Taking care of business
Huskies roll past Grambling St. as schedule gets ready to stiffen
STORRS — The fullcourt pressure defense was there, and it was effective.
Maybe not “Press Virginia” effective. Hardly the “40 minutes of hell” Nolan Richardson made famous at Arkansas years ago.
But UConn stretched the floor out in Saturday’s 88-59 dismantling of Grambling State at Gampel Pavilion, largely to positive results. The 17thranked Huskies turned 16 Tiger turnovers into 23 points and scored a dozen fast-break points, good deal of it via their fullcourt, zone pressure.
Get used to it. With wing Tyrese Martin (wrist) and, in particular, big man Adama Sanogo (abdomen) both out for at least the next couple of weeks — and likely more — this is what Dan Hurley wants his team to look like.
“We’ve gotten away from getting after people, picking up, using our athleticism,” Hurley said. “Obviously now, with Adama out, in particular, we’ve got to be able to play faster and get into people more in the fullcourt.”
It’s something Hurley has always preached, but didn’t do as much in Tuesday night’s lethargic, 72-63 win over another lowmajor, Maryland-Eastern Shore.
“It was a strategic mistake by myself in the last game,” Hurley confessed.
Don’t expect that again. Especially on Wednesday night, when the Huskies (8-1) travel to West Virginia — a tough, Bob Huggins-coached team that thrives on fullcourt pressure (hence the “Press Virginia” nickname).
“We’re gonna have to play this way moving forward,” Hurley continued. “Our strength is our athleticism and our mobility. We’re gonna have to extend our defense and try to really push the ball
down the court a lot more, try to speed up the pace of these games without the big fella.”
R.J. Cole, who led the Huskies with 18 points despite misfiring on all six 3-point attempts, is all for it.
“Absolutely,” said Cole, who hit 10 of 11 free throws on Saturday. “I don’t even think that’s changing a lot. That’s what our identity is — get after it defensively, that’s what we’re supposed to be doing. I think we’re gonna progressively get back to that. That’s what we need to do in order to be the dangerous team that we are.”
With Martin out 2-4 weeks and Sanogo possibly out longer than that, plenty of players will have to step up. Several of them did so on Saturday. Akok Akok started for just the second time since his February, 2020 Achilles tendon surgery and began the game with a flourish — a monster blocked shot in the early minutes, followed quickly by an alleyoop dunk, foul and free throw.
The 6-9 junior was largely quiet the rest of the way until garbage time ensued midway through the latter half, but finished with 10 points and six boards in a season-high 22 minutes.
“I thought Akok responded well,” Hurley said. “He looked more like himself, more confident. And obviously, with the level of competition, the way that’s heading, I think guys are gonna feel more confidence going into next week.”
Freshman Jordan Hawkins, starting for the second straight game in Martin’s absence, knocked down a trio of 3-pointers and finished with 15 points, though Hurley would have liked him to look for his 3-pointer even more.
Jalen Gaffney scored 10 points and was better defensively after Hurley spent the past few days barking at him to improve on that end. Tyler Polley added nine, though Hurley expects him to be a double-figure scorer on most nights for the foreseeable future.
Isaiah Whaley, who will need to boost his offensive production with Sanogo out, scored from all over the floor (12 points) and grabbed eight rebounds.
“If R.J. or Isaiah are off a tick, we’re in deep, deep trouble,” Hurley mused. “And everyone else has got to give us more.”
Samson Johnson, a 6-9 freshman who hadn’t played in four games, didn’t do much in nine first-half minutes but hit a 3-pointer and slammed home a dunk late in the latter half.
“You see the talent there with him, if he just gets a clue as to what’s going on out there,” Hurley noted. “This time that Adama’s gonna miss, if we can just kind of hold down the fort here, that’s gonna be another weapon that we have in our arsenal.”
Rahsool Diggins, a frosh point guard similarly chained to the bench the previous four games, hit a late 3-pointer for his only scoring in 12 minutes.
And now, the cupcake portion of the Huskies’ schedule is officially over. On to West Virginia.
“These ‘buy’ games (stink),” Hurley noted. “You’re just trying to avoid disaster. You just pray your guys don’t take the game lightly and you blow the season up by blowing one of these games. But, the next 22 (games) — that’s what this thing’s all about.”
Are the Huskies, down two of their top three scorers, ready for the challenge? We’ll find out Wednesday night in Morgantown, West Virginia.
“We’re a very deep team,” Cole pointed out. “Yeah, we’re missing two key parts of this team, but that’s the point of (being deep). Everybody steps up at any given moment, whatever the situation is.”
RIM RATTLINGS
⏩ Rashamel Jones, cocaption of UConn’s first national championship team in 1999, was at the game and received a warm ovation from the crowd during a break. Bristol Central 7-footer Donovan Clingan, a UConn signee, was, as usual, sitting behind the Huskies’ bench.
⏩ Cam Christon, a 6-foot-6 junior guard, burned the Huskies for 18 first-half points, hitting all four of his 3-point attempts before taking an elbow in the face late in the half and retreating to the locker room. He never returned to the game but still wound up as the Tigers’ top scorer.
⏩ The tip time for UConn’s Never Forget Tribute Classic game against St. Bonaventure on Dec. 11 at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey has been moved to 4 p.m. The original slated start time was 3:30 p.m.