Yesterday when the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team blew a 17 point lead and lost to UCF, we were left to wonder how they would respond in the third place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis against Florida State.
Well they came out against the Seminoles and played well until they blew a 10 point lead in the second half. But this time there was a different result.
It took three late free throws from Ryan Boatright to force overtime and from there Shabazz Napier took over as the Huskies would squeak out a 78-76 win over the Seminoles to win the third place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Arena at Atlantis in the Bahamas.
The No. 4 Huskies improve to 6-1 while the No. 22 Seminoles fall to 5-2.
Boatright came up huge for the Huskies late in his first collegiate game after missing the first six games due to suspension by the NCAA.
With the Huskies trailing by three, Napier missed a three pointer and got his own rebound. He dished it off to Boatright who was fouled on his three point attempt with seven seconds left.
Despite the high pressure of the situation, Boatright calmly hit all three free throws to knot the game up at 71. The Huskies withstood a last second chance from the Noles and went to overtime.
Trailing by one with just over a minute to go, Napier nailed a three-pointer that turned out to be the game-winner. Luke Loucks missed two free throws that would have tied the game up with 45 seconds and after a missed three attempt at the buzzer, the Huskies escaped Atlantis with the two point win.
Napier led four Huskies in double figures with 26 points and had four rebounds and five assists. He did turn the ball over six times though. Jeremy Lamb had a nice shooting night from the floor going 7-of-9 to finish with 19 points. Boatright’s ended his first game with 14 points and three assists. He also hit all five of his free throws in the game, including the big three at the end of regulation.
Andre Drummond played well again as he finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also had seven blocked shots and three steals as well as altering other plays as well.
Michael Snaer led the Seminoles with 20 points while Devidas Dulkys had 14 points. Bernard James had a double-double of his own for FSU with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
When faced with adversity this time, the Huskies responded. It did look at times like they might not and surprisingly it was Boatright who kept them calm despite making some silly mistakes. Shabazz definitely played better than the upset loss on Friday where he admitted he basically sucked.
You have to wonder if it was the presence of Boatright that pushed Shabazz to play better. It was surprising to see that Jim Calhoun used Boatright, Lamb and Napier all at the same time. Personally I thought Boatright would spell Napier. But it did bring a different dynamic to the Huskies, one that I’m sure Calhoun will use again at points during the rest of the season.
But for now, the Huskies get some time to rest before hitting the court again. They’re off until next Saturday when they’ll host the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC/Big East Challenge at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.
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Notes and musings:
Florida State Seminoles vs UConn Huskies 11.26.11 Battle 4 Atlantis box score
The starters for UConn were Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels, Tyler Olander and Andre Drummond.
The Huskies shot 48.1% (26-54) from the floor while the Noles shot 43.3% (26-60).
UConn had 14 assists on their 26 made baskets.
The Huskies were 11-of-25 (44%) on threes while FSU was 9-of-19 (47.4%).
UConn wasn’t all that bad at the charity stripe as they were 15-of-22 (68.2%). Napier did have a key miss late in the game as did Olander at the line.
The Huskies barely won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Noles 36-34.
UConn had 12 points off of 16 FSU turnovers. The Noles had 11 points off of 19 Huskies turnovers. The Huskies definitely need to take better care of the ball. Big East teams will eat them up.
Florida State outscored UConn 31-28 in the paint and 11-0 on the fast break. They also had 13 second chance points to 8 for UConn.
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Photo credit: Getty Images (No. 6 in gallery)
