Avengers

Who knew that UConn could gun it with Notre Dame, one of the best three point teams in the college basketball? They diverged from their normal offense, of attacking the basket, and dusted off their rarely used outside shooting. They only had 9 threes in the last three game, but they came out and sank 8. Harangody had a monster night but unlike early games this season, UConn was able to withstand it. The back court came alive just in time, because Adrien and Thabeet had a tough offensive night, going 7 for 23. While the defense was spotty, especially in transition, UConn showed that they had improved defending the perimeter. Mcalarney, who had a career night a month ago, had a tough night.

A.J. Price was the man again, leading the Huskies in scoring 26, and had 9 assists. He shouldered the load on offense again, with 19 shots, 10 of those from three point range. He and the rest of the guards were able to get into the lane all night and create havoc. Austrie is continuing his solid play, hitting threes with regularity, dishing out 4 assists, and not turning the ball over. He did have some uncharacteristic missed free throws down the stretch which plagued the Huskies all night. Wiggins is turning the corner and played his best game since returning. He hit some outside shots, pushed the ball up, and pulled down 9 boards. 9 boards! That’s as many as Adrien had all night. The three guards took over the game with their perimeter defense and consistent outside shooting.

Robinson did well in his limited time, 17 minutes. He hit a clutch three, which is great for his confidence, took 9 shots, an encouraging sign, and had 3 offensive boards. Calhoun used the three guard line-up in this game but it didn’t effect Robinson. He is going to be the X-factor in most of UConn’s games.

Thabeet had a tough night offensively and couldn’t contain Harangody. It shows how much he has progressed so far when we call a 10 boards and 6 blocks, a bad game for him. Adrien also had troubles offensively, only going 5 for 15, but he pulled down 9 boards and hit 3 for 4 from the line. He has improved leaps and bounds from the line this year. Credit goes to the coaching staff for turning around the abysmal free throw shooting of last year.

Gavin Edwards had his best game of his short UConn career. In 8 minutes, he shot 3 of 4, hit both is free throws, pulled down 3 boards, 2 offensively, had 8 points, and 1 spectacular block. That’s quite a line. There was a brief Mandeldove sighting but didn’t contribute much to the game. There is no rhyme or reason to how Calhoun uses his big men off the bench. One game its Kelly who is first off, then Mandeldove, and then Edwards. Maybe he is giving all three their shot and at times they have all been contributors, but without consistent minutes, they seem rusty.

Next up for the pups is South Florida, which is coming off a big win against Syracuse. They are a three happy team and UConn will need to bring their perimeter defense down south. Connecticut is entering a soft spot in their schedule, playing South Florida, DePaul, Villanova, and Rutgers. They need to keep pace with the upper echelon teams and not slip in their intensity. If they can continue this torrid pace, then the sky is the limit for this sky rocketing team.