to drink through a straw in one of the mask holes during timeouts.
Oh, yeah, Garrett played with ulcerative colitis his junior year. Didn’t tell the team doctors. Lost 15 pounds.
“Almost literally played himself to death,” Hurley said. “I just wanted to talk to the team about what needs to be sacrificed. You don’t necessarily have to play yourself to death, but I tried to give them an example of somebody a coach or his teammates will never forget.” Classic Hurley.
Yet if you watched this game, you saw joy meant as much as toughness. A smile meant as much as a scowl. UConn was down 16-7 when Akok Akok entered in the first half. He hadn’t taken a shot in a game since Jan. 18 when he unleashed a 3 outside the key. Bang. Big Smile 1. Akok had played only 11 minutes and scored two points in three games since returning from Achilles surgery on Jan. 9. After sitting again with a shin problem, he looked much readier Saturday.
“Akok, man, he was huge today,” Cole said. “He loved being out there. We loved him being out there.”
“When I saw him bring that energy, it boosted me up, too,” Whaley said. “I felt like I had to do more whenever I got it. It was a joy to see.”
Off a ball fake on the left side that froze his defender Jason Carter, Akok drove to the hoop, extended his arms and fingers and rolled in a hoop. Big smile 2. Left open on the left baseline, bang, for a long two. Big Smile 3. Seven points in nine first-half minutes. UConn grabbed the lead and, as a result, his team played looser and felt the joy.
Exactly what Akok can bring the rest of the season is a story untold. Next year will be his big year.
“That energy we fed off him as a team, the joy he played with,” Hurley said. “He’s one reason we won the game today, that infusion of energy he gave. How excited our team got to see someone who has been through so much and have some success.
“We need Akok to be patient. He wants to be out there all the time. It’s crushing for him that he’s not out there 30 minutes. I think his spirits are lifted he got time today.”
All their spirits were. The team desperate to feel good about itself suddenly does.