Making an impression
Bouknight (24), Cole (21) lead Huskies to key victory
STORRS — If UConn’s NCAA Tournament worthiness comes down to the eye test, the Huskies certainly looked attractive on Saturday afternoon.
In fact, at times, the Huskies never looked better.
UConn played its usual stingy defense, took care of the ball preciously and was rarely threatened in a routine 80-62 win over Marquette at Gampel Pavilion.
Meanwhile, the James Bouknight/R.J. Cole Show continued to rave reviews. The Huskies’ backcourt duo combined for 45 points (24 for Bouknight, 21 for Cole) and spearheaded a Huskies victory for a second straight game.
“I feel like we’re the best backcourt in the Big East,” Bouknight noted, “and one of the best in the country.”
UConn played perhaps its best half of the season over the first 20 minutes, a balanced effort that led to its biggest halftime lead (17 points). The Huskies didn’t shoot the ball quite as well in the latter half, were a bit foul-prone and not quite as balanced — Cole and Bouknight combined for UConn’s first 17 points of the half and 27 of 42 overall.
But UConn continued to take care of the ball beautifully. After committing just five turnovers in the first half, the Huskies committed just a pair in the latter, both relatively harmless with less than four minutes to play as the Golden Eagles applied a little fullcourt pressure.
“Really good teams, really good guards, they don’t turn the ball over,” coach Dan Hurley remarked. “You watch an NBA game, they shoot shots every time downcourt. They don’t dribble into bad gaps, they don’t throw high-risk, low-reward passes. If we take care of the ball, defend and rebound and get the guard play we have, with the frontcourt depth and the wing depth, we’re pretty good.”
Good enough for the NCAA Tournament? Right now, no question. The metrics generally back it up, and conventional wisdom largely has the Huskies in the Big Dance. When one reporter noted that a few “bracketologists” still had UConn on the proverbial bubble, Hurley seemed a bit perplexed.
“Are you sure we’re on the bubble?” the coach asked, rhetorically. “I look for people who have us in a better position. It’s good for my mental health.”
UConn (12-6, 9-6 Big East) may still have a bit of work to do with two regular-season games left.
“The players have bought in,” Hurley said. “To go into a new league, deal with all the injury stuff and still be in the position we’re in — these kids deserve so much credit. They’ve done an incredible job. Incredible.”
Marquette, which had dispatched bubbly North Carolina a few nights earlier in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, fell to 6-11, 11-13.
The Huskies led 38-21 after a very well-balanced opening 20 minutes. Cole led the way with 10 points, but seven different players scored, five scoring between four and 10 points. Five players took between four and eight shots. The Huskies shared the ball, spread the wealth and were efficient. Bouknight had eight points on just five shots.
In fact, after Bouknight completed a fast break with a tough runner, he left the game with 12:34 remaining in the half and the Huskies up 12-11. When he returned a little over six minutes later, UConn led by five.
“I liked where the game was at,” Hurley explained. “The lineup that was in was holding our position, if not improving our position. With James, it’s so hard in close games, the last four, five
minutes, there’s so few guys who can just go and make those plays at the end of the game. I was kind of thinking a little bit of playing him more in the second half.”
Of course, the Huskies had authored a comeback from an 18-point deficit at Marquette on Jan. 5 with little contribution from Bouknight, who injured his elbow late in the first half and didn’t score at all in the second.
For most of the second half on Saturday, UConn’s only issue was foul trouble. Tyrese Martin fouled out and Isaiah Whaley and Adama Sanogo finished with four fouls as the Huskies’ frontcourt depth was tested. Akok Akok, a 6foot-9 forward who didn’t play at all in Tuesday’s win at Georgetown, wound up playing about four minutes at center. Marquette never got within 12 points.
“We have a pretty deep team,” Cole said. “When somebody goes down, we
have enough that we can replace them with somebody else and hold down the fort until the one who’s in foul trouble goes back in.”
Freshman Andre Jackson added career bests with eight points and eight rebounds off the bench.
“When you have that type of length and athletic ability out there, that’s a problem for the other team,” Hurley said of Jackson, a 6-7 wing. “When he knows what we’re doing defensively (better) and can start cheating passing lanes and reading skips, the highlight reel will start.”
Tyler Polley added nine points for UConn and Martin grabbed eight rebounds before fouling out.
“Pretty clean performance,” Hurley summed up. “When your backcourt gives you that, and you guard, you’re hard to beat.”
RIM RATTLINGS
1 Senior center Josh Carlton rolled his ankle about midway through the second half, left the game and didn’t return. Hurley wasn’t sure of the severity of Carlton’s injury.
1 Hurley’s father, Bob Hurley Sr., attended the game. It was the first game this season Hurley has been able to attend.