Stinging UConn loss a reminder of last season
NEW YORK — No December loss in his first season will put an indelible stamp on Dan Hurley’s UConn career any more than one November victory over Syracuse will.
There will be highs and lows and afternoons when nothing will drop for Jalen Adams. There will be highs and lows and afternoons when Eric Cobb, arguably UConn’s best player in the Huskies’ first two games at Madison Square Garden, never gets off the bench.
Still, there is one thing that should be said about this humbling 81-58 loss to Villanova before a packed New York house.
One thing that must be said about the second half, and especially about the Wildcats’ 19-0 run over a span of 6 minutes, 41 seconds, that saw a 36-35 UConn lead with 17:07 remaining turn into a holiday laugher for the national champions.
And, yes, it’s probably the worst thing one could say to UConn fans.
This loss reminded you of last season.
If an opponent had outscored the Huskies, 51-28, in the second half last year, the howls and insults would have grown loud.
If the Huskies began losing their discipline, turning the ball over, hoisting shots, going 0-for-6 and turning the ball over six times in that 6:41 span, yes, the howls and insults would have grown mighty loud. The stretch was compounded by Villanova going 5-for-7 and getting to the foul line five times.
Let’s be honest. Let’s not lie.
Those howls and insults would have been directed at Kevin Ollie.
“Credit Villanova, one of the best programs in the country,” Hurley said. “And, obviously, we showed how far away we are from being there today with our performance in front of a great crowd … a really, brutal last 17 minutes for
us.”
Here’s a question to ponder over the Christmas holidays.
The Huskies are 9-4, 1-3 in the four real challenges. If Ollie were the coach today, what would UConn’s record be?
Hmm, probably 9-4? That is meant as no sweeping indictment.
When all the energy Hurley has expended on the sidelines, all the yelling at refs, all the pump-it-up moments for his players, slides peacefully into a “Merry Christmas,” here’s the truth: There are so many games, so much work to be done before we can begin to fully assess how happy Hurley’s new year will be in March. Rolling over the easy teams was fun, but there must be many important wins before we proclaim hosannas and lay great wine and cheeses at his forever-moving feet.
That was true the night everybody went gaga with the win over Syracuse. And still true today.
Asked if there was a common theme to UConn’s bad stretches — Approach? Execution? Fatigue? — Hurley wound up for a full-throated, 200-word reply.
“I don’t think it was any of those things,” Hurley said. “Execution, listen, Villanova was switching every screen. When a team switches every screen, unless you have a big that you can throw the ball into, try to go high-low, make them pay for the switch, which obviously is not part of the way we’re currently constituted, you’ve got to be able to go by somebody. Get in the paint, land, spray the ball or finish at the rim.
“But for me, I just think it’s more of a like, I don’t want to say, ‘Here we go again’ thing. It’s a mindset. When things start going badly, you’ve got to get more determined. You’ve got to get more solid. You’ve got to trust your teammates more. You’ve got to hunt offense less and try to get more stops and set better screens. That’s how you get yourself out of bad stretches. Not by making a (hesitation) 17-foot pullup. You’re not going to score your team out of trouble. You’ve got to play your team out of trouble by being solid. I think that’s something that’s going to take a little bit of time maybe to build and change that ‘here we go again’ mindset where things just seem to spiral and unravel.”
There’s a lot to be said for leadership and Villanova got it from seniors Phil Booth and Eric Paschall. Booth had 18 points on — get this — six shots. Paschall bullied his way to 21 points. Hurley said the Huskies did a good job guarding Paschall when the defense was in front of their bench and the coaches could help them through, doubling the post. At the other end in the second half, containment turned into a sad joke.
“Great players, that’s what they do,” Hurley said.
Jalen Adams, UConn’s best player, didn’t do it on this day. He shot 3-for-13, 0-3 from 3, had four fouls, six turnovers and was a game-worst minus-25.
“We wanted to play (Adams) as a team,” Villanova coach Jay Wright said. “We did not want to play him one-on-one. We knew that could hurt us from 3, but we had to pick our poison. We didn’t want him to get in the lane and create fouls and shots and offensive rebounds.”
There was a striking moment with five minutes left in the game. There was Adams, shaking his head in dismay, his shirt hanging out, looking discombobulated. It was the here-wego-again moment.
“We need him in games like this to perform at a high level for us to have a chance to win,” Hurley said. “So there’s a lot of pressure on him. But I thought he had a good mindset. If anything, just eliminate some of those 17-foot contested pullups. … And then the turnovers. Twelve turnovers from our three starting guards, that’s tough.”
Hurley said a winning program must put value on how hard players get after it every day. Hurley was careful to not criticize Cobb, who had 30 points in the games against Syracuse and Iowa. He said Yakwe has been playing with great effort and Cobb needs to do more to unseat him. Plus, Hurley said, Cobb would have struggled on defensive matchups against Villanova. Yes, the playing time will evolve as surely as a program.
You see Villanova sustain four early-season losses and play this day without starting guard Collin Gillespie because of a concussion. In stepped Jahvon Quinerly, who just a week ago, dropped jaws by complaining about his lack-ofminutes fate on Instagram before erasing it and admitting his mistake. The guy scored 10 points and had four assists in 16 minutes. Tough-minded programs, with leaders, absorb stuff like bad moments, off and on the court.
“We’ve got to become a little bit tougher-minded team when stuff starts going sideways for us,” Hurley said. “We’ve got to be able to dig our heels in the ground and get a stop or step into a big shot and make it. Do something to stop the bleeding. I’m not sure what drill that is.”
Hurley threatened a month ago to go to a slower-place offense to cut down turnovers. After this one, knowing his stable of guards is his best bet, he had an amendment:
“I’m going to have to have a much shorter leash with these guys coming back from the holidays in terms of if you’re not responsible with the ball, you’re going to have to come out.”
What nobody at UConn wants is a “Here we go again.”
And for one day, at least, that’s what it felt like.