What we learned from UConn’s win over UMES
HARTFORD — A win is a win. Survive and advance. No such thing as a bad win.
Choose your own cliche, all of the above fit UConn’s unnecessarily difficult 72-63 win over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Tuesday night at XL Center. The Huskies barely outrebounded the vastly undersized Hawks, shot terribly (31 percent, 18 percent from 3) in the second half and found themselves with a mere fourpoint lead with less than 3
minutes to play. Ugly.
But then, any win is beautiful (another cliche!) and the 17th-ranked Huskies are 7-1 overall with just one more cupcake on their schedule before things really start to get serious.
Here are five things we learned from Tuesday night’s win:
JORDAN HAWKINS IS ... A FRESHMAN
The 6-foot-5, much-ballyhooed freshman got his first collegiate start on Tuesday with Tyrese Martin sidelined by a wrist injury (more on that later).
Hawkins had a rough first half, misfiring on both of his shots, picking up a pair of fouls and playing just 10 scoreless minutes. Tyler Polley, the hot hand, started the second half in Hawkins’ stead, but Hawkins wound up playing 15 minutes in the latter half, hit a key putback midway through and followed that with a 3-pointer that put the
Huskies up nine at the time. He finished with five points.
Hawkins made his national coming-out party last week in the Huskies’ double-overtime win over Auburn in the Battle 4 Atlantis, hitting both his 3-pointers and scoring 16 points in 15 minutes (though he did commit a costly turnover that helped send the game to overtime). Since then, Hawkins is just 4-for-13 from the floor and 1-for-6 from 3.
He is, after all, a freshman.
“There have been a lot of freshmen who’ve struggled this year, a lot of high-profile freshmen,” coach Dan Hurley pointed out. “A lot of these guys didn’t have a real summer going into their senior year of high school that got high-jacked by COVID. And their senior year, they didn’t get a real chance to play.”
THE OTHER FRESHMEN AREN’T READY YET
Rahsool Diggins and Samson Johnson were consensus, national top-50 recruits. Johnson has so much promise that Hurley has practically reserved a spot for him on the wall inside the practice gym that highlights UConn’s NBA lottery picks.
Neither Diggins nor Johnson has played a single second in the Huskies’ last four games.
Johnson swooped in like a “pterodactyl” for an impressive reverse layup in the Huskies’ open scrimmage last month, but his “head was spinning ... it almost popped off and went into the student section” in UConn’s season-opener against Central Connecticut State on Nov. 9 and he’s barely seen the court since.
Diggins, a shifty point guard, might seem a prime candidate to help a UConn backcourt short on ballhandlers and that’s had difficulty breaking fullcourt pressure defense. But Hurley scoffed at that notion in practice on Monday, noting that players have to earn their minutes.
Clearly, Hurley doesn’t believe Diggins or Johnson have earned their minutes yet.
THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE DEPTH
Adama Sanogo may be UConn’s best player, R.J. Cole its most clutch, Andre Jackson its most spectacular.
But Martin is the Huskies’ best all-around player. And now he’s out for about 2-4 weeks, per Hurley, with a slight sprain and avulsion fracture of his left wrist.
“Tyrese is our heart-andsoul guy,” Hurley noted. “That’s a problem, but I’ve talked about our program depth for a long time, so there’s no excuses for this program in any of these games moving forward. It’s a big loss, but it’s next man up.”
Jackson may fill his void best. Hawkins and Jalen Gaffney will likely see more playing time. Akok Akok, as well. Everyone must step up, because, as Hurley pointed out: “Tyrese’s cast isn’t gonna come off for a while.”
UMES MAY BE A LITTLE BETTER THAN ADVERTISED
Yes, UMES may be ranked 347th out of 358 teams according to KenPom.com. But does it make UConn fans feel any better knowing that the Hawks played very well against a pair of Atlantic-10 teams, losing at St. Joseph’s by a point and winning at Fordham?
No? OK, we tried.
NO MORE BAHAMAS EXCUSES — PLEASE
UConn’s somewhat perfunctory, 87-63 win over Binghamton on Nov. 20 was largely dismissed — even by Hurley — as a product of the players’ minds being on the upcoming tournament in the Bahamas. The Huskies’ ugly, 70-63 win over VCU in their game in three days in the Bahamas was brushed off as a result of playing a double-overtime game against Auburn, followed by a physical battle with Michigan State, the prior two days.
Hurley even admitted that Tuesday’s slogfest could partially be attributed to fatigue from the Bahamas. When the Huskies host Grambling State on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion, those excuses no longer hold any water.