The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Huskies cruise to win over UCF
HARTFORD >> This game had been on Amida Brimah’s mind for a while now, a rare chance for UConn’s 7-foot center to go up against a player taller than him.
A lot taller, actually. Standing next to Tacko Fall, UCF’s 7-foot-6 sophomore, Brimah looked like just another 6-7 small forward on Sunday evening. He even got a taste of his own medicine when Fall soundly stuffed his attempt at a low post move.
But that block was one of the few highlights for Fall on a day when both he and the Knights were otherwise thoroughly dominated by Brimah and the Huskies. UConn moved the ball beautifully, knocked down 47 percent of its shots against a team leading the nation in field goal percentage defense, and emerged with a 64-49 win at XL Center.
“I think that was probably our most complete game from start to finish,” said coach Kevin Ollie, in a Tacko-sized understatement.
Rodney Purvis snapped a long shooting slump with 17 points, Vance Jackson added 11 and Jalen Adams 10 as UConn (6-9, 1-3 AAC) avoided its first five-game losing streak in a decade.
Fall, who entered the game hitting 80 percent of his shots (tops in the nation), didn’t score a single point. In fact, he only attempted one shot, as Brimah and a swarm of double teams harried him at every
turn. Brimah finished with nine points, six boards and five blocks in 29 minutes.
“This game was marked on my calendar, so I just came out aggressive,” Brimah said. “I started playing aggressive from the (opening) tip of the game.”
That opening tip was actually won by Kentan Facey, who beat Fall despite giving up nine inches of height. When an Adams pass hit off Brimah’s back on UConn’s first possession, it looked like more offensive ineptitude for the Huskies. But Fall wasn’t able to tip in a missed shot on the other end of the floor, and Brimah kicked off the game’s scoring on a dunk off a nice baseline pass from Facey.
That kicked off a 10-0 start as the Huskies hit their first four shots and never looked back, upping their advantage to as much as 25 late in the latter half. And this wasn’t your slightly older brother’s UCF, either. The Knights (124, 3-1 AAC) have been one of the surprise teams of the league, thanks in large part to a stifling defense paced by Fall in the middle — a “oneman zone,” as Ollie called him.
Brimah reiterated that he had been looking forward to this showdown for a while now.
“Definitely. That’s a good matchup for me,” he said. “It’s a game for me to get better, so I came out ready to play.”
Brimah is always an intense competitor, but his coach and teammates noticed a little something extra from the big man heading into the game.
“Anytime you’re playing against a team like this, or a guy that you want to match up against, you circle it (on the calendar),” said Purvis. “All competitors do. Amida, he’s a competitor, man. He’s gonna fight and bring energy, no matter what.”
Added Ollie: “A.B. took a personal challenge of taking (Fall) out of the game,” Ollie noted. “I thought A.B. did a wonderful job staying in the game, not getting silly fouls, playing 29 minutes.”
In fact, none of the Huskies seemed particularly intimidated by Fall’s size, outscoring UCF 26-8 in the paint — several of them on floaters or baseline jumpers over Fall.
“We’re trying to get wins, that’s it,” said Purvis. “We’re not worrying about Tacko or his height or any of that. You’re able to get a floater up over him, woo-hoo, great for you. At the end of the day, we just want a win in that column, that’s it.”
Indeed, this game offered a glimpse of just what this team has been (and still is) capable of, even with all its injuries and setbacks. It showed that there’s no good excuse for the Huskies to be off to one of their worst starts in decades, and that there is still potential for the team to, dare we say, make a run at a postseason berth before it’s all said and done.