Huskies cruise to win over Missouri-KC
STORRS — Tarin Smith was the Sixth Man of the Year in the Atlantic-10, a pretty good league, last season.
Stands to reason he could win the same honor in the American Athletic Conference this season. If he gets the chance, that is.
Smith, a grad transfer from Duquesne, has come off the bench in UConn’s first two games. But he’s played so well — particularly in Sunday’s
94-66 romp over UMKC at Gampel Pavilion — that he could be in the mix for the starting lineup before too long.
The 6-foot-2 guard scored 22 points on 10- for-12 shooting and did a little of everything else — including five rebounds and a pair of assists — to fuel the Huskies’ victory.
“He can get to the rim, you can kick out to him and he’ll make the 3,” senior guard Jalen Adams pointed out. “And he’s so unselfish, you can play off of him. You need all your guards playing unselfish, because when
we do play like that, that’s when we play our best.”
Indeed, while UConn was fun to watch in its 80-70, season-opening win over Morehead State on Thursday night, the Huskies didn’t play particularly great. On Sunday, UConn was both fun to watch and good.
“Thrilled to get a win, thrilled to be better than we were on Thursday night,” head coach Dan Hurley said. “I thought we showed a lot more ... relentlessness in those stretches where we had a chance to extend the lead.”
Adams added 20 points, despite taking just 10 shots, and Alterique Gilbert and Tyler Polley added 12 apiece. Josh Carlton had nine points, Eric Cobb eight, and Christian Vital overcame a 2-for-13 shooting night to lead the team with 10 rebounds.
The Huskies ran the ball up the floor all night, finishing with 26 fast-break points — many of them highlighted by pretty passes and powerful dunks. UConn also scored 27 points off 18 turnovers by UMKC (0-3).
But it was Smith who stole the show. During one sequence midway through the second half, he threw down a dunk in transition, then canned a 3-pointer. Then, off a UMKC turnover, Smith led the break and threw a pinpoint pass to a trailing Cobb for a dunk and a 25-point UConn lead.
“Just getting people involved is fun for me,” Smith said. “I like getting my guys shots and scoring opportunities when I have to. We all have so many facets of our game — Jalen, me, ‘Rique, CV, B-Dot. We have to play together instead of being five individuals.”
So why, you might ask, is Smith — who scored 12 in the season-opener — not starting? It’s not exactly by design.
Smith has been dealing with a sore quad for the past month or so and has been limited in practice. Hurley has him on a minutes restriction — one he went over against Morehead State with Adams in foul trouble.
“He’s looked pretty good not healthy,” Hurley quipped. “Once he’s fully healthy, he might not be so accepting of the sixth-man role. Especially when you play like that.”
Smith said he’s “just playing hard and being ready, whether you start or don’t start — it’s basketball. You’ve got to be ready when you get on the court.”
Asked which role he’d prefer, Smith simply replied: “Whatever the team needs.”
Hurley has long been familiar with Smith, who played for Bob Hurley Sr. at St. Anthony High. Hurley recruited him while at Rhode Island, but Smith opted to head to Nebraska.
“I guess that’s why I’m not gonna start him, maybe,” Hurley quipped. “I hold grudges.”
Hurley coached against Smith the past two seasons when Smith was at Duquesne. Even though Smith was coming off the bench, Hurley said he was one of the two main players URI focused on in game preparation.
“He puts so much pressure on the defense, in transition, and in the halfcourt because he’s so strong and athletic and can get in the paint so easy,” the coach noted. “And when he takes good 3’s, he’s a pretty good 3-point shooter.”
Hurley was pleased with the team’s overall performance.
“I like how we attacked and how we got the ball down the court again. Obviously, Tarin Smith was fantastic. Jalen had that stretch where he’s just a dominant player. I liked the contributions from Eric Cobb, I thought he gave us some lift. Al was pretty good again, as he continues to knock off the rust. And just having Tyler see the ball go in a little bit is good for us going into that long zone on Thursday.”
Ah yes, that “long zone” belongs to Syracuse. Things get exponentially more difficult for the Huskies on Thursday night when they face the 16th-ranked Orange at Madison Square Garden. They’ll face either No. 14 Oregon or Iowa on Friday night.
“All the teams in this little tournament are great games to get for our record and for our confidence,” said Adams, “just knowing we can compete with the best of them.”
Added Smith: “(Playing at MSG is) something you dream about. I probably know a couple of guys who’ve played in the Garden. I’ll be one of them now.”
Most likely still off the bench. For now.
RIM RATTLINGS
Vital has shot just 5for-21 in UConn’s first two
games and 2-for-12 from 3, but Hurley is pleased with his play in other areas.
“Christian’s gotta be more selective with his shot. But, as a coach, going into a game is like going into battle. And I like to go into battle with tough guys and guys that compete real hard. Obviously, 2-for-13, five turnovers, didn’t look real pretty at times. But he competed his butt off.”
Kassoum Yakwe, a grad transfer from St. John’s, played just one minute in the second half in the season-opener, but popped off the bench midway through the first half on Sunday and quickly made his presence known. The 6-foot-7 forward converted a conventional 3-point play, then followed with a putback for five straight points in the midst of a 23-3 UConn run.
Yakwe didn’t do much after that except foul — he wound up fouling out in 14 minutes of action. Yakwe battled a foot injury since July and only returned to practice about 10 days ago.
“He’s just trying to catch up,” said Hurley. “He’s behind in everything, just trying to catch up to what’s happening on the court. He’s obviously thinking a lot. But, when he gets healthy and finds a rhythm and catches up to where the game is, in terms of how much time he’s missed and the amount of rust, I think he is gonna be a key guy for us, because of our defensive style. And the fact I like to play so many guys.”