Triple-double Tristen
Newton’s big night helps lead UConn to win against Buffalo
HARTFORD — Tristen Newton looked to his bench late in Tuesday night’s game and saw his teammates shouting “One more, one more!”
He needed one more rebound to notch a tripledouble, the first of his career and just the 12th in UConn men’s basketball history.
“I was trying to get on the glass the whole game,” the senior guard said. “It seemed like the last four minutes I had nine (rebounds), and they just wouldn’t miss a shot.”
Finally, with 1 minute, 20 seconds left in UConn’s 84-64 win over Buffalo, Kidtrell Blocker missed a 3-pointer and Newton corralled the defensive rebound. A loud ovation rose up from the 10,112 at XL Center, acknowledging the Huskies’ first triple-double since Daniel Hamilton posted 11 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists against Central Connecticut State on Dec. 23, 2015.
Coach Dan Hurley urged the crowd to cheer even louder as Newton, the East Carolina transfer, left the game.
“I wanted him to hear it from that crowd,” Hurley said. “Maybe that’s a moment where he’s not a transfer guard, he’s a UConn guard now.”
It’s been a tough transition for Newton since he arrived on campus this summer. Three high-scoring yet losing seasons at East Carolina isn’t great preparation for the intensity of Hurley’s practices and the scrutiny that comes with being a UConn basketball player. Hurley has clearly been disappointed with Newton at times throughout the preseason and even after Newton’s self-described “terrible” debut last week against Stonehill.
“Some days, you’re on his butt,” Hurley said. “Some days, you’re building him up. We’ve been building
him up a lot more lately, because he really has made strides in terms of his approach and how hard he’s playing for us.”
Added Newton: “He’s pretty much hard on me for not being aggressive, and defense, obviously. Having him putting the confidence in me makes me feel like I can play well every single game. So, I thank him for that.”
Newton finished with 22 points, a career-high 11 assists and those 10 rebounds. Technicall)y, he had a quadruple-double, drawing a whopping 13 fouls that sent him to the foul line 17 times. He made 14 of those attempts, offsetting a third straight poor shooting night (4-for-14, 0-for-5 from 3).
“I feel pretty good about getting my teammates involved and getting on the glass,” Newton said. “Still not the type of shooting performance I want.”
Newton’s biggest sequence came with a little over three minutes left in the first half. UConn (3-0) had missed 12 straight shots during one stretch that saw the Huskies trail in a game for the first time this season. Their lead was 28-22 when Newton drove to the hole for a layup, was fouled and converted the free throw.
He then came up with a steal on the other end of the floor, drove the length of the court and slammed home a dunk that put a charge in the crowd.
“I think that’s my first dunk in, like, two years,” he said with a smile, “so it felt good.”
Joey Calcaterra soon followed with consecutive 3-pointers that put UConn up 15. The Huskies owned a 44-28 lead at halftime, and the only drama for most of the latter half was whether Newton would etch his name in Husky history.
“Awesome to see him play at that level and have that breakout game, and the confidence that he’ll get from that,” Hurley said. “He was just all over the court. He just played basketball. He didn’t try to score, he just played. And drew 13 fouls, which is crazy.”
Hurley insisted he didn’t know that Newton was one rebound shy of the tripledouble in the closing minutes. He does know that the 6-foot-4 guard is being asked to do a lot more than other recent newcomers, including R.J. Cole and
current NBA-er Tyrese Martin, were asked to do in their first seasons in Storrs.
“He’s very talented, so, I think it’s just about creating a ‘wolf ’ mentality — always try to win the next thing that’s happening on the court,” Hurley said. “That’s what high-level players do. They just keep winning these mini-battles that go on throughout the game.”
“It’s a huge confidencelift. I think he needed it, we needed it. That bodes well for what we’re trying to do this year, when you see him perform at that level.”
RIM RATTLINGS
⏩ Calcaterra added 15 points for UConn, Nahiem Alleyne had 12, Donovan Clingan and Adama Sanogo 11 apiece and Alex Karaban 10. Clingan also pulled down eight rebounds.
⏩ Jordan Hawkins (concussion) was close to returning on Tuesday night and has been progressing to live basketball situations. Andre Jackson Jr. (finger) may be cleared to start playing live in practice on Wednesday. Hurley said there’s hope that one or both could return to action on Friday, when the Huskies host UNC-Wilmington at Gampel Pavilion.
⏩ Sanogo was named to the John R. Wooden Award preseason top-50 watch list on Tuesday. The list is chosen by a preseason poll of national college basketball experts as early front-runners for college basketball’s most prestigious honor. Sanogo was one of five Big East players to make the list, joining Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner and Baylor Scheierman, St. John’s Posh Alexander and Villanova’s Cam Whitmore.
⏩ UConn is now 9-1 alltime against Buffalo. The Bulls’ lone win came on Dec. 27, 1951 at Clark Hall in Buffalo.