Hispanic College Fund Tournament vs Mississippi at the Hartford CC 8:00 PM

On Saturday Night, Nov 18th, the UCONN Huskies men defeated the Fairfield University Stags 74-49 behind 17 pts and 12 rebounds from Jeff Adrien. This was Adrien’s third consecutive double-double. AJ Price and Hasheem Thabeet added 12 each for the Huskies.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Price, Dyson, Johnson, Thabeet and Adrien.
• Adrien was a monster on the boards tonight pulling down 12 rebounds. I’d expect as he faces some bigger competition those numbers may go down a little.
• Coach Calhoun showed the quick hook in the first minute of the game when Jerome Dyson committed a quick foul.
• Jerome Dyson did not play well tonight as he was scoreless in the first half due to foul trouble. Dyson finished with 4 points on the night.
• UCONN blocked 13 shots in the game tonight. Hasheem Thabeet had 9 of those, including 6 in the first half, and Jeff Adrien added 4 blocks.
• Have I mentioned that Hasheem Thabeet is an excellent free throw shooter? He was actually 4 for 7 at the line tonight. A huge improvement over yesterday’s 1 for 5.
• Free throwing shooting improved a little for the Huskies as they were 19 for 29 (66%)
• AJ Price continues to improve as he scored 12 pts and had 4 assists tonight. It probably won’t be until January for him to get his “basketball legs.”
• Curtis Kelly pulled down 6 rebounds during the game and added 4 pts as he continues to improve as well. During the television broadcast, he was compared to Lamar Odom by Bob Picozzi and Doug Gottlieb.
• Speaking of Bob Picozzi, he made a really dumb statement during the telecast. He stated that the Fairfield Stags will play 4 Big East teams this year, including the Boston College Eagles. I didn’t know the BC Eagles had rejoined the Big East since departing a few years ago.
• Former UCONN star, Chris Smith, is a volunteer assistant coach for the Stags.

All and all, a decent effort again for the young Huskies. They looked solid again on the defensive end and the offense looked pretty good. Thabeet will be a project during the year this year offensively but that was expected. Even though Calhoun showed a quick hook with Dyson in the first half, he seems to be settling down a little bit and letting them play. This can only be good for the Huskies as they develop their rotations for the season. Next up for the Huskies is the Mississippi Rebels on Sunday night at 8 PM at the Hartford Civic Center in the 2006 Hispanic College Fund Classic.

On Saturday afternoon, the UCONN Huskies had their bowl hopes crushed by the Syracuse Orange 20-14 to fall to 4-6 on the season. The Huskies must now win their next two games against Cincinnati at home and at #10 Louisville to become bowl eligible.

The game didn’t start out well for the Huskies as the Orange drove down the field in their first possession. UCONN did bounce back with a 16 play 86 yard drive to knot the score at 7. Both teams were scoreless until the Orange kicked a field goal with 51 seconds left in the first half to take the lead 10-7.

10 points later the Orange were leading 20-7 when the Huskies made one last ditch effort to get close. They drove 85 yards to score with 4 seconds left in the game. The subsequent onsides kick was recovered by the Orange. Next up for the Huskies is the Cincinnati Bearcats next Saturday, Nov 25 at 12 noon at Rentschler Field. This will be the last home game for the seniors and they will be honored before the game.
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On Friday, November 17th, the UCONN Huskies men’s team, led by Jerome Dyson and Jeff Adrien, ran over the Central Arkansas Bears 88-59 in the second game of the 2006 Hispanic College Fund Classic. The field also includes Mississippi and Fairfield University. Dyson scored 20 pts for the Huskies while Adrien added 14 pts and 11 rebounds for his second consecutive double-double.

Notes and Observations from the game:

• Starters for UCONN were Price, Dyson, Thabeet, Johnson, and Adrien.
• The leash for Calhoun wasn’t as short as it was in the first game
• AJ Price was much better tonight then he was in the first game scoring 12 pts tonight while adding 8 assists. He committed only two turnovers. His play was a lot more under control then in the first game.
• Doug Wiggins played limited minutes tonight due to back spasms. To me from where I was sitting, it didn’t look like his back was bothering him at all as he was flying up and down the court. He also played a lot more under control then in the previous game.
• Hasheem Thabeet still struggled on the offensive end again missing some easy shots. His free throw shooting percentage resembles Shaq as he was 1 of 5 from the line.
• Overall the team’s free throw shooting was a little better as they shot 62.1% (18 for 29) from the charity stripe.
• The team defense was very active and strong tonight forcing 18 turnovers turning those into 28 points.
• UCONN scored 21 pts in transition tonight compared to 4 in the first game.
• Stanley Robinson made the most of his 15 minutes tonight scoring 13 pts including one stretch where he scored 8 in a row.
• Curtis Kelly came off the bench and played very well scoring 8 pts and pulling down 6 boards.
• Hasheem Thabeet blocked another 4 shots giving 11 blocks on the young season.

Overall, a much better effort from the young Huskies. The defense was solid and the offense looked like it was a little more in sync. I still don’t think they are where Coach Calhoun wants them to be right now but with 2 more games this weekend, I’d look for the Huskies to continue their growing process. Next up for the Huskies is Fairfield University at 8:00 PM on Saturday night in the second day of the 2006 Hispanic College Fund Classic.

Hispanic College Fund Tournament vs Fairfield at the Hartford CC 8:00 PM

@ Syracuse 12:00 NOON. locally on MSG and Fox 61

I came across this video in another blog that I read, Ramblings from the Runway, which is written by a local sportswriter here, Chip Malafronte. I know Chip from my days of working in minor league baseball for the New Haven Ravens. I have always enjoyed reading his stuff.