UConn men hope to rely on defense against New Hampshire
STORRS — Sunday’s game against Oklahoma may feel a bit different for UConn, and not just because it’ll be Chris Dailey — not Geno Auriemma — who is in charge.
The 4 p.m. contest at Mohegan Sun Arena is the Huskies’ last of the calendar year. Soon after it’s over, players will go their separate ways to celebrate the holidays before reconvening late next week for practice.
And that has Dailey, a meticulous planner and thinker, a bit concerned.
“This is a dangerous game because it’s the game right before the holidays,” Dailey said Friday before practice. “Everybody’s going to go home Sunday night or Monday morning. They just finished exams. … They want to take a deep breath.”
Dailey is undoubtedly guarding against her team looking past the Sooners (74). These are the same Sooners, mind you, who put a scare into the Huskies last December at the Lloyd Noble Center. Oklahoma led that game by 12 points in the second half, but UConn clamped down on defense and pulled away for a 7263 win.
“Hopefully, the focus for this team is on the game,” Dailey said. “We need to be able to compartmentalize and not allow ourselves to think about Christmas shopping, Christmas gifts and going home for the holidays. We have to really focus on Oklahoma.”
Those distractions, coupled with Auriemma being absent, could set up for a strange day. Auriemma, who is recovering at home after undergoing surgery to alleviate symptoms associated with diverticulitis, has missed only nine games over 35 years at UConn. That includes a road trip to Tulsa and Wichita State in February when he had a stomach virus.
Dailey, who has been by Auriemma’s side since Day One in Storrs, has won each of those nine. She coached the Huskies to the Big East title in 1989 (their first) after Auriemma had been suspended because of a scheduling snafu. She guided them to another in 1997 following the death of Auriemma’s father, Donato.
This time around, Dailey’s responsibility is to simply sustain an undefeated start. The Huskies are 90 and ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press poll. After Sunday, they won’t play again until Jan. 2 against Wichita State in Hartford.
“We tell the players all the time, you have to be ready,” Dailey said. “You never know whether someone’s going to sprain an ankle, get sick, and they’re not going to be able to go, or foul trouble. … As a coach, we have to do the same thing. We have to be ready.
“You never expect that someone’s not going to be able to be there, but him not being there, we all have to step up and we all have to be ready.”
For the Huskies, that means not discounting a team that will be desperate for an upset. The Sooners are winless away from home, but like UConn’s last opponent, DePaul, they’re potent from behind the arc.
Oklahoma entered Saturday ranked eighth in the country in scoring (82.9) and 11th in 3pointers made (100). Sophomore guard Taylor Robertson leads the nation with 56 3s.
“They play hard, they’re wellcoached and they gave us all they could handle last year at their place,” Dailey said. “I’m expecting a really tough, physical game. It’s not one of those games people schedule right before Christmas where you play a directional school or a lesser opponent.”
The Huskies don’t care to relive last year’s drama.
“We were just kind of digging ourselves a hole because we were feeling sorry that the shots weren’t going in,” point guard Crystal Dangerfield recalled. “They were hitting shots. That same thing could easily happen again, but hopefully it doesn’t — knock on wood.”