The Road Less Traveled

Calhoun knows that to get this team to where he wants it to go this season, they need to get more quality wins on the road. Last year the only games that the young pups could win were against St. John’s and Rutgers, that won’t cut it this year. With away conference games at South Florida, Seton Hall, Georgetown, Cincinnati, Syracuse, Villanova, Rutgers and Providence, the young Huskies will have their plate full.

It wasn’t as if Uconn hadn’t had its chances last season when on the road. In almost every game, they were right there at half time and then they would come out of the tunnel flat. It wasn’t all on the offensive side of the ball. Uconn’s opponents scored a 27.9 in the first half and scored 34.5 in the second. There isn’t one culprit for the huge discrepancy but a lack of concentration, team work and experience.

The road schedule tests Uconn early with a January 12 meeting at Georgetown. It will be a battle of the bigs with Thabeet going against Hibbert. It will also be the most experienced team they will face. While Uconn is trying to overcome their youth, other teams are making that transition this year. Syracuse and Villanova both have a roster full of freshman, though Syracuse is in the top ten in incoming classes.

The voyage back to the top of The Big East standings will have its road blocks and we’re going to know early what meddle Uconn is made of. They know what it takes to lose these games and now they must learn how to win those close road battles. They can’t be rattled by the crowd, the biased referees or the untimely turnover. They must play through the turmoil, take their opponents best shot and not fall down. We’ll see if they have gathered the grit to make that treacherous climb to the top of standings.