Martin expected to return; Sanogo not yet ruled out
STORRS — The UConn men’s basketball team is inching toward becoming whole again as it enters the defining stretch of the 202122 season.
Saturday brings the Big East opener against Providence at a sold-out XL Center. Senior guard/forward Tyrese Martin is expected to play. Adama Sanogo has not been ruled out.
And just like that — with an impressive body of work established, with the bulk of a storm weathered — the Huskies are about to enter the fight that matters most with its best players about ready to contribute.
“He’s got a great chance,” coach Dan Hurley said of Martin before the team practiced Friday at Gampel Pavilion. “As long as he doesn’t have a setback today. Not sure if there will be a minutes restriction on him, relative to conditioning . ... Everything looks really
good for him unless something bad happens.”
Martin has missed the past four games. He sustained a wrist injury Nov. 24 against Auburn in the Battle 4 Atlantis opener and last played Nov. 26 in a victory over VCU, also in the Bahamas.
Sanogo sustained an abdominal injury in the following game, a victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore Nov. 30 in Hartford. Sanogo was expected to push himself in Friday’s practice and his availability was to be explored later in the day and pre-game Saturday.
“He’s doing more,” Hurley said. “He desperately wants to be out there. We’ll see how he feels after he does a lot more than he’s been doing. Could he give us some spot minutes? We’ll see.”
Hurley said if Sanogo doesn’t play Saturday, he is likely to play Tuesday at Marquette or Dec. 28 at Xavier.
“Not much longer, possibly,” Hurley said.
UConn won’t look and feel exactly like the team it wants to Saturday, when a crowd of 16,000-plus gathers at the corner of Church and Ann to create an energy a long time coming. If Martin and Sanogo play they are likely to be limited and rusty. Still, their progress and what they potentially bring to the court represents a step for a team on a day that feels like a step for the program.
The Huskies haven’t had a sellout (15,564) since a 64-61 victory over Memphis on Feb. 16, 2020. They played the entirety of the 2020-21 season in virtually empty gyms due to the pandemic. And it’s been since 2013 that the Gampel and XL doors have been open to the public for a Big East game.
Saturday’s is the resumption of a rivalry and the first of 20 conference games, all that remains of the regular season. Without Sanogo, who averages 15.6 points and 6.3 rebounds, and Martin (10.9, 7.6), the Huskies have used the ramp-up to rehabilitate, playing important non-conference games (a loss to West Virginia, a victory over St. Bonaventure) without players averaging 28.5 points, 14 rebounds and 55 minutes.
“I think it forced other guys to step up and it probably helped the team in the long run, actually,” junior guard Jalen Gaffney said. “I don’t like injuries in sports, but it definitely helped the team, helped players find their confidence.”
Freshman Jordan Hawkins has started in place of Martin and junior Akok Akok in place of Sanogo.
“The thing with injuries, those other guys begin to grow and mature and they develop for you because they’re thrown into some uncomfortable situations, but you also go through this period of bringing back the injured players, trying to reintegrate them,” Hurley said. “When you’re bringing the injured guys back, they’re not always particularly sharp and they’re getting reintroduced to the group. So once everyone is back and healthy and we’re able to play a little bit with everyone back together, it will be a big advantage.”
So the process, while evolving, isn’t yet resolved. Minutes after Hurley spoke on the men’s court at the Werth Champions Center, Geno Auriemma met the media in the lobby, a couple hundred feet away, having similar conversations — about injuries.
The women’s team is without Paige Bueckers until early-to-mid February. She was injured Dec. 5 against Notre Dame and had surgery on her left knee Monday. Nika Muhl and Azzi Fudd are out with foot injuries that will sideline them through Christmas, at least, and Aubrey Griffin is out indefinitely with a back injury.
Auriemma and Hurley spoke last Saturday after both teams played at the Never Forget Tribute Classic in Newark, N.J., where the men defeated St. Bonaventure and the women defeated UCLA.
“It was big for both teams to be able to go down there, play two pretty good teams, and not play necessarily play your ‘A’ game or best game, but figure out a way to grind out two wins,” Auriemma said. “It’s a weird thing of nature that the guys you’re seeing get hurt are the guys you’re counting on the most, it seems. And everybody’s got to fill the role they may not be quite ready to fill yet . ... So in some ways we’re both dealing with the same kind of issues. Different but same.”