Husky tough!
Tyrese Martin might be UConn’s toughest player
Adama Sanogo may be UConn’s best player, its most likely future NBAer, and R.J. Cole its most indispensable.
Tyrese Martin just might be the Huskies’ toughest player.
Look no further than Martin’s left wrist. The senior wing injured it in UConn’s first game in the Battle 4 Atlantis last month in the Bahamas, suffering what’s been called a sprain and an avulsion fracture, but played all three games over three days.
Martin then sat out UConn’s next four contests before returning on Saturday to score 15 points against Providence, despite sporting a somewhat bulky and uncomfortable-looking soft cast on his left hand.
On Tuesday night, in the Huskies’ 78-70 win at Marquette, Martin was even better, pouring in a career-high 25 points that included the 1,000th of his career.
The cast was still on his hand. In fact, it may be there for the rest of the season — though Martin is hoping to be fitted for a new one soon.
“I want to get a smaller one, that makes it easier to play with,” he noted. “This one’s definitely in the way, but it’s what I have to do right now until the bone heals itself. Right now, I just have to play through it, see what happens with a smaller cast.”
Whatever cast Martin eventually settles for, one other thing is clear — he’s playing in pain, and likely will for a while. Not that he’d admit it.
“It’s alright,” he insisted after Tuesday night’s game. “I’m feeling pretty well.”
Dan Hurley had a very different take.
“He’s gonna be playing through pain the whole year,” the UConn coach said. “The guy’s a tough guy. A lot of players wouldn’t be able to play through what he’s playing with.”
Martin poured in 15 points in the first half on Tuesday, capping the half with a 3-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Huskies a six-point lead. The more wide-open, transition-based game initiated by Marquette’s havoc-in
ducing, pressure defense lent itself beautifully to players who thrive in the open floor like Martin and Andre Jackson, who scored all 10 of his points in the opening half.
After losing a pair of slogfests at West Virginia and against Providence over the past couple of weeks, the Huskies were happy to be out in the open floor again. It’s certainly a recipe for success, though not as easily transferable game-to-game, according to Hurley.
“It’s tough when the other team goes deep into their offensive possessions and sends no one to the offensive glass ,” the coach noted. “It kind of gets really, really challenging. Most people don’t understand: ‘Run more, run more.’ It becomes hard when the other team is methodical with their possessions, and then sends everyone back defensively. It becomes a great challenge.”
The Huskies weren’t quite able to get out and run in the latter half on Tuesday, but still finished the game with 15 fast-break points — their most since notching the same amount against Maryland-Eastern Shore on Nov. 30.
Sanogo made his return after missing four straight games with an abdominal injury and looked pretty good scoring six first-half points before fatigue caught up with him in the latter half, limiting him to 12 overall minutes. He’s still the Huskies’ best player.
Cole scored 14 of his 20 points in the latter half, including the 2,000th of his career. As the starting point guard and only truly reliable ballhandler, he’s still the Huskies’ most indispensable player.
But there are times when Tyrese Martin looks like both the Huskies’ best and most indispensable player, as well.
“I think people are just starting to realize how good he is,” Hurley said. “He’s a heck of a player, one of the better players in the conference on the wing. He’s an NBA player.”