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Adams scores game-high 21 as Huskies end 3-game skid
STORRS — His team staring at an 0-3 start in league play, with two tough road games coming up, Dan Hurley wasn’t feeling great Thursday morning.
“I was hiding under the covers,” he reported.
Then, around 8 a.m., he received a text from his best player, Jalen Adams. The same Jalen Adams who is too often criticized for not being enough of a leader, not stepping up when his team needs him the most, etc.
“It was something along the lines of, ‘Wartime, locked in,’ ” Hurley said of the text. “When I saw that, I sprang up out of bed, got on the (exercise) bike and got recharged.”
Adams backed up his confident text, scoring a game-high 21 points — including several clutch shots in the latter half that thwarted budding SMU rallies — leading UConn to a 76-64 victory over the Mustangs before 6,538 at Gampel Pavilion.
“I was just letting him know that I’m in the fight with him,” Adams said of his text, which he also sent as a group text to his teammates. “I know things haven’t been looking so up for us, but today was an opportunity to turn things around.”
It was the Huskies’ first win in nearly a month. Granted, only three games were played over that
25-day span between victories, but UConn was desperate to avoid an
0-3 start in American Athletic Conference play.
“You need to start somewhere,” Adams said. “Once you get that first win, you have something to build off. It’s always better to learn from a win than a loss.”
Alterique Gilbert added 19 points
(12 in the first half ) for UConn and Christian Vital contributed 11 points and seven rebounds. Josh Carlton also grabbed seven boards to go with eight points.
“That was the best game he’s played against a quality opponent,” Hurley said of Carlton, a sophomore.
Sid Wilson was the defensive spark, swatting away three shots while grabbing six boards — including a huge offensive board and
putback for a conventional
3-point play midway through the latter half.
UConn improved to 10-6 overall and 1-2 in the AAC, heading into Saturday’s bout at perennial league powerhouse Cincinnati. SMU fell to 10-5, 2-1.
UConn owned a 42-31 halftime lead, buoyed by
65-percent (13-for-20) shooting, including 6-for-10 from
3, and extended it to 15
(50-35) within the first five minutes of the latter on a Gilbert 3-pointer.
SMU would mount a couple of comeback bids, but got thwarted at every turn by big shots — first by Adams, then by assorted other players.
Adams knocked down a
15-footer to end a 7-0 Mustang run. SMU got back to within six (52-46), but Adams countered with a 3pointer.
After Jimmy Whitt’s transition layup got the Mustangs back within seven, Tyler Polley grabbed the rebound of Carlton’s missed jumper and scored. SMU was back within seven again (59-52) when Tarin Smith missed a pair of free throws. But Wilson flew in for the offensive board and putback, got fouled and converted the free throw.
“I was trying to make as much of an impact as I could,” said Wilson, a 6foot-7 athlete. “I hadn’t scored yet. Josh had tipped it already, so I tracked it down and got a good, easy basket.”
On UConn’s next possession, Carlton grabbed a Polley air-ball and scored, and when Smith hit a pair of free throws 30 seconds later, the Huskies led by 14 with 7:46 to play.
Adams started slow, attempting just one shot over the first 14 minutes of the game, but scored nine points over the final six minutes of the half and had
10 at the break, topped only by Gilbert’s 12.
Things were looking good at that point. But really, the whole day had gotten off to a good start at about 8 a.m.
“When you’re in a place where you’re successful and winning, that’s the thing you see from your leader players,” Hurley said. “Just to see that this morning, I knew (Adams) was gonna be good today.”
RIM RATTLINGS
⏩ Early in the second half, after a scrum for the ball near the sidelines, Hurley took a spill when Polley collided into him. Hurley fell back, arms flailing, but bounced right back up — much to the delight of the home crowd.
“I took that (charge) on purpose,” Hurley joked, “just to show our guys that if the coach is willing to take one there, then you’ve got to be willing to take one. I’m not sure if that GIF is out. We’ll see.”
⏩ Akok Akok, the 6-foot-9 forward slated to join the Huskies as a walk-on for the second semester, sat behind UConn’s bench on Thursday. According to a source close to Akok, the goal is to be enrolled at UConn by the time second semester classes begin (Tuesday, Jan. 22). No issues are expected to prevent that from happening.
Akok will not play this season, however, instead working out in practices, looking to get stronger and better and eventually suiting up for the Huskies next season.
⏩ Now that big man recruiting target Kofi Cockburn has committed to Illinois, UConn’s focus is on Qudus Wahab and Tre Mitchell. However, the Huskies will also be in the market for a transfer or two — be it a grad transfer, JUCO or regular transfer — should those targets not pan out.
⏩ Wayne Norman, longtime radio voice of the Huskies, was sick and took the night off on Thursday. He was replaced by Randy Lavigne, the former UConn basketball player.
⏩ Andrea Saunders, a Waterbury detective and the wife of former Husky standout Edmund Saunders, sang the national anthem.