‘Not there yet’
A disappointing finish for Huskies, Bouknight
Most of the details from the thorough mess that was UConn’s final act Saturday night were represented neatly in rows of statistics difficult to comprehend without a second or third glance.
After all the missed shots and all the missed free throws — and despite all the offensive rebounds that represented heart where there wasn’t enough know-how — there was a bizarre box score to document the Huskies return to, and quick exit from, the NCAA Tournament.
The 2020-21 season is over. Seventh-seeded
UConn lost a first round East Region game to No. 10 Maryland, 63-54, in West Lafayette, Indiana. Whether the lasting image is a screen shot of the stat sheet, or a certain memory from a two-hour scramble, it isn’t a pretty one.
“Gutted here, right now,” coach Dan Hurley said. “Really disappointed. This wasn't how I envisioned losing this one. If we lost, I was expecting us just to perform better under the lights — like a UConn team would normally do in these types of situations. But when I took the job, and this [program] was a disaster, you don't get to start back over with the way it used to be. So this year was a huge success for us. It doesn't feel like it right now because you're devastated with how the evening went.”
The Huskies had four offensive rebounds on the game’s first possession, 18 in the first half, 22 in the game. They missed 30 shots in the first half, 44 in the game to finish at a season-low 32.3 percent. They made just five of 12 free throws. Ball movement stalled. Open shots were hard to come by. Open shots were missed, too.
That’s how the evening went. All over the place, really. Not UConn’s way. Not James Bouknight’s way.
This was likely the final game of the sophomore guard’s career. A projected late NBA draft lottery pick, he entered wanting to stamp something emphatic into his college legacy. He didn’t. He couldn’t rescue a team that needed rescuing. So for that, and many other reasons, UConn’s one-and-done fear became a reality. Pockets of conversation about their Final Four potential sound, in hindsight, as silly as Saturday’s stats looked in real time.
Bouknight finished 6-for-16 from the field, 1-for-6 on 3-pointers and 2-for-6 on free throws. He was hounded by Darryl Morsell and met by up to three Maryland play
ers when looking to get anywhere near the lane. He missed his first four shots, never created much space or found a sustained rhythm.
Bouknight put together a few spurts and even scored the basket that gave UConn one last gasp, pulling the Huskies within 53-48 on a drive while fouled with 2:53 left. But he missed the ensuing free throw. He missed another — the front end of a 1-and-1 — with
2:29 remaining.
“Listen, James is a young player,” Hurley said. “James is a sophomore player, which is still a young player in college basketball. This was a big spot. Morsell, an excellent defender. Those guys he's playing against at Maryland, for the most part, guarding him today were physical juniors and seniors. I think he was a little bit indecisive.”
There are parallels, often the case with a team and its best player.
Bouknight had a really good season, averaging 18.7 points. Yet he missed eight games while recovering from elbow surgery and, upon return, was not the takeover player this team would have needed in order to make the run more and more people expected it to as the regular season wound down.
He wasn’t ready to take over a game like this and struggled in his own final act if it is, in fact, just that. Bouknight was a combined 14-for-41 from the field in UConn’s final three games — a quarterfinal Big East Tournament victory over DePaul that he was carried away from with immobilizing body cramps in the second half, a championship game loss to Creighton and Saturday’s showdown with Maryland. He has said his intention all along has been to play two seasons at UConn and move on to the NBA, which, given his potential, he’ll have the lucrative opportunity to do.
“His season, obviously he had a brilliant start and the injury obviously set him back,” Hurley said. “James has, for this program, meant so much to rebuilding this thing from the mess that it was to back playing in March again, where UConn belongs. He's obviously been a huge factor in that.”
UConn, overall, had a really good season, too – just not a great one. A 15-8 record with a 1-2 postseason mark will never be viewed as great, even if it marks great progress. The team was out of sorts Saturday, with ball movement stalled, weird turnovers occurring and more.
The halftime box score looked like the product of a computer glitch, but it was real, accurate. UConn was 9-for-39 from the field. Bouknight was 2-for-11, Tyrese Martin 1-for-9, R.J. Cole 1-for-5, Whaley 2-for-4, Tyler Polley 1-for-4, Jalen Gaffney 1-for-2, Adama Sanogo 0-for-2, Andre Jackson
0-for-1. The offensive rebounds that should
have been the building blocks for a doubledigit lead only prevented a 25-point deficit.
“I think you can see some of our warts throughout the year if you've followed us, especially when we've stepped up against better teams,” Hurley said. “We've got a lot more to do as a program in terms of recruiting and developing and continuing to increase the talent and continuing to grow as a program.”
The Huskies made hay this season largely by beating teams they were supposed to. They didn’t beat Villanova or Creighton, the teams that finished ahead of them in the Big East, and they looked entirely uncomfortable in the program’s first NCAA Tournament game since 2016.
“But year three, for me, competing at the top of the Big East, getting back in NCAA Tournament, is a huge hill to climb,” Hurley said. “Obviously the next hill that you must climb when you're the head coach at UConn is to consistently be at the top of your league, consistently be in this tournament and have your team advance in this tournament. We're not there yet.”
Bouknight couldn’t take over. He wasn’t able and ready to. Not against a team like Maryland in a setting like the NCAA Tournament. He is still unrefined. He has much room to grow.
So does UConn.
In 2002, the Huskies and sophomore Caron Butler couldn’t outlast Maryland in an Elite Eight classic.
In 2021, the Huskies and sophomore James Bouknight couldn’t even get started against Maryland in a first-round slog.
“Huge step forward, huge success,” Hurley said of the season. “But it certainly isn't going to feel like that for the next few days. Overall, as a group, we showed our lack of experience in a moment like this.”