BIG EAST GAME PREVIEW: South Florida @ Connecticut
January 2, 2007
The young Connecticut pups have to deal with their first taste of adversity coming off their Big East opening 10-pt loss at West Virginia over the weekend. They do not have a lot of time to wallow in self pity as they are back in action tonight when they host South Florida in a Big East conference game at the Hartford Civic Center. The Bulls are coming off a 1-15 conference seasons last year and will look to get off on the right foot this season.
Here is a round-up of the preview articles from sources around the internet:
Husky Men Need Leaders to Provide Spark (New London Day)
Calhoun Wants More from Adrien, Price (Danbury News-Times)
Adrien Draws calhoun's Ire (Norwich Times)
Huskies Leadership Role Remains Up for Grabs (New Haven Register)
USF Faces Stiff Test on Road Vs UConn (Tampa Trib)
Bulls Face a Challenge in Opening Big East Run (St. Pete Times)
USF @ UConn Scouting Report (St. Pete Times)
Huskies Regroup for Next Test (Connecticut Post)
Huskies Looking for Leadership (Waterbury Republican-American)
Adrien Still a Sore Spot (Hartford Courant)
USF @ UConn Scouting Report (Hartford Courant)
READ OUR PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
Connecticut enters tonight's Big East game as a 19-pt favorite over the Bulls of South Florida and the Pomeroy Computer Forecast has UConn winning by 23-pts. That just seems like a lot of points to me...
As you can tell from the articles linked above, Jim Calhoun is not happy with the leadership his young team is getting on the floor. With a team of 8 freshmen and 5 sophomores (only a coupld have maningful Big East experience), this can not be that big of a surprise to him. Sophomore forward Jeff Adrien has taken most of the criticism, much of it publicly, for his lack of production in their Big East opening loss to West Virginia on Saturday. Adrien scored just 7 pts and grabbed 8 rebounds and was joined by AJ Price as the pair subjected to Calhoun's ire since Saturday. Price, playing in his first Big East contest, scored just 6 pts on 2-9 shooting against the Mountaineers. Freshman Doug Wiggins led UConn with 20 pts and sophomore Marcus Johnson added 16. The Huskies did not help themselves, shooting 13-27 from the foul line.
After losing four straight, South Florida has bounced back with a pair of wins, beating Wake Forest of the ACC 75-67 and pummelling Bethune-Cookman 82-49. Against Wake Forest, USF placed 4 players in double figures, led by big transfer Kenrtell Gransberry's 17 pts and 15 rebounds in just 22 minutes. Another transfer, Jesus Verdejo, added 15, as did senior Melvin Buckley and freshman Solomon Bozeman. The Bulls have a solid starting five, led by Gransberry, Verdejo, Buckley, Bozeman and McHugh Mattis, but very little depth due to injuries. Chris Howard, Chris Capko, Dante Curry and Zaronn Cann are all Bulls on the shelf.
I fully expect the Huskies to bounce back with a high level of effort, but I expect it to still be rather inconsistent, allowing USF to stay within shouting distance for much of the game. UConn will utilize their depth to overwhelm the Bulls at times athletically, but this edition of the Bulls is better than last season and will play with something to prove.
NBE BLogger Prediction: Connecticut 74 USF 61
Last season, the NBE Blogger was 82-34 picking games outright and 60-51-5 against the spread in the regular season.
The young Connecticut pups have to deal with their first taste of adversity coming off their Big East opening 10-pt loss at West Virginia over the weekend. They do not have a lot of time to wallow in self pity as they are back in action tonight when they host South Florida in a Big East conference game at the Hartford Civic Center. The Bulls are coming off a 1-15 conference seasons last year and will look to get off on the right foot this season.
Here is a round-up of the preview articles from sources around the internet:
Husky Men Need Leaders to Provide Spark (New London Day)
Calhoun Wants More from Adrien, Price (Danbury News-Times)
Adrien Draws calhoun's Ire (Norwich Times)
Huskies Leadership Role Remains Up for Grabs (New Haven Register)
USF Faces Stiff Test on Road Vs UConn (Tampa Trib)
Bulls Face a Challenge in Opening Big East Run (St. Pete Times)
USF @ UConn Scouting Report (St. Pete Times)
Huskies Regroup for Next Test (Connecticut Post)
Huskies Looking for Leadership (Waterbury Republican-American)
Adrien Still a Sore Spot (Hartford Courant)
USF @ UConn Scouting Report (Hartford Courant)
READ OUR PREVIEW...CLICK "Read More" BELOW
Connecticut enters tonight's Big East game as a 19-pt favorite over the Bulls of South Florida and the Pomeroy Computer Forecast has UConn winning by 23-pts. That just seems like a lot of points to me...
As you can tell from the articles linked above, Jim Calhoun is not happy with the leadership his young team is getting on the floor. With a team of 8 freshmen and 5 sophomores (only a coupld have maningful Big East experience), this can not be that big of a surprise to him. Sophomore forward Jeff Adrien has taken most of the criticism, much of it publicly, for his lack of production in their Big East opening loss to West Virginia on Saturday. Adrien scored just 7 pts and grabbed 8 rebounds and was joined by AJ Price as the pair subjected to Calhoun's ire since Saturday. Price, playing in his first Big East contest, scored just 6 pts on 2-9 shooting against the Mountaineers. Freshman Doug Wiggins led UConn with 20 pts and sophomore Marcus Johnson added 16. The Huskies did not help themselves, shooting 13-27 from the foul line.
After losing four straight, South Florida has bounced back with a pair of wins, beating Wake Forest of the ACC 75-67 and pummelling Bethune-Cookman 82-49. Against Wake Forest, USF placed 4 players in double figures, led by big transfer Kenrtell Gransberry's 17 pts and 15 rebounds in just 22 minutes. Another transfer, Jesus Verdejo, added 15, as did senior Melvin Buckley and freshman Solomon Bozeman. The Bulls have a solid starting five, led by Gransberry, Verdejo, Buckley, Bozeman and McHugh Mattis, but very little depth due to injuries. Chris Howard, Chris Capko, Dante Curry and Zaronn Cann are all Bulls on the shelf.
I fully expect the Huskies to bounce back with a high level of effort, but I expect it to still be rather inconsistent, allowing USF to stay within shouting distance for much of the game. UConn will utilize their depth to overwhelm the Bulls at times athletically, but this edition of the Bulls is better than last season and will play with something to prove.
NBE BLogger Prediction: Connecticut 74 USF 61
Last season, the NBE Blogger was 82-34 picking games outright and 60-51-5 against the spread in the regular season.
posted by NBE Blogger @ 8:09 AM
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