Adams’ attitude, if not stat line, impresses Hurley
HARTFORD — UCF’s 65- 53 win over UConn on Saturday offered a strangelooking box score.
UConn outrebounded the taller Knights by 14, including a whopping 17- 0 advantage on the offensive glass.
“I don’t know that I’ve seen that before,” UCF coach Johnny Dawkins said.
Even stranger was the plus/ minus lines for individual players. Alterique Gilbert, whose 13 first- half points kept the Huskies in the game, finished at minus- 13. Christian Vital, whose 13 second- half points almost singlehandedly carried UConn, finished at minus- 14.
That means the Huskies were outscored by 13 points while Gilbert was on the floor, and 14 when Vital was out there.
Jalen Adams, who shot just 2- for- 10 for eight points and turned the ball over three times, finished at just minus- 2. And he was even or plus for almost the entire game until the very end.
Adams did a good job guarding UCF leading scorer B. J. Taylor ( 2- for- 7, 12 points) for most of the game, and Hurley was at least happy with the senior guard’s effort. That’s something the coach couldn’t say on Wednesday night, after the Huskies blew a 13- point lead and lost to South Florida on the road while Adams was playing air guitar after making 3- pointers.
“I thought his whole approach to owning the last two days, he owned it,” Hurley said. “He was the first guy out on the court today shooting. He had a stone- faced, determined look. There were no smiles, there was no playing the guitar after a 3. He was locked in like a serious basketball player needs to be.”
Adams has failed to hit double digits in three of UConn’s last five games.
“He’s going through some struggles with his confidence,” Hurley continued. “But if Jalen Adams approaches every day the way he approached his last two, he’ll come out of this and he’ll start playing much better basketball. Can he take over games at the level that Aubrey Dawkins does, or B. J. Taylor? Obviously, he’s gonna have to prove that. But I loved how he showed up today.”
HERE WE GO AGAIN
Hurley lamented the “here- we- go- again” mentality the team seems to go through, particularly in the second half of games that turn from close affairs to double- digit deficits.
“There’s a reason why I’m here. The reason why I’m here is to fix these issues that we’re all in here talking about — improving the program in all aspects. It’s a part of why UConn has struggled. That toughness, that mentality, that killer mindset, that will to win that has driven this program to where it’s been at, it’s been absent.”
TALE OF TWO HALVES
After scoring 13 first- half points on 5- for- 9 shooting ( including all three 3- pointers), Alterique Gilbert shot just 1- for- 10 in the latter half and finished with 18.
“Al’s got the heart of a lion,” said Hurley. “Al Gilbert will eventually be a real difference- maker for this program in games like this against the best teams.”