Just Out Of Reach

It was another close and hard fought game that slipped through UConn’s fingers. They came out of the gates with their best shooting performance of the year and gave Husky fans a glimpse of their potential. They played great, rotating the ball, finding open jump shots and converting. The one knock on the team is their play against high screens, going underneath and Gonzaga had an outstanding three point shooting night, 12-27 or 36 of their 85 points and another 21 coming from the stripe. Uconn did well at the line too, going 23 for 32 and made all their one and one situations, an encouraging sign.

One could say that the Huskies fell in love with the outside shooting and they came up cold in the second half and it is slightly true but they only scored 6 less points in the second half as they did in the first. They knew their shot wasn’t falling and didn’t shy away but also took it to the tin and was rewarded by fouls.

In UConn’s two losses there seems to be one player on the opposing team that steps up and single handedly carries their team. In the Memphis game Douglas-Roberts had a career night and in this game Jeremy Pargo went 7 for 13, 4 for 7 from 3-point range, 23 points and 5 assists.

The reason why UConn lost this game was not their second half outside shooting woes but because no one made a play when they needed it. They had the opportunities and didn’t convert. Elbow jumpers bounced, threes clanked and loose balls went the other way. The referees had questionable calls but that is to be expected and not a crutch UConn can use. But Uconn needs someone to step up.

Their two losses could have gone both ways and UConn could be sitting pretty with a few ranked victories on their resume. They are close and know it. If a few outside shots fall, loose balls bounce their way and obvious fouls get called, then they can beat anyone.

It seems Calhoun is tinkering with his backup power forwards, switching Edwards and Kelly’s roles of being second off the bench. Both contributed in their limited roll. The fast break wasn’t there today but that didn’t slow down the offense and they produced throughout the game. Its nice to see the dreaded five minute drought is a thing of the past.

Its obvious that they aren’t there yet but they have improved. They need to find the killer instinct and put a team away. They eventually need to knock a ranked team off and get some respectable road wins under their belt but there are signs in these games to be optimistic. They just need to find a go to player down the stretch.