Huskies hitting their stride at perfect time
The UConn team competing in the Big East tournament this week is significantly superior to the one that took the court just a month or so ago.
The Huskies are so much better for several reasons.
They're healthy, getting two key players back from injury in James Bouknight and Andre Jackson in early February.
Their on-the-court team chemistry has improved, especially on the offensive end. Their confidence is soaring.
They've really bought into coach Dan Hurley's system that emphasizes defense, rebounding and all-out effort.
They've clearly hit their stride, as they took a five-game winning streak into Friday's semifinal showdown with Creighton at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Just ask DePaul coach Dave Leitao.
The Huskies blew out Blue Demons, 94-60, in Thursday's quarterfinals, scoring their most lopsided win in the program's Big East tournament history.
UConn has come a long way since Jan. 11 when it last played DePaul.
"What they've done the last four games of the season and tonight was a byproduct of getting past what
challenges they face when they were on pause and they weren't," Leitao said on Thursday. "I remember the home game against Creighton which they lost. And it was a down-to-thewire game.
"I think they were a totally different team because, one, emotionally they've gotten past all those things that can be distractions to a lot of other people. Secondly is that like everybody else, they have a definition to them.
"Defensively, I don't know that anybody that I've seen, particularly that we've played against, that plays better ball-screen defense than them, that can close out to shooters and then attack both backboards the way they do.
"And then offensively, as I said, most of them — and this is a really hard thing to do — are involved in what they do offensively and don't take a back seat. And it's really hard sometimes emotionally when you play with a superstar or a budding superstar like Bouknight and not want your turn. But it works well and I think what's happened from early in the season to now both physically and emotionally speaks to that."
March Madness
Selection Sunday is dead ahead this weekend.
UConn has nothing to worry about.
The Huskies already have done enough to earn the program's first NCAA tournament bid since 2016.
Prior to Friday's semifinal game against Creighton, UConn resided at No. 28 in the NCAA NET Rankings and stood at 17th in the Pomeroy Ratings.
As of Friday afternoon, CBS College Hoops expert Jerry Palm projected that UConn will be a No. 6 seed. He has three Big East teams overall in the field, with Villanova and Creighton both as a five seed.
News and notes
The Huskies made their 14th appearance in the Big East semifinals on Friday, going 10-3 in its previous trips. They last reached the championship game in 2011 and won the title . ... During the regular season, UConn went 0-3 against ranked Big East teams, losing twice to Creighton and once to Villanova. The Bluejays were ranked 17th in Monday's Associated Press Top 25 poll . ... All five Creighton starters averaged double figures in the two regular season games with UConn, which dropped a 76-74 overtime decision on Dec. 20 in Storrs and fell 74-66 on Jan. 23 in Omaha, Neb. Bouknight scored a career-high 40 points in the first meeting but sat out with an elbow injury in the second game . ... UConn broke the 90-point mark in wins over Georgetown in the regular season finale and DePaul in Thursday's Big East quarterfinal. It's the first time the Huskies have accomplished the feat against a conference foe since beating St. John's (99-82) and Pittsburgh (90-61) in early February 1995 . ... Redshirt junior point guard R.J. Cole is playing his best basketball. In the last five games, he's averaged 14.3 points and 5.4 assists. He's had 27 assists , including 16 in the last two games, and just six turnovers during that span . ... Entering Friday's action, the Huskies had won five straight by double digit margins for the first time since the 201112 season when they opened up with wins over Columbia, Wagner, Maine, Coppin State and UNC Asheville.