The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
An end to the hex?
Huskies hope to snap streak at SMU
DALLAS — Fresh off a pair of slump-busting victories, UConn appears re-energized, re-focused and realistically thinking about the postseason again.
The Huskies ended a pair of head-scratching losing streaks in the last two games. They won at Tulsa on Thursday for the first time in six tries — snapping a five-game losing skid to the Golden Hurricane (in any venue) and winning a true road game for the first time this season, to boot.
On Sunday, UConn won consecutive games for the first time since the end of December by beating Cincinnati and ending an eight-game losing streak to the Bearcats that stretched back to Jalen Adams’ 75foot prayer four years ago.
UConn (13-10, 4-6 AAC) has another chance to snap a puzzling losing streak on Wednesday night. Surprisingly, this might be the toughest one yet.
The Huskies travel to SMU on Wednesday (7 p.m., ESPNews) in what will be their sixth and final trip to Moody Coliseum as an AAC rival. As was the case with Tulsa’s Reynolds
Center prior to Thursday night, UConn has never won at Moody. Unlike the Reynolds Center, where UConn had lost prior games in overtime and double overtime, the Huskies have hardly ever been competitive inside Moody.
UConn’s five losses at SMU have been by an average total of 18.2 points. It started with the opening of the new building on Jan. 4, 2014, when UConn’s eventual road to a national title took an early detour with a 74-65 loss. That was the closest the Huskies would ever come to victory at Moody. The next four losses would all be by 18 points or more, capped by last season’s 77-59 loss.
SMU (16-6, 6-4 AAC) is coming off an overtime loss at Temple, but the Mustangs are 12-1 at Moody — their lone loss coming on Dec. 7 against Georgetown. Led by TCU transfer Kendric Davis, SMU entered Tuesday at No. 72 in the NET rankings and certainly thinking postseason — be it NIT or NCAA tournament.
Right ahead of the Mustangs in the NET rankings at No. 71 is UConn, which has plenty more reasons to
be enthused about both its future and its present. Freshman James Bouknight was named the AAC’s Player of the Week on Monday, the first Husky to be so honored since Jalen Adams (there’s that name again) won it on Feb. 20, 2017. The Huskies have proven they can win on the road and in a one-point, overtime game over their last two contests.
A hungry fanbase, while perhaps a little over-eager after three straight losing seasons, is already thinking big. The remaining league records of UConn’s final eight opponents is a combined 39-46. The Huskies will face arguably their two toughest remaining opponents, Memphis and firstplace Houston, at home. And then there’s the AAC tournament, which has some fans feeling a run to a title in UConn’s final season in the league is very much in play.
Whoa, folks, slow down. Of all people, perhaps everconfident Christian Vital offered perhaps the most rational voice of reason following Sunday’s win over Cincinnati.
“We’ve got a road game at SMU coming up,” the senior guard said. “So, we’ve got to keep going. We can’t be satisfied at all.”
One step at a time. First step: winning inside a building in which UConn has never won — or, really, ever even come close.