Huskies set for emotional battle with No. 11 Florida State
STORRS — Dan Hurley is a one-man, emotional roller coaster on the sidelines during games. Happy, angry, frustrated, excited, bewildered, angry again ... the UConn head coach pretty much covers ‘em all.
It was a different emotion that overcame Hurley as he spoke to reporters following UConn’s practice on Thursday. The Huskies are heading to Newark, N.J. to face No. 11 Florida State on Saturday (6:30 p.m., ESPN2) in one of two Never Forget Tribute Classic games at Prudential Center. The doubleheader (Mississippi State faces Clemson in the opener) raises money for the educational aspirations of the children of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Hurley is as New Jersey as they get, and like virtually anyone from the TriState area at the time, was affected by the tragedy. His close friend’s brother, a New York City fireman,
When: Saturday, 6:30 p.m.
Where: Prudential Center, Newark, New Jersey
Records: UConn 7-2, Florida State 7-1
TV: ESPN2
Radio: UConn/IMG Sports Network, WAVZ-New Haven (1300 AM), 97.9 FM-ESPN Hartford
KEEP AN EYE ON
BIG-GAME ERIC: Hurley has no answers for why senior center Eric Cobb is averaging 13.6 points and 10 boards against Power 5 foes (Syracuse, Iowa, Arizona), but only 2.6 points and 2.3 rebounds in six games against mid-to-low-majors.
That said, he’s anticipating some good production from Cobb on Saturday, telling him, “I guess we’ll be seeing you, big fella, on Saturday. Big Game Eric.”
Hurley did offer one theory on the discrepancies in Cobb’s performance.
“I think it’s a function of, when you play the low-to-mid (majors), they are so small and they’re running this Princeton stuff with the centers being 30 feet from the basket. Eric’s been really good offensively, really good on the offensive glass. He has struggled at times defensively and on the defensive glass. I think that gets exposed when you get stuck in space, playing against real sophisticated concepts. Obviously, we’re playing a team that’s real physical, real tall. So, this is a game that we expect Eric to be ready to play in.”
SIZE MATTERS: Florida State figures to have a size advantage at just about every position, from 7-foot-4 center Christ Koumadje to 6-7 swingman Terance Mann to 6-5 point guard Trent Forrest. How does Hurley combat the Seminoles’ overall size and strength advantages? “We’ve got to be smart, opportunistic with our transition. I don’t think we can be real loose with our possessions. Gotta be opportunistic, try to push the pace and get some great shots early. I don’t think we’re necessarily gonna look to slow the game down, but we are gonna look to make sure we get quality shots, make sure we don’t get into a wild, athletic affair with a team that probably has more physical advantages than we have.”
FSU does turn the ball over at a rather high rate — 15.6 per game. It also turns its opponent over at a 17.5 per-game rate. The Huskies have been turnover-prone, particularly against their three prior Power 5 opponents, averaging 18 per contest in those showdowns.
SEMINOLE BLOODLINES: Sophomore forward Tyler Polley’s father, Tommy, starred as a linebacker at Florida State before embarking on a six-season NFL career. Tyler attended a lot of Seminole football games as a kid and wanted to play basketball there, but was never offered a scholarship. He holds no grudges.
“It’s just another opponent to focus on,” Polley said. “We’ve just got to get this ‘W.’ It’s a bigtime win for us, if we do.”
INJURY UPDATES: Phil Cofer, a 6-8 senior forward who led the Seminoles in scoring last season, has yet to play this year due to a foot injury. Cofer was slated to return to practice on Wednesday for the first time, but FSU coach Leonard Hamilton doubted Cofer would play on Saturday “unless I see something that changes my mind. But right now, I’d say it’s very unlikely he’ll be available.”
Meanwhile, UConn forward Mamadou Diarra won’t be back by the early-to-mid-December timeline Hurley initially had hoped for. Diarra, who had knee surgery over the summer and has had problems with his knee the past few years, could be back for the Huskies’ American Athletic Conference opener at South Florida on Jan. 2 — but even that seems somewhat unlikely. “We just don’t want him back too soon,” said Hurley. “He’s had such a tough history with (his knee), we want to make sure he’s right.”