The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Cole to the rescue
Senior guard bails out shaky UConn in victory over UMES
HARTFORD — The deeper one dives into just how good R.J. Cole has been, and how important he remains, is as much an unveiling of problems across the UConn lineup as a celebration of one player’s brilliance.
Cole has been that of late — brilliant. He scored 24 points in a double-overtime victory over Auburn to open the Battle 4 Atlantis. He scored 26 in an overtime victory over Virginia Commonwealth to close it. And there he was Tuesday night at the XL Center, pulling UConn out of a potential disaster, the do-it-all tugboat for a team that lost its mojo over the Atlantic Ocean.
Cole scored 25 points in 38 minutes of a 72-63 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore, a low-major team that won five games in 201920, opted out of last season and took a 2-4 record into a game it almost stole because UConn’s guards couldn’t match up or keep up. Except for one. “Coach just told me I had to take over,” Cole said. “We were allowing them to just shoot, to get by us on the defensive end. We just didn’t play well and we have a lot to work on.”
The Huskies are 7-1, ranked No. 17 in the nation, have a solid Bahamas body of work to cite, are on fire in recruiting and humming right along — outside of the two-hour mess they created before a sleepy, then increasingly agitated, crowd of 8,782.
Cole rescued his team, making 8 of 16 shots. He is fantastic, averaging team highs in minutes (32) and points (16.1). Year three in the program, year two as a player, Cole is a much better version of what he has flashed at any other point.
That bodes well, but he
can’t be the only guard answer — particularly now. Tyrese Martin, another heart-and-soul senior guard, was in street clothes with a cast on his left wrist Tuesday. He’ll miss 2-4 weeks with what Hurley described as a “sprain and a little bit of an avulsion fracture,” sustained against Auburn.
In UConn’s first attempt to replace Martin’s 27.7 minutes a game, Andre Jackson was erratic, Jordan Hawkins was rushed and out of sync and Jalen Gaffney wasn’t a difference-maker. Tyler Polley scored 14 points, the only other UConn player in doublefigures, but UConn’s overall perimeter play was only barely good enough.
“Most alarming is we can’t ask R.J. Cole to be our toughest and best on-theball guy and also ask him to carry us, offensively, from the perimeter,” Hurley said. “That’s not fair.”
That is troubling. The Huskies play (what should be) another tune-up game Saturday at Gampel Pavilion against Grambling State and enter the teeth of the schedule next week — Wednesday at West Virginia, Dec. 11 against St. Bonaventure in Newark, N.J.
A near-total reliance on Cole’s defense and scoring is a fine line to walk against Maryland-Eastern Shore, which played efficiently and ferociously but had no business taking UConn down the stretch. That alone is unlikely to carry the Huskies through a stretch of increasingly important and difficult games, the bridge to Big East play.
“I just thought, across the board, on the perimeter we were weak, we were driven, we were undisciplined,” Hurley said. “I will not allow us to look like that again, or else you’ll see a different group of people on the court.”
One fan in particular Tuesday kept shouting for freshman Rahsool Diggins, who did not enter for the fourth consecutive game. Answers, though, have to come from players Hurley has already surrounded Cole with.
Jackson’s athleticism is remarkable. He plays almost violently in that he’s disruptive — faster, stronger, longer than most. He has vision, too, at one point feeding a cutting Cole for a layup. The problem, though, is that so much of Jackson’s energy is not harnessed, so much of his play unrefined. Jackson could probably match Scott Burrell on the radar gun but many of his passes are illtimed or unnecessary. He’s was out of control Tuesday.
“I don’t think anyone knew where the ball was going and it led to some run outs and it was a little unnerving,” Hurley said of Jackson, who had four points, seven rebounds, three steals and three turnovers. “He’s got to stop doing that, especially with Tyrese down, because he is the one guy who can fill that void on the perimeter as a guy who can be physically intimidating with some size and athleticism.”
Hawkins, the smooth freshman, started in place of Martin. He played nine-plus minutes in the first half, benched primarily for his defense, and finished with five points in 25 minutes.
“He’s got to slow down,” Hurley said. “You’re going to get a chance to play extended minutes. Just let the offense come to you.”
Martin is averaging 12.9 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds — and sets a defensive tone that was missing. Maryland-Eastern Shore guards sliced up the Huskies, making 7 of 18 3-pointers and throwing down backboard-shaking dunks.
Hurley was forced to anxiously call out plays in the closing minutes. Cole spent the second half having to nudge the Huskies forward, making a 3-pointer for a 42-38 lead, converting a 3-point play to make it 51-46. Afterward, Hurley called his team soft and called out himself for poor preparation. Ball handling has been an issue even in the team’s best performances this season. Defense was the main concern in its sloppiest showing.
Eastern Shore senior guard Mike Mensah, who entered the game with 13 points in five games, had 12 against UConn, making 4 of 5 3s. Da’Shawn Phillip, a junior guard, also had 12. Zion Styles, a senior guard, had 11.
UConn’s answer? Cole, mostly. Camouflaging Martin’s absence means other UConn players stepping up, not back.
“He leaves a significant void on the perimeter,” Hurley said. “But I’ve talked about our program depth for a long time. So there’s no excuses . ... We’ve got a lot to work on here and we’ve got to figure out how we want to go about things from a rotation standpoint with him out.”
Martin played 67 minutes in games against Michigan State and VCU after hurting his wrist against Auburn.
“Just want to see a team that’s going to have to come together and find some of that toughness and griminess and force that Tyrese plays with,” Hurley said. “We know what’s ahead of us. We just had a softness about us that’s not characteristic of my teams or the way that we’ve played this year.”