The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
5 things to watch as Huskies begin title defense
BROOKLYN — The UConn men’s basketball team begins its quest for a second straight NCAA Tournament title, and sixth overall, on Friday at 2:45 p.m. at the Barclays Center. The Huskies face Stetson in a firstround game, and if they win, will face the winner of Friday afternoon’s Florida Atlantic-Northwestern tilt on Sunday.
If UConn gets through Brooklyn, it’s on to Boston for the East Regionals. Win two games at TD Garden and the Huskies board a plane for the first time since a March 6 trip to Milwaukee for the Final Four in Phoenix.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Here are five observations on what UConn must conquer and accomplish in order to become the NCAA’s first repeat men’s champion since Florida in 2006 and 2007:
East is a beast?
There’s been plenty of talk on how tough a draw UConn received as the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. No doubt, the East Region is full of land mines, including three Power Five conference tournament champions and two of the teams that joined the Huskies in last year’s Final Four.
Did the No. 1 overall seed deserve a better draw? Maybe. That South Region looks awfully soft (maybe because there are no Big East teams in it). But let’s pump the brakes a bit. Yes, Iowa State (Big 12), Illinois (Big 10) and Auburn (SEC) are conference champs in the Huskies’ region. But none of those teams won their respective regular-season titles. Houston was clearly the best team in the Big 12 this season, Purdue in the Big 10 and Tennessee in the SEC. And as Dan Hurley has long noted, winning the regular season championship is a truer test of how good a team is than winning a few
games in the conference tourney.
Bottom line: UConn would face challenges in any region. The Huskies match up well against anybody and should fear no one. Winning a national title is never easy, even if UConn made it look so last year, and repeating is even more difficult, no matter who you play.
Foul-free flight to Phoenix?
In each of UConn’s three losses this season, only one player really played well: Tristen Newton against Kansas and Creighton, and Donovan Clingan against Seton Hall (before getting hurt early in the second half ). Shutting down seven of the Huskies’ eight rotation players is a tough ask for any team, but there may be an easier way to beat them. Get Clingan (and Samson Johnson) in foul trouble.
At Creighton on Feb. 20, Clingan picked up two fouls within the game’s first five minutes and went to the bench with UConn up six. When he returned about eight minutes later, the Huskies trailed by six. They wound up losing by 19.
It wasn’t Clingan’s fouls as much as his injury that doomed UConn at Seton Hall on Dec. 20. The Huskies trailed by just four when Clingan left the game with a right foot injury early in the second half. They wound up losing by 15.
When both Clingan and Johnson were in foul trouble on Feb. 5 at St. John’s, the Huskies had to go with 6-foot-8 Alex Karaban, even 6-6 freshman Stephon Castle, at the five at times. They managed a 77-64 win, but it wasn’t as easy as the final score might indicate.
Johnson has picked up at least four fouls in 15 out of 34 games this season, fouling out twice. Clingan has picked up four fouls four times, but hasn’t earned more than three in a game since a Feb. 14 win at DePaul.
UConn went 5-0 while Clingan was injured against a rather soft portion of its schedule (St. John’s, DePaul, Butler, Xavier, Georgetown). But for the Huskies to be at their best, against the best, they need Clingan on the floor and Johnson capably backing him up.
Wealth of health
Let’s be honest, UConn has had remarkable luck with health the past couple of seasons. Yes, Johnson’s season was largely derailed by injury last year. Yes, Clingan missed five games and Stephon Castle six earlier this season. UConn weathered the storm.
But the Huskies are as healthy as can be entering this year’s NCAA tourney, and that’s a big deal. Just ask Marquette, whose top player, Tyler Kolek, missed the last six games with an oblique strain and enters the tournament banged-up for a second straight season. Ask Houston, which lost two of its key bench players, Terrence Arceneaux early in the season and Joseph Tugler more recently, for the rest of the season. Ask Kansas, which is without arguably its leading scorer, Kevin McCullar Jr., the rest of the way.
Certainly, credit goes to UConn’s strength and conditioning, medical and training staff. But there’s also a lot of luck involved, and UConn hopes to maintain that luck for at least a few more weeks.
Karaban caravan
If the Huskies have one ‘X’ factor, it might be Alex Karaban. He’s averaging 13.9 points, 50.1% shooting and 39.5% 3-point shooting on the season. In UConn’s three losses, however, he’s averaged just 8.6 points, 30^ shooting (9-for-3) from the floor and 25^ (4-for-16) from 3.
Karaban affects so much of what UConn does, at least offensively: shooting, passing, rebounding.
Hurley calls him “maybe the most important player on our team.” No Husky could get a bigger NBA stock boost this March/April than Karaban, who conversely may be most vital to UConn’s success.
Home sweet home
UConn went 16-0 at home for the first time since 2005-06. Some might argue the Huskies actually went 23-0, since they went 7-0 at Madison Square Garden, a.k.a. “Storrs South.” Brooklyn and Boston would feel like home games for the Huskies, both easily within driving distance of their fan base. Brooklyn will be a homecoming for Hassan Diarra, and UConn can wind up 9-0 inside New York City’s boundaries this season. Boston would be a sort of homecoming for Karaban.