Advertisement
basketball Edit

Preview: UConn Huskies Open NCAA Tournament with Colorado


All season we have waited for the UConn Huskies to reveal their true identity, and heading into the biggest game of the season, we still don’t have an answer.

Are they the team that flexed their postseason muscles – with sophomore Daniel Hamilton playing a starring role - on the way to winning an American Athletic Conference Tournament title?

Or, are they still that other team – the one that suffered prolonged scoring slumps that would either bury them in the first half or prevent them from closing out others?

Coach Kevin Ollie hopes it’s the latter team that takes the court Thursday afternoon (1:30, TNT) for the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Des Moines, Iowa.

The ninth-seeded Huskies (24-10) open with No. 8 Colorado (22-11), with the winner getting a date with top-seeded Kansas on Saturday.

“I just love the way we are playing,” Ollie said after beating Memphis in the AAC finals. “Adversity is what builds us. Like I said I’ve had lecture over lecture with these guys on adversity and being tough, and I just think that’s what really makes us go at the University of Connecticut.”

Colorado, which finished fifth in the Pac-12 and lost to Arizona in the Pac-12 quarterfinals, seems to have the same resume as the Huskies: good defensive team, solid rebounders, and a tendency to struggle when it comes time to finishing games.

Since the Huskies were the best foul shooting team in the AAC (78.7 percent) you would think that would bold well for finishing games, but they went to the line just 581 times all season, which trailed only Temple (529) for fewest in their conference.

In addition to getting to the line, the Huskies need the good Hamilton- the one who averaged 21 points, 11 boards and more than five assists on the way to earning most outstanding player in The American Tournament.

“We got to go in there, and we got to take care of business,” Hamilton said. “We just got to take it one game at a time and one day at a time and prepare right.”

UConn fans know what the Huskies bring to the court with Hamilton, fifth-year senior Shonn Miller (12.8 ppg, 5.4 rpg, .585 field goal percentage), Rodney Purvis and fifth-year senior Sterling Gibbs along with rising freshman Jalen Adams.

However, how do they stack up with the Buffaloes?

“In my mind Colorado is a very good, well-coached team,” said an assistant coach from a west coast school that beat the Buffaloes during the regular season. “They frequently struggled against pressure, but have shot makers surrounding their tough and talented front court.

“Josh Scott is an NBA player and George King is one of the most improved players in the league.”

The 6-foot-10 senior Scott led the team in scoring (16.1 ppg) and rebounds (8.7 rpg) while anchoring a front court that is the strength of the Buffaloes. Colorado finished eighth in the nation in rebound margin at plus-8.9 per game and figures to be a stern test for Miller and 7-foot junior Amida Brimah.

King is a 6-6 sophomore guard who averaged 13.8 points and shot 45.6 percent from 3-point range. Colorado has three perimeter threats in King, guard Josh Fortune (10.4 ppg) and 6-7 junior forward Tre’Shaun Fletcher (7.2 ppg)

“George King is really good,” the assistant emphasized.

Shutting down the opponent on the perimeter has been a weakness for the Huskies, but they have shined overall on defense, allowing opponents to shoot 38.2 percent from the field (fourth lowest in the country). UConn has held 24 opponents under 40 percent this season, including in 16 of the last 21 games.

“I keep bringing his name up, that’s what coach (Jim) Calhoun built in us,” Ollie said about the program’s reliance on defense. “You play defense and that allows us to win championships, and that’s what we hang our hats on at the University of Connecticut.

“And I think that travels well. No matter where we’re at, we’re going to play defense, we’re going to give our offense an opportunity to step up.”

NOTES: UConn is 1-2 as a No. 9 seed with the lone win coming against Nebraska. … This is the first time UConn has played a tournament game in Iowa and also the first time they have played against Colorado. … Coach Tad Boyle is in his sixth year at CU and played for Larry Brown, the current SMU head man who was Ollie’s former NBA coach, at Kansas in the 1980s. He has taken the Buffaloes to the NCAA Tournament three times, but the team has only advanced once to the third round (2012-13). … CU is 10-15 all-time in NCAA games and went two Finals Fours (1942, ’55).

Advertisement