After the way the UConn Huskies defense played last week, we were expecting more of the same from them this week against the North Carolina State Wolfpack. And with the Pack sporting a solid defense of their own, you knew we might end up having a defensive battle on our ends.

And that’s exactly what happened on Saturday afternoon at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT as the Wolfpack held off a late charge from the Huskies to win 10-7 in front of 34,202.

UConn drops to 1-1 on the season while NC State improves to 1-1.

So how did the Huskies lose this game?

For starters, it was the inept offense to go along with the bad decision making by QB1 Chandler Whitmer playing in just his second FBS game. Secondly, the one breakdown the defense had turned out to be difference in the game.

With Blidi Wreh-Wilson on the sidelines battling dehydration, NC State QB Mike Glennon threw a perfectly placed ball to WR Bryan Underwood who beat Taylor Mack to the ball with safety Ty-Meer Brown getting there too late.

Back to the offense though.

For a while there in the first half, it looked like UConn’s old coach Randy Edsall was calling the plays. Even with UConn not being able to establish a run game, Paul Pasqualoni kept calling run plays that were stuffed the NC State defensive line. Pasqualoni even tried the Wildcat with Scott McCummings and WR Michael Smith but that didn’t help things out.

And with the Huskies not being able to run the ball, Whitmer was forced to throw the ball and for the most part it didn’t go well. He made some bad reads that cost him as he was picked off three times. That’s not to take anything away from the NC State secondary who is amongst the best in the nation even without suspended star C.J. Wilson.

So why can’t the Huskies run the ball?

In years past, the UConn front five was able to open up holes for the running game. This year in two games that hasn’t been the case at all. And if it doesn’t change, it could be a long season for the Huskies as the defense will only be able to carry this team on their collective backs for so long.

The offensive line looked a step slower than the front four for NC State. It seemed to me from my seat that they were constantly being beat at the line of the scrimmage. Their technique and focus needs to be better going forward.

This was a game the Huskies should have won. But they didn’t. Now it’s time to move forward, learn from the mistakes and get ready for next weekend.

Scoring:

1st quarter

No scoring

2nd quarter

NCST – Niklas Sade 40 yard field goal

3rd quarter

NCST – Bryan Underwood 46 Yd Pass From Mike Glennon (Niklas Sade Kick)

4th quarter

CON – 7:00 – Lyle McCombs 5 Yd Run (Chad Christen Kick)

To continue reading, the NC State Wolfpack @ UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Offensive Player of the Game:

Bryan Underwood’s one catch of the game (a 46 yard touchdown) turned out to be the difference in the game.

Defensive Player of the Game:

UConn LB Yawin Smallwood recorded 14 tackles (seven solo, seven assisted) to go along with a 1/2 sack.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

On 4th and 4 late in the game on their own 45, UConn went for it but Chandler Whitmer’s pass to Geremy Davis fell incomplete and NC State was able to run out the clock.

Offensive Notes:

Chandler Whitmer had a terrible game as he was 15-of-27 for 204 yards and he threw three interceptions. He also was sacked three times. Lyle McCombs had 20 rushes for just 60 yards. He also had two catches for 51 yards including a 43 yarder that set up his five yard touchdown run. Nick Williams led the Huskies receivers with three catches for 59 yards. John Delahunt also had three catches for 33 yards but had a costly fumble. Geremy Davis added two catches for 27 yards.

Defensive Notes:

Yawin Smallwood led the Huskies with 14 tackles (seven solo, seven assisted) and was credited with a 1/2 sack. Jesse Joseph had eight tackles (four solo, four assisted) with 1.5 tackles going for a loss of six yards. He also had one sack. Byron Jones also had eight tackles (three solo, five assisted). Trevardo Williams had five tackles (three solo, two assisted) with three of them going for a loss of 11 yards. Sio Moore also had five tackles and had a sack. Jesse Joseph and Angelo Pruitt had the other sacks for the Huskies.

Special Teams Notes:

Nick Williams had one punt return for one yard and had two kickoff returns going for 44 yards. Cole Wagner had eight punts in which he averaged 40.5 yards. His longest punt went for 49 yards with three of them downed inside of the 20. He had one punt go for a touchback. Chad Christen had two kickoffs in the game and both of them were touchbacks.

Injuries:

There were no injuries that I saw on the UConn Huskies side of things.

Officials:

Referee: Jeff Heaser  •  Umpire: Michael Wooten  •  Linesman: Joe Griesser  •  Line judge: Richard Misner  •  Back judge: Dale Shaw  •  Field judge: Mike Cullin  •  Side judge: Michael Triana

Game Notes:

NC State @ UConn Huskies 9.8.12 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni and NC State head coach Tom O’Brien as well as players from both teams.

Here are the starters for the Huskies:

OFFENSE

DEFENSE

Here are the game notes courtesy of UConn Sports Information:

• Redshirt sophomore Yawin Smallwood registered a career best 14 tackles including 9 in the 1^st half.
• Connecticut was scoreless in the first half for the first time since October 23, 2010 vs. Louisville when Connecticut was shutout entirely at Papa John’s Stadium.
• The three interceptions thrown in today’s game, ties for second highest among eight other games in UConn’s FBS history; the last coming vs. West Virginia on November 1, 2008.
• Redshirt sophomore Lyle McComb’s rushing touchdown was his second of the season and the ninth of his career. The 43-yard reception on the previous play was his career long topping a 26-yarder vs. Western Michigan on October 21^st, 2011.
• Senior defensive end Trevardo Williams registered 2.5 sacks in the contest giving him 22.5 for his career.
• The Huskies held the Wolfpack to 258 yards on 71 plays an average of 3.6 yards per play.
• Senior wide receiver Nick Williams led the Huskies with 3 catches for 59-yards marking his career high in receptions in a game.
• Senior tight end John Delahunt had a three catches for 33 yards in the game.
• Redshirt senior defensive tackle Ryan Wirth had the first fumble recovery of his career against the Wolfpack.
• Redshirt sophomore Angelo Pruitt had the first sack of his career against the Wolfpack.
• Redshirt junior punter Cole Wagner had eight punts for a 40.5-yard average, and had three land inside the 20.

Big East Games and Results:

Thursday, September 6

Pittsburgh 10
Cincinnati 34

Saturday, September 8

Howard 0
Rutgers 26

Missouri St 7
(23) Louisville 35

Maryland 36
Temple 27

South Florida 32
Nevada 31

(2) USC 42
Syracuse 29

Things to Work On:

• Abandon the wildcat. The wildcat didn’t work on Saturday against the Wolfpack. I know the coaching staff likes it but it needs to change
• Go with Johnny McEntee or let Scott McCummings run the offense. As evidenced by this game, Whitmer is not quite ready for FBS football. McCummings can pass the ball, we’ve seen it before. We all know what McEntee can’t do so I’d give McCummings the chance. With him back there, it could open things up a little because you don’t know if he’s going to run, pass or handoff.
• Work on different schemes in the punt return game. NC State punted nine times with Nick Williams only getting a chance to return one. Most of the time, the UConn blockers were getting beat down the field forcing Williams to call for a fair catch. And no I’m not counting the times UConn went for the block.

Up Next:

UConn heads down to College Park, MD for their first road game against the former coach Randy Edsall and his Maryland Terrapins. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:30 p.m.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Photo credit: ap photo, brad horrigan – hartford courant (no. 7 in gallery)

After falling 7-5 last night, the Boston Red Sox will take on the Toronto Blue Jays tonight in the second game of a three-game set known here as the Battle for the Basement at historic Fenway Park.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Blue Jays television market, you can catch the game on Rogers SportsNet.  If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Daisuke Matsuzaka tries to get the local nine back on track in his 8th start of the season. In his previous seven starts, Dice-K is 1-4 with a 6.15 ERA. He picked up a no decision in his only start of 2012 against the Jays after allowing one run in 5.2 innings of work. Dice-K has had great success against the Jays in his career as he is 7-1 with a 3.33 ERA in 13 starts. Seven of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 4-0 with a 3.33 ERA.

Aaron Laffey will make his 12th start (18th appearance) of the season for the Jays. In his previous 17 appearances (11 starts), Laffey is 3-5 with a 4.46 ERA. He’s made two starts against the Red Sox this season and is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA (0 ER/13 IP). Overall in his career, Laffey has made eight appearances (three starts) and is 1-1 with a 4.18 ERA. Seven of those appearances (three starts) were at the Fens where he is 1-1 with a 4.57 ERA.

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the overnight and day if you’re on the home page.

Here are today’s lineups:

62-75		63-76
1. Rajai Davis	LF	1. Pedro Ciriaco	3B
2. Colby Rasmus	CF	2. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
3. Edwin Encarnacion	DH	3. Dustin Pedroia	2B
4. Adam Lind	1B	4. Cody Ross	RF
5. Yunel Escobar	SS	5. Mauro Gomez	1B
6. Kelly Johnson	2B	6. Ryan Lavarnway	C
7. J.P. Arencibia	C	7. Mike Aviles	DH
8. Adeiny Hechavarria	3B	8. Scott Podsednik	3B
9. Anthony Gose	RF	9. Jose Iglesias	SS
Aaron Laffey	SP	Daisuke Matsuzaka	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

NOTES:

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Lackey throws 15 pitches to hitters, feels ‘great’ [csn new england]

John Lackey rules out 2012 return [espn boston]

Salty gets day off to rest after back spasms [espn boston]

Doubront would resist early shutdown of his season [extra bases]

John Lackey faces hitters for first time since surgery [full count]

Dustin Pedroia Collects 400th Career RBI But Can’t Enjoy Milestone After Another Loss [nesn.com]

Dustin Pedroia Continues to Lift Team as Red Sox Hope More Players Will Join Hitting Show [nesn.com]

Dustin Pedroia, Mauro Gomez Lead Red Sox Offense in Season’s Latter Stages [nesn.com]

Lackey throws live BP [projo sox blog]

Saltalamacchia out with back spasms [projo sox blog]

Dice-K out to erase disappointment of last start [redsox.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credits: getty images, getty images

New day, same old suck from the hometown team. But I will say this. They didn’t go quietly.

The Toronto Blue Jays got out to an early 4-0 lead and then held on to beat the Boston Red Sox 7-5 in front of 37,156 rain-soaked fans. I say that only because there was a one hour and 28 minute rain delay before the game.

It was funny too because the one storm cell that passed over Fenway seemed to linger as it put out some nice lightning and heavy thunder. Maybe this was Mother Nature’s way of saying, I’m not letting you start on time since y’all haven’t fired Bobby Valentine.

Valentine wasn’t the reason they lost though last night. It was the suck factor from Felix Doubront. But I’m not going to say anything else bad about him. For a better of the season, he was the best pitcher on the Red Sox starting staff. And things could be a lot worse for the team standings wise if it weren’t for him early on.

Doubront right now is going where he’s never gone before in the big leagues. After last night’s start, he’s now thrown 134.2 innings. The most he had before this was 25. The most he threw in the minors was back in 2008 when he threw 129.1. There’s a huge difference though between throwing that many innings in the minors and throwing that many in the majors.

You can tell he’s tired out there and now the Red Sox need to make a decision on whether to shut him down for the rest of the year. With nothing else to gain the season, they’d be best served shutting him down and letting him rest up for a bit so he can get ready for the dueling grind next year.

The bullpen was solid with the exception of Daniel Bard, who allowed his third home run in as many appearances since returning from the minor leagues. Clayton Mortensen struck out four over two innings while Chris Carpenter struck out one in his inning of work. Rich Hill needed just nine pitches (eight strikes) to get through his inning of work.

Mauro Gomez had a nice night on his 28th birthday. He came off the bench to hit a pinch-hit RBI single. He then added a two-run homer in the 9th. Dustin Pedroia also knocked in two runs with one of them coming on a solo home run.

At this point, it’s not even fun to watch this team anymore. Although, it is nice to see the younger guys getting a chance. They are, after all, the future for this team along with any free agent signings.

Just a quick note before we go. I am going to the NC State vs UConn Huskies football game today so the lineup post will probably be a little later than usual.

But with that, we’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day.

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Toronto Star and Toronto Sun websites.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: getty images

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies football team as they’ll host the NC State Wolfpack this afternoon. Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on SNY.

If you missed our NC State vs UConn game preview, be sure to check that out.

One note. The game preview and game recap video will not go up as quick as it normally does after the game. The reason being is that I’ll be in attendance at the game this afternoon. I do promise to work on getting those two posts up as soon as I return home from the game.

UConn Football links

Motivation won’t be lacking for Sio Moore [jim fuller – new haven register]

Video of UConn commit Matt Walsh [jim fuller – new haven register]

Keys to the N.C. State game [john silver – sny.com]

N.C. State defensive backs a tough test for UConn [ct post]

UConn Faces Much Tougher Test In N.C. State [hartford courant]

Special teams key to Huskies’ hot start [journal inquirer]

Husky defense will face tougher test vs. Wolfpack [new haven register]

UConn raises level of competition with ‘Pack [the day]

Huskies aim to make a run at N.C. State [the hour]

UConn defense preps for a tough test: NC State [ap]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

UConn And Connecticut Sun On TV [john altavilla – hartford courant]

Taurasi Says The Plan Was To Rest After London [john altavilla – hartford courant]

DeWanna Bonner dishes on her sister, a possible future Husky [jim fuller – new haven register]

Taurasi addresses a lost season [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn AD Warde Manuel Proceeding As If Calhoun Will Stay [hartford courant]

Spartans-Huskies game gets go-ahead for Ramstein Air Base [stars and stripes]

Other UConn related links

W. Cross Country. Women’s Cross Country Heads to Dartmouth [uconnhuskies.com]

W. Volleyball. Huskies Open Weekend Play With Clean Sweep of New Orleans [uconnhuskies.com]

W. Volleyball. Connecticut Suffers 3-0 Setback to Host Missouri State [uconnhuskies.com]

M. Soccer. Wasserman’s Free Kick Leads No. 4/1 UConn Past No. 21/25 Washington, 1-0 [uconnhuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

The Red Sox and Blue Jays game is in a rain delay. The game is now expected to start at 8:25 p.m.

After having the day off on Thursday as they returned home from a miserable 1-8 road trip, the Boston Red Sox return to action as they’ll kick off a six-game, seven-day home stanza. Tonight they’ll host the Toronto Blue Jays in the Battle for the Basement in the first game of a three-game set.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Blue Jays television market, you can catch the game on Rogers SportsNet.  If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can always listen to it on the Red Sox radio network.

Felix Doubront toes the rubber for the 25th time this season for embattled skipper Bobby Valentine. In his previous 24 starts, Doubront is 10-7 with a 5.03 ERA. He’s made three starts against the Jays this season and is 1-1 with a 4.67 ERA (9 ER/17.1 IP). Doubront has made eight career appearances (three starts) against them and is 2-1 with a 4.37 ERA. Four of those appearances (one start) have come at the Fens where he is 0-1 with a 4.82 ERA (5 ER/9.1 IP).

Henderson Alvarez makes his 27th start for new Red Sox manager Blue Jays skipper John Farrell this season. In his previous 26 starts, Alvarez is 7-12 with a 5.04 ERA. He’s made four starts against the Red Sox this season and is 2-1 with a 5.87 ERA (15 ER/23 IP). The second year pitcher has made five career starts against the Red Sox and is 2-1 with a 4.66 ERA. Two of those starts have come at the Fens where he is 2-0 with a 8.44 ERA (10 ER/10.2 IP).

Click on the read more button below to see today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the overnight and day if you’re on the home page.

Here are today’s lineups:

61-75		63-75
1. Brett Lawrie	3B	1. Scott Podsednik	LF
2. Colby Rasmus	CF	2. Dustin Pedroia	2B
3. Edwin Encarnacion	1B	3. Jacoby Ellsbury	CF
4. Yunel Escobar	SS	4. Cody Ross	RF
5. Adam Lind	DH	5. James Loney	1B
6. J.P. Arencibia	C	6. Jarrod Saltalamacchia	C
7. Kelly Johnson	2B	7. Mike Aviles	SS
8. Moises Sierra	RF	8. Pedro Ciriaco	3B
9. Rajai Davis	LF	9. Ryan Kalish	DH
Henderson Alvarez	SP	Felix Doubront	SP

And here is how the hitters have fared against today’s starting pitchers:

NOTES:

REFRESH OR CHECK BACK OFTEN AS MORE LINKS WILL BE ADDED BEFORE GAMETIME IF/WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE AND WILL BE BOLDED

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Red Sox bracing for Ortiz to miss rest of season; Lackey to face hitters [clubhouse insider]

Farrell dismisses Red Sox speculation … for now [clubhouse insider]

Valentine: Ortiz may not return this year [csn new england]

Lackey to throw batting practice Saturday [csn new england]

Report: Red Sox may turn to Scioscia for manager’s job [csn new england]

Farrell focused on Toronto ballclub [csn new england]

Sox-Jays, 7:05 [espn boston]

Big Papi likely done [espn boston]

Lackey could see action; Nava close [espn boston]

Sox glad to be home vs. Farrell’s Jays [espn boston]

John Farrell addresses speculation [espn boston]

Lackey “excited” to face live hitters Saturday [extra bases]

Toronto manager John Farrell’s focus squarely on the Blue Jays [extra bases]

Dustin Pedroia Still on Fire as Red Sox Welcome Blue Jays for Three-Game Set in Boston [nesn.com]

David Ortiz May Not Return to Red Sox This Season Despite Desire to Play Again [nesn.com]

John Lackey ‘Sure Is Close’ To Being Fully Recovered, Will Throw Batting Practice Saturday [nesn.com]

John Farrell Reiterates Focus on Blue Jays Not Red Sox Managerial Job, But Empathizes with Bobby Valentine [nesn.com]

A Series Matter: Red Sox-Blue Jays and Defining Terms [projo sox blog]

Middlebrooks: “It’s pretty tough being a cheerleader” [projo sox blog]

Ortiz unlikely to be back this season [projo sox blog]

Lackey to throw live BP Saturday [projo sox blog]

Atchison thinks he’s one outing away from return [projo sox blog]

Doubront looks for better results vs. Jays at home [redsox.com]

Lackey to begin throwing batting practice [alex speier – weei.com]

Farrell: ‘I’m the manager of the Blue Jays’ [alex speier – weei.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credits: getty images, getty images

Back in Boston is the hometown team. Does anyone even care?

Most have moved on to football already but for those who are still enduring this trying 2012 season, there is a bright side.

Last year when the Boston Red Sox completed their collapse (yes I had to go there and last time I will), the Red Sox played most of September against their AL East brethren. Well in 2012, the Red Sox will finish up the rest of the schedule with games against the AL East.

Here’s how it breaks down:

Toronto Blue Jays – six games (three at home, three on the road)

New York Yankees – six games (three at home, three on the road)

Tampa Bay Rays – six games (two at home, four on the road)

Baltimore Orioles – six games (three at home, three on the road.

On the season, the Red Sox are 5-7 against the Jays, 4-8 against the Yankees, 7-5 against the Rays and 4-8 against the Orioles.

The Red Sox are battling the Jays to stay out of the basement. The Orioles, Rays and Yankees are all fighting for playoff spots. As of this morning, the Orioles and Yankees are tied for first in the AL East (no that’s not a typo) while the Rays are two games out.

In the AL Wild Card, the O’s and Yanks are tied at the top. The A’s are listed as a 1/2 game out but obviously if the season ended today, they’d be in along with those two teams. As in the AL East standings, the Rays are two games out of the leaders and 1.5 games behind the A’s.

So the Red Sox have 24 games left. At this point, it’d be nice to see them make a run at .500. But don’t you think it would be more fun to see them beat up on their AL East foes not named the Blue Jays so that maybe one of those three teams don’t make the playoffs.

It’d be great if the Red Sox were playing the Orioles on the final night of the season, they’re aren’t. They play the Yankees.

Now how spectacular would it be if the Red Sox kept the Evil Empire from making the playoffs. It would probably make this miserable season all the much better.

But first things first. We have to avoid the basement.

A Blue Jays sweep puts them into 4th. Two wins by the Jays ties them for fourth. Personally, I’m hoping for at least two wins from the local nine.

We’ll be back later with today’s lineups, batter/pitcher matchups and links from the day. So for now, let’s take at look at the overnight links from the media by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

Not a lot to save here [boston globe]

Checkout time has arrived [boston globe]

Kalish keeps healthy outlook [boston globe]

Red Sox may again go seek John Farrell [boston herald]

Sox smolder to end of lost year [boston herald]

Bobby Valentine’s Frustration Obviously Mounting As Manager’s Words Continue to Baffle [tom caron – nesn.com]

Mike from Attleboro: Don’t fire Bobby V [csn new england]

Schilling: Valentine’s clearly miserable [espn boston]

Francona on rejoining Sox: Not happening [espn boston]

What would Bobby Valentine tell John Farrell about managing the Boston Red Sox? We can only guess … [espn boston]

Boston Red Sox must sprint to a strong finish to restore some hope entering a key offseason [espn boston]

Chat with Tim Wakefield Friday at 2 p.m. [extra bases]

Let me get this straight … [projo sox blog]

What do you do for three hours before a baseball game? [projo sox blog]

New faces among Red Sox list of Top 20 Prospects [redsox.com]

Cut4: Lester’s son on field in Seattle [redsox.com]

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: getty images

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

What to watch in the Big East: Week 2 [matt fortuna – espn.com]

Thursday update [john silver – sny.com]

Little man, big plays [john silver – sny.com]

A Knack For Getting Sacks [uconnhuskies.com]

Pasqualoni says back-ups could fill defensive line void [ct post]

UConn’s Wildcat Offense Provides A Wrinkle DeLeone Loves [hartford courant]

Big Job For UConn Coaches? Get Nick Williams The Ball [hartford courant]

Huskies digging deeper along line [journal inquirer]

Vegas missed the boat on Connecticut [sports network]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Auriemma-Hardwick Case Continued – Again [john altavilla – hartford courant]

U.S. Olympic team to be honored [jim fuller – new haven register]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Jim Calhoun reflects on past, present and whether he will retire [si.com]

Will Jim Calhoun Stay or Go? [david borges – new haven register]

Replacing a Legend: Promote from within or hire outside? [kevin duffy – ct post]

Hall Of Fame Honors Calhoun [uconnhuskies.com]

Manuel facing decision of a lifetime on Calhoun’s successor [ct post]

Jim Calhoun Tells Magazine He’s ‘Very Close’ To Deciding His Future [hartford courant]

Jim Calhoun appears close to making decision on whether to retire or return [new haven register]

She’s a Syracuse basketball fan, he’s for UConn, so a ‘pre-nup’ settles who their baby boy will root for [syracuse post-standard]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.