HUSKIES DUMP BRYANT DESPITE SLIGGISH START
November 29, 2008
by Zach Smart
Hartford— Maybe it was a hangover from the Virgin Islands.
After capturing the Paradise Jam championship, routing No.19 Wisconsin 76-57 in a much smaller, more hostile environment, UConn came out flatter than the state of Kansas against a Bryant team that was just upgraded to the Division-I ranks this season.
All-BIG EAST First Team forward Jeff Adrien coughed up open layups in the early going, looking at the referees for answers.
Bryant forward Cecil Gresham dialed in from downtown, canning three early 3s to ignite the supreme underdogs from Smithfield, R.I..
UConn, a program in a completely different zip code than their lowly 1-3 Northeast Conference foe, was out of sync and playing softer than a Silly Putty.
They jacked up ill-advised shots and failed to identify 7-foot-3 junior Hasheem Thabeet.
Read More...Click Below!
Then, the residual effects of jetlag or whatever it was came to a sudden halt. The Huskies regained their patented swag as they began to play…well…Husky basketball.
Thabeet would end up having a field day. He dropped 16 points and ripped down 12 boards. His defensive prowess was evident. Several shot attempts his way got stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey and Thabeet kept the Bulldogs out of the lane in the second half.
"Coach told us to wake up, and that's what we did," said freshman guard Kemba Walker, of New York perennial power Rice High School. "We got into our offense and just ran, ran, and ran."
UConn dominated during quick, crucial phases. They held a commanding 45-28 lead at the half. Domination of the glass (Huskies held a 48-27 advantage on the boards), the interior, and open shots helped jack up the lead in the second half.
It led to UConn’s emergence as the victor in an 88-58 blowout before 12,555 at the XL Center.
Beyond Thabeet, Craig Austrie scored 15 points. Price added 14 to go with four assists, while Adrien re-wrote the script by scoring 14 points, snaring nine boards, and registering two blocks. Jerome Dyson scored 11 and Walker chipped in with nine.
Thabeet, the MVP of the Paradise Jam, kick-started a potent 12-0 run with a rim-choking, two-handed dunk. The spurt culminated with a three-pointer by point guard A.J. Price. A jumper by Bryant's Barry Latham, who nearly completed a four-point play when the two teams ran neck-and-neck, thwarted the surge.
"That was huge, it got us going" said Walker, referencing the much-needed momentum run that allowed UConn's bulge to balloon.
"We got a workmanlike performance, where we basically turned it on two or three minutes at a time," said Jim Calhoun, whose no.2-ranked Huskies improve to 6-0 with the thrashing.
"We took a 15-point lead, made it 20. Some time passes, then we make it 25. Then we made it 30."
Austrie, who’s been exceptional, was efficient. Aside from his 15 points, he contributed six boards, and handed out three assists in 29 minutes. When the Huskies trailed early, Austrie knifed through the defense and scored on a pair of runners.
That’s right.
The shy kid (though he's never been gunshy) from Stamford, Conn. has been going to the cup more, something he didn't do enough of during his freshman, sophomore, and junior years.
Austrie, along with Adrien, is now the team's elder statesman.
He's played in several NCAA tournament games and started the first half of his freshman season. Originally a UMass-commit, Austrie operated offense on a UConn team front-loaded with talent—Rudy Gay, Denham Brown, Josh Boone, and Hilton Armstrong all made headlines during that season.
Austrie says both his experience in the program and Calhoun's confidence in him help place the onus to lead on his shoulders.
“I feel I can be an offensive threat every night,” said Austrie, who is averaging 11.3 points.
The win established a new benchmark in UConn basketball history.
This was Calhoun’s 780th win in his 37-year career as a coach. The milestone victory catapults him into a three-way logjam with Lute Olsen and Lou Henson as the 8th All-Time on the Division I coaching win list.
How does an accolade of this magnitude make the longtime Husky coach feel?
“Old,” Calhoun quipped.
Calhoun needs six wins to tie Lefty Driesell, who sits in seventh place. Driesell is widely recognized as the man who rejuvenated the University of Maryland program and bred a plethora of NBA talents, including the late, great Len Bias.
The Huskies play host to Delaware State Monday night at the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.
Smokin’: The Huskies shot 32-for-64 (50 percent) from the floor. They were led by Austrie and Thabeet, who combined for an 11-of-15 duet. Thabeet finished 6-for-7 from the floor, 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. All of the big man’s points were either on free throws or dunks. “That’s unusual,” Calhoun said of it.
Homeboys: The two CT products put on a show in their homeland. Craig Austrie scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting and was the catalyst for the Huskies. Gresham, a Bloomfield product who played at Maine Central Institute, scored a game-high 19 points. Both are evolving into the face of their respective programs. While Austrie has been the composure guy who Calhoun compared to the Boston Red Sox’ Jonathon Papelbon, Gresham has established himself as Bryant’s go-to-guy. He averaged 23 points during the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic in New York last week. During the Bulldogs 59-50 win over Quinnipiac, Gresham torched the nets for 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting.
The Storm Is Over: Scottie Haralson, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Jackson, Miss., was recruited as a player who could be a major presence in the Huskies’ perimeter game. After shooting just 1-for-9 in the preseason, however, his odd antics prompted a massive search warrant out for his 3ball. After going 0-for-6 in the first two games of his collegiate career, the CT State Police continued to scout earth for Haralson’s trey bomb. After missing his first two shots in garbage time of Saturday’s win, Haralson swished a long range three with 0.8 seconds remaining. The shot brought the fans, quiet for much of the game, into a frenzy.
“He’s a good shooter,” said Calhoun. “I don’t know why he’s not making them. He makes them in practice. He’s 1-for-12 now, not that I’m counting but I think he’s 1-for-12."
by Zach Smart
Hartford— Maybe it was a hangover from the Virgin Islands.
After capturing the Paradise Jam championship, routing No.19 Wisconsin 76-57 in a much smaller, more hostile environment, UConn came out flatter than the state of Kansas against a Bryant team that was just upgraded to the Division-I ranks this season.
All-BIG EAST First Team forward Jeff Adrien coughed up open layups in the early going, looking at the referees for answers.
Bryant forward Cecil Gresham dialed in from downtown, canning three early 3s to ignite the supreme underdogs from Smithfield, R.I..
UConn, a program in a completely different zip code than their lowly 1-3 Northeast Conference foe, was out of sync and playing softer than a Silly Putty.
They jacked up ill-advised shots and failed to identify 7-foot-3 junior Hasheem Thabeet.
Read More...Click Below!
Then, the residual effects of jetlag or whatever it was came to a sudden halt. The Huskies regained their patented swag as they began to play…well…Husky basketball.
Thabeet would end up having a field day. He dropped 16 points and ripped down 12 boards. His defensive prowess was evident. Several shot attempts his way got stuffed like a Thanksgiving turkey and Thabeet kept the Bulldogs out of the lane in the second half.
"Coach told us to wake up, and that's what we did," said freshman guard Kemba Walker, of New York perennial power Rice High School. "We got into our offense and just ran, ran, and ran."
UConn dominated during quick, crucial phases. They held a commanding 45-28 lead at the half. Domination of the glass (Huskies held a 48-27 advantage on the boards), the interior, and open shots helped jack up the lead in the second half.
It led to UConn’s emergence as the victor in an 88-58 blowout before 12,555 at the XL Center.
Beyond Thabeet, Craig Austrie scored 15 points. Price added 14 to go with four assists, while Adrien re-wrote the script by scoring 14 points, snaring nine boards, and registering two blocks. Jerome Dyson scored 11 and Walker chipped in with nine.
Thabeet, the MVP of the Paradise Jam, kick-started a potent 12-0 run with a rim-choking, two-handed dunk. The spurt culminated with a three-pointer by point guard A.J. Price. A jumper by Bryant's Barry Latham, who nearly completed a four-point play when the two teams ran neck-and-neck, thwarted the surge.
"That was huge, it got us going" said Walker, referencing the much-needed momentum run that allowed UConn's bulge to balloon.
"We got a workmanlike performance, where we basically turned it on two or three minutes at a time," said Jim Calhoun, whose no.2-ranked Huskies improve to 6-0 with the thrashing.
"We took a 15-point lead, made it 20. Some time passes, then we make it 25. Then we made it 30."
Austrie, who’s been exceptional, was efficient. Aside from his 15 points, he contributed six boards, and handed out three assists in 29 minutes. When the Huskies trailed early, Austrie knifed through the defense and scored on a pair of runners.
That’s right.
The shy kid (though he's never been gunshy) from Stamford, Conn. has been going to the cup more, something he didn't do enough of during his freshman, sophomore, and junior years.
Austrie, along with Adrien, is now the team's elder statesman.
He's played in several NCAA tournament games and started the first half of his freshman season. Originally a UMass-commit, Austrie operated offense on a UConn team front-loaded with talent—Rudy Gay, Denham Brown, Josh Boone, and Hilton Armstrong all made headlines during that season.
Austrie says both his experience in the program and Calhoun's confidence in him help place the onus to lead on his shoulders.
“I feel I can be an offensive threat every night,” said Austrie, who is averaging 11.3 points.
The win established a new benchmark in UConn basketball history.
This was Calhoun’s 780th win in his 37-year career as a coach. The milestone victory catapults him into a three-way logjam with Lute Olsen and Lou Henson as the 8th All-Time on the Division I coaching win list.
How does an accolade of this magnitude make the longtime Husky coach feel?
“Old,” Calhoun quipped.
Calhoun needs six wins to tie Lefty Driesell, who sits in seventh place. Driesell is widely recognized as the man who rejuvenated the University of Maryland program and bred a plethora of NBA talents, including the late, great Len Bias.
The Huskies play host to Delaware State Monday night at the Gampel Pavilion in Storrs.
Smokin’: The Huskies shot 32-for-64 (50 percent) from the floor. They were led by Austrie and Thabeet, who combined for an 11-of-15 duet. Thabeet finished 6-for-7 from the floor, 4-of-5 from the charity stripe. All of the big man’s points were either on free throws or dunks. “That’s unusual,” Calhoun said of it.
Homeboys: The two CT products put on a show in their homeland. Craig Austrie scored 15 points on 5-for-8 shooting and was the catalyst for the Huskies. Gresham, a Bloomfield product who played at Maine Central Institute, scored a game-high 19 points. Both are evolving into the face of their respective programs. While Austrie has been the composure guy who Calhoun compared to the Boston Red Sox’ Jonathon Papelbon, Gresham has established himself as Bryant’s go-to-guy. He averaged 23 points during the Tyler Ugolyn Columbia Classic in New York last week. During the Bulldogs 59-50 win over Quinnipiac, Gresham torched the nets for 21 points on 7-for-8 shooting.
The Storm Is Over: Scottie Haralson, a 6-foot-4 freshman from Jackson, Miss., was recruited as a player who could be a major presence in the Huskies’ perimeter game. After shooting just 1-for-9 in the preseason, however, his odd antics prompted a massive search warrant out for his 3ball. After going 0-for-6 in the first two games of his collegiate career, the CT State Police continued to scout earth for Haralson’s trey bomb. After missing his first two shots in garbage time of Saturday’s win, Haralson swished a long range three with 0.8 seconds remaining. The shot brought the fans, quiet for much of the game, into a frenzy.
“He’s a good shooter,” said Calhoun. “I don’t know why he’s not making them. He makes them in practice. He’s 1-for-12 now, not that I’m counting but I think he’s 1-for-12."
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