The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
MEN’S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY
UCONN at TULSA
When: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Where: Reynolds Center, Tulsa
Records: UConn 11-10 (2-6 AAC), Tulsa 15-6 (7-1 AAC)
TV: ESPN2
Radio: UConn/IMG Sports Network, 97.9 FM-ESPN Hartford, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), WICC-Brideport (600 AM), WINE-Danbury (940 AM), WGCH- Greenwich (1490 AM)
KEEP AN EYE ON
Hole in the middle: In UConn’s 79-75 overtime loss to Tulsa on Jan. 26 in Hartford, 6-foot-8 forward Martins Igbanu dominated off the bench with 28 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Hurricane. Conversely, UConn center Josh Carlton went scoreless.
“We got our (butt) kicked at center today,” Dan Hurley noted after the game. “You can’t lose a battle positionally that badly. Josh is better than this. But it’s also my fault he’s not playing better, so I’ve got to figure out a way.”
Carlton bounced back with 10 points in a win over Temple, but had just two points in Saturday’s loss at Memphis.
Whale(y) of a game: Meanwhile, junior forward Isaiah Whaley continues to show major improvement. Whaley scored 10 points against Temple and followed that up with an impressive, eight-point, nine-rebound effort at Memphis. Whaley has been strong on putbacks around the rim, and has also shown an ability to poke away steals at the top of the key to start the Huskies in transition.
More minutes could be coming his way, especially with junior forward Sid Wilson still nursing a knee injury. Wilson didn’t practice on Wednesday but did accompany the Huskies on the trip.
Tulsa time: A segment of UConn fans will tell you that the Huskies are too good for the AAC, and that programs like Tulsa are beneath them.
Since the AAC began in 2013-14, UConn is 57-59 in league play. Tulsa, which joined the league in 2014-15, is 61-37 in conference play.
Quite a blow for the “UConn-is-too-good-for-the-AAC” crowd.
UConn has also lost its last five meetings wtih Tulsa, all by six points or less.
Road woes: UConn (0-6) and ECU (0-7) are the only two AAC teams yet to win a true road game this season. The huskies are 3-24 on the road over the past three seasons.