The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Skid snapped with ugly win
Huskies’ losing streak ends at 4
HARTFORD — The shot, a clean look from about 20 feet out, went up with about four seconds left, and you could practically hear the 6,717 UConn fans in attendance sigh, “Here we go again.”
The Huskies had been burned by late-game 3pointers in several recent games, most notably in a double-overtime loss at Tulsa three days earlier. So, when ECU leading scorer B.J. Tyson put up that trey, which would have tied the game in the final seconds, what was going through the Huskies’ heads?
“Please come off,” said Christian Vital. “Please come off so I can get this rebound, get fouled and finish the game.”
Kevin Ollie, as coaches must be, was a bit more practical.
“If it goes in, call a timeout and get ready for overtime,” Ollie said. “Nothing’s gonna crush us. If he had made it, we get ready for the next five minutes. I’m glad he didn’t make it.”
No, Tyson’s shot was off the mark, allowing Ollie to go from practical to Biblical.
“I’m glad God — He’s always on our side — but I’m glad he blew the ball a little bit farther, and he missed it,” the coach said.
Freshman Tyler Polley grabbed the rebound, got fouled and hit a pair of free throws, and UConn had a 70-65 win on Saturday at the XL Center. A badly needed win that avoided
the program’s first fivegame losing streak in 11 seasons.
“We definitely needed to stop that four-game losing streak,” said Vital. “My teammates and myself definitely got tired of losing. It was the first game of a winning streak that we’ve got to get going now.”
It was also the first AAC win this season for the Huskies, who are now 8-7, 1-2. ECU fell to 7-8, 1-3.
“It wasn’t our best basketball,” said junior forward Terry Larrier, “but we’ll definitely take the win and keep the ball rolling in conference play.”
No, this wasn’t one you’d want to hang in a museum. The Huskies got off to a 16-4 start and appeared headed to their first true blowout win since midNovember. But, as they’ll do, they let ECU back in the game, thanks to their own sloppiness and the Pirates’ improved shooting.
A Larrier hoop at the end of the first half gave UConn a 32-31 lead at the break, and though the Huskies never trailed in the latter half, they could never put the Pirates away, either.
UConn led 67-60 after a Jalen Adams layup with 59 seconds remaining. However, after hitting 15 of their first 17 free throws, the Huskies missed three of four (two of them by Larrier) over the next 36 seconds, and suddenly it was a one-possession game.
ECU inbounded from in front of its bench with 8.8 seconds left, and UConn was supposed to foul Dimitri Spasojevic (who was 2 for 6 from the line) but wasn’t able to wrap him up. Instead, Tyson got the ball and a clean look, but couldn’t connect.
At Tulsa on Wednesday night, Corey Henderson, Jr. hit a pair of 3-pointers in the final 30 seconds, the latter with five seconds in regulation, to send the game to overtime.
“Our guys stayed with it,” said Ollie. “We didn’t give up the lead in the second half. We’ve just got to cut down on turnovers and foolish mistakes.”
Adams led the Huskies with 18 points but didn’t play well, shooting 6-for-17,
missing all three of his 3-pointers and turning the ball over a season-high seven times.
“I just made bad reads,” Adams said with a shrug.
“He’ll be better next game,” Ollie promised.
Larrier and Vital added 16 points apiece, and Isaiah Whaley had seven points and a team-best seven rebounds.
UConn hit just 2 of 16 3-pointers (both by Vital) and had 16 turnovers against just seven assists.
But, for the first time in a while, the late-game 3pointer didn’t kill the Huskies, and they survived or a win.
A badly-needed win, that even took some help from above.
RIM RATTLINGS
⏩ Alterique Gilbert put up shots prior to the game and told Hearst Media Connecticut he has decided to undergo left shoulder surgery. The procedure will likely be done later this month by noted orthopedic surgeon Dr. James Andrews and his team.
⏩ Ollie was effusive in his praise of Whaley, who started for the second game in a row.
“Oh man, I’m elated with that kid,” the coach said. “He embodies what UConn is all about. You can go down — Rod Sellers, Lyman DePriest. All those guys are in him. That’s what we want, and we’ve got to get more guys like him, playing with that intensity and focus. He just goes out there and plays — rebounds, doesn’t care if he gets points. He’s just gonna play with energy, make a couple of mistakes, but I can live with that because he’s playing with level-5 energy. He’s a selfless human being, and that’s what I love about him.”
The starting lineup of Whaley, Adams, Larrier, Vital and Josh Carlton marked the first time UConn has had the same starting five in consecutive games since the first two games of the PK80 Invitational around Thanksgiving.
⏩ Words were exchanged between the two teams in the postgame handshake line, and the teams had to be separated by assistant coaches.
“I think (Isaac) Fleming was getting into it with Alterique,” said Ollie. “I’m glad nothing came of that. We split the teams up. We don’t want this game to be marred with that and people being suspended and all that stuff. We have to do a better job, and Coach (Michael) Perry is telling his team the same thing, hopefully.”
⏩ The win was the 120th of Ollie’s career, moving him ahead of Dee Rowe for fourth on UConn’s all-time list. Adams is also now 10 points shy of 1,000 for his career.