I was wondering if there are any other former UConn Huskies men’s basketball players in the area after former Husky and current Boston Celtics guard Ray Allen spoke to the team on Tuesday.
I say this because, other than for a 10 minute stretch in the first half, UConn put up one of their finer performances of the 2011-2012 season on Wednesday night.
Four Huskies scored in double figures as they scored their highest point total since New Year’s Eve in a rather convincing 80-54 win over the DePaul Blue Demons in front of a sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion.
The win for the Huskies (16-9, 6-7 Big East) snaps a two-game skid for them. The Blue Demons fall to 11-14 (2-11).
Jeremy Lamb led all scorers in the game with 18 points and had five rebounds. Andre Drummond had a good second half on his way to a 15 point, nine rebound performance and two blocks. Both Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier added double-doubles as well. Oriakhi had 14 points and 10 rebounds while Napier had 14 points and 11 assists to go along with six rebounds.
DeAndre Daniels sparked the Huskies in the first half scoring all of eight of his points while fellow freshman Ryan Boatright had a nice game with seven points, seven assists and five rebounds.
Jeremiah Kelly paced Oliver Purnell’s Blue Demons squad with 16 points and had four rebounds. Former UConn commit Cleveland Melvin chipped in with 11 points and four rebounds. Donnavan Kirk led DePaul with five rebounds.
UConn got out of the gates quickly in this one as they started out the game on an 8-0 run behind three-pointers from Napier and Boatright along with dunk from Oriakhi that started the fun. The Blue Demons battled back though over the next few minutes cutting UConn’s lead down to 12-8.
The Huskies increased their lead again with a 14-2 run to take 26-10 lead with 11:50 to go in the half. DePaul responded with the next five points before things took a turn to the ugly side for both teams.
Both teams got sloppy with the ball but were also playing good defense. The Blue Demons would outscore UConn 14-8 over the final 11:50 but the Huskies would enjoy a 34-24 lead.
UConn came out firing on all cylinders in the second half opening up with a 9-3 run. They would eventually build their lead up to 21 points at 53-32 with 14:17 to go. While the Huskies were in control, DePaul didn’t go away. They battled back cutting UConn’s lead to 13 points at 55-42 with 11:16 to go.
But the Huskies didn’t lay down and let them totally back in. Instead, they seized the game with a 7-0 run to open up a 20 point lead and never looked back from there.
Definitely a much better team effort from the Huskies. They looked as though they were enjoying the game of basketball instead of going through the motions. Granted it was only DePaul (I’m not knocking them as they are improved from last year) but a complete team game from them hopefully can led the Huskies to a nice little run to end the season.
They’ll need to put together another team game on Saturday afternoon when the No. 12/13 Marquette Golden Eagles come to the XL Center. Tip is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be nationally televised on ESPN.
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Notes and musings:
DePaul Blue Demons @ UConn Huskies 2.15.12 box score
Here are the postgame quotes from UConn associate head coach George Blaney and DePaul head coach Oliver Purnell. There are also quotes from various players.
UConn announced before the game that head coach Jim Calhoun will be out for at least the next three games as he continues to battle spinal stenosis.
Here’s the release:
STORRS, Conn. (February 15, 2012) — The medical leave of absence of University of Connecticut men’s basketball coach Jim Calhoun will be extended to include at least the next three UConn games as he receives treatment for spinal stenosis.
Calhoun, who has missed games against Seton Hall (Feb. 4), Louisville (Feb. 6) and Syracuse (Feb. 11) while battling the painful lower back condition, will not be on the Huskies’ bench for Wednesday’s game against DePaul, and will miss Saturday’s game against Marquette and Monday’s game at Villanova as well.
Calhoun has been through a number of evaluations as doctors attempt to diagnose the specific cause of discomfort in order to determine the best course of treatment.
“I am happy that we seem to have located the problem and I am currently moving forward with treatment,” Calhoun said. “We have to give that treatment time to see whether or not it is effective.
“I’m hoping by the middle of next week, we will have a much clearer picture of where we are and when I can look forward to getting back to doing what I do.”
Associate head coach George Blaney will continue to be in charge of the team in Calhoun’s absence, with Kevin Ollie, Glen Miller, and Karl Hobbs serving as assistant coaches.
The starters for the Huskies were Ryan Boatright, Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, Alex Oriakhi and Andre Drummond.
UConn shot 47.8% (33-69) from the floor while DePaul shot 38.6% (22-57).
The Huskies had 23 assists on their 33 made baskets.
UConn was 5-of-15 (33.3%) from beyond the arc while the Blue Demons were 6-of-25 (24%).
The Huskies were 9-of-18 (50%) from the free throw line. This is unacceptable. A majority of the misses came from Drummond (1-5).
UConn dominated the glass, outrebounding DePaul 50-27.
The Huskies outscored the Blue Demons 44-26 in the paint and 22-14 on the fast break.
UConn had 19 second chance points to nine for DePaul.
The Blue Demons bench did outscore the Huskies 18-12.
UConn had 18 points off of 14 DePaul turnovers. The Blue Demons had 10 points off of 12 Huskies turnovers.
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Photo credit: John Woike – Hartford Courant (No. 4 in gallery)
