These Huskies are deep and talented
How tough a schedule did UConn play last week?
“I don’t think anyone’s had a week in college basketball that we’ve had, in terms of quality opponents,” head coach Dan Hurley said, succinctly, following UConn’s 8055 rout of Miami on Sunday.
The Huskies beat thenNo. 15 Florida at Gampel Pavilion on Sunday. On Thursday night in the Charleston Classic, UConn edged a tough Buffalo squad. The following night, UConn lost to 18thranked Xavier in doubleovertime.
Then came Sunday’s domination of Miami.
In short, had Xavier’s Naji Marshall not hit a long 3pointer in the final seconds of regulation on Friday night, sending the game into overtime, UConn would have defeated a pair of ranked teams in the same week for the first time since the 2014 NCAA tournament. And it would have been the first time the Huskies had done so in the regular season since Kemba Walker & Co. knocked off Michigan State and Kentucky on consecutive nights at the 2010 Maui Invitational.
Both of those seasons ended in national championships.
In fact, had UConn beaten Xavier on Friday, then topped Florida for the second time in a week in Sunday’s tournament final, it would certainly have been ranked this week for the first time since it entered the 201617 season ranked No. 18. And the Huskies would have been ranked during the regular season for the first time since November, 2015.
Alas, UConn will remain unranked for now. But we learned a lot about the
Huskies this past week, almost all of it positive.
DEPTH CHARGE: UConn has just 10 active scholarship players, and all 10 contributed in Sunday’s win. Josh Carlton, Christian Vital, James Bouknight and Brendan Adams all scored in double figures. Akok Akok blocked six shots and led the team with seven rebounds. Alterique Gilbert played under more control and doled out seven assists. Sid Wilson bounced around and blocked shots. Freshman Jalen Gaffney hit his first career 3pointer and continued to gain confidence.
A total team effort. “We played with toughness and just brought it, said Akok. “James Bouknight was tough the whole weekend, CV hit some big shots, Al kept leading the team, Josh ... I’m very proud of my team right now.”
ROTATION SITUATION: All 10 players played at least 11 minutes on Sunday. No one played more than 29. Hurley played multiple combinations all week — sometimes necessitated by foul troubles. On Sunday, he played his “second team” — Bouknight, Gaffney, Wilson, Adams and Isaiah Whaley — for great swaths of time together. That unit played the final three minutes of the first half and closed it out with a 60 run.
UConn is 10deep, but can that continue all season? Coaches typically cut their rotation down once league play starts, but Hurley isn’t convinced he’ll have to.
“I’ve always been able to play 10,” he noted. “My best teams that I’ve coached at Wagner and Rhode Island, we’ve been able to go at least nine, even into 10, and be able to wear people down with our pressure.”
He’s learning what guys can do — how great Bouknight has been right out of the box, how much better Adams has been as a sophomore — and will continue to run a deep rotation as long as everyone contributes.
“Coming out of this tournament, we have a much better idea of how we need to play it with this team. Guys can’t pace themselves. They’ve got to take advantage of their minutes while they’re in the game. And nobody should be going more than 30, maybe 32 minutes, from how we looked this week.”
BOUKNIGHT ALL NIGHT: You’d have to go back pretty far to find a freshman who’s made as impressive and immediate an impact as Bouknight, who made his collegiate debut on Thursday against Buffalo. In his first three games, Bouknight scored 40 points in just 55 minutes. He shot 16for22 from the floor.
Bouknight (who was named to the Charleston Classic alltournament team, as well as the AAC’s freshman of the week on Monday) said he was nervous entering the Buffalo game, but his cool demeanor and smooth, effortless play made it hard to tell. Hurley has limited Bouknight’s minutes so far — he was the last man off the bench on Thursday night and played just 11 minutes. Those minutes increased to 19 by Sunday, and they will continue to gradually increase as Bouknight’s talent continues to shine through.
THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT: Bouknight has been the most impressive freshman, but Akok isn’t far behind. He has been exactly as advertised: A 6foot9 rim protector on defense, a dual threat on offense who can stick a 3pointer and score at the rim. He knows his primary role is on the defensive end.
“That’s my value to this team,” Akok said. “I try to bring as much defense as possible. I feel like that’s the way we’re gonna win throughout the year.”
Gaffney’s start has been slower — he didn’t score his first point until the fourth game of his career, on a jumper against Buffalo on Thursday night. But he seems gradually getting back to form after missing about three weeks of practice last month due to a highankle sprain.
SOPHOMORE SURGE: You could almost add sophomore Brendan Adams to the impressive list of newcomers. The 6foot4 guard scored a careerhigh 20 points against Buffalo and had 40 points over the three games in Charleston. He’s shooting 46.7 percent from 3point land and even capably took over point guard duties for the second half of the Buffalo game, after Gilbert went out with an injury.
Hurley kept insisting all last season that Adams was a good player who shot the lights out in practice, but it never really translated into games. This season, it has.
“The way Brendan’s looked here ... what James looks like, you’ve got to play really well to keep those guys off the court,” said Hurley. “Which is gonna raise everybody’s level. Competition for minutes is a critical part of your program.”