Shorthanded Huskies keep East Carolina at bay

Greenville, N.C. — UConn coach Dan Hurley said this week he likes he challenge of playing shorthanded and the feel of having his back against the wall. The Huskies, with postseason aspirations in view, lived on that edge Saturday, and nearly lost by it, but kept enough players on the court to beat East Carolina, 84-63, in a tense AAC men’s basketball game at Minges Coliseum.

Senior Christian Vital kept the Huskies steady, pouring in 27 points, getting ample help from James Bouknight and Isaiah Whaley. UConn (17-12) has won three in a row, evening its conference record at 8-8 after a 1-5 start. The next game, against Houston at Gampel Pavilion, will be the most meaningful late-season home game UConn has played in a while.

With seven scholarship players available, the Huskies had little margin for foul trouble, and they had plenty of it. Both Josh Carlton and Alterique Gilbert were on the bench with four fouls with more than 10 minutes remaining, and Whaley picked up his fourth down the stretch. Vital had three fouls, but the Huskies led wireto-wire, and maintained a double-digit lead most of the game.

Whoever was on the floor, big or small lineup, the Huskies out-rebounded the Pirates, 38-26, and stuck to Hurley’s script, especially on defense, keeping East Carolina’s Jayden Gardner far below his average. Despite Tristen Newton’s 25 points, the Pirates’ supporting cast couldn’t score enough to keep pace. Bouknight scored 19, with some of the most spectacular plays he has shown ye, with 10 rebounds. Whaley had 16 points and seven rebounds. Brendan Adams added 11 points.

UConn, starting the game with seven scholarship players in the wake of Sid Wilson’s suspension, had to stay out of foul trouble, especially up front. Carlton and Whaley each picked up two fouls in the first half, but were able to stay on the floor long enough for the Huskies to take control of the game.

Whaley and Vital each scored seven as the Huskies opened up a 14-7 lead, and while on the defensive side Whaley was neutralizing Gardner. Playing free and easy, the Huskies got a pretty transition bucket from Bouknight to make it 16-7, and a putback from Whaley stretched the lead out to 26-16 with 8:30 to go in the half.

There were some tense moments, as Gilbert, out of character, got into a jawing match with ECU’s Tremont Robinson-White, with offsetting technical fouls called, but the Huskies resumed building the lead.

A lob pass from Jalen Gaffney to Bouknight who, in midair, reached far to his right to catch it and threw it down with a sweeping arc gave the Huskies a 37-26 lead, and eventually the lead grew to 14, with the Huskies maintaining a nearly 2-to-1 edge on the boards. Tristen Newton scored 10 for the Pirates, but Gardner, averaging better than 20 points per game, had only three as UConn took a 42-30 lead into the break.

Carlton scored to open the second half, but picked up his third foul less than two minutes in, and ECU followed with an 8-1 run to cut the Huskies’ lead to seven before Bouknight, out of a timeout, took it to the rim to get the momentum back.

In another sequence of shoving, Gilbert picked up his third foul and the Pirates’ J.J. Miles was ejected, and UConn maximized the consequences to score six points, the last two on a Whaley dunk, to take a 5440 lead. But Carlton picked up his fourth foul, Whaley and Vital each their third. The Huskies, maintaining a double-digit lead, were nevertheless in danger of running out of players with nearly 12 minutes to go. The Pirates’ 7-0 lead cut it down to six.

The Huskies surged again, as Vital and Bouknight picked up the scoring. Bouknight’s jumper restored the Huskies’ lead to 12 with 8:08 left. Ultimately, UConn led by as much as 17 with 4 1/2 minutes left, after two Whaley free throws, and won going away.