Here’s what Todd McShay of Scouts, Inc. had to say about UConn Huskies defensive end Lindsey Witten who is getting ready to play in the East-West Shrine Game on Saturday.

Witten is the most fluid and athletic of the East defensive linemen. He’s also the leanest of the group, though. Witten, who ranked ninth nationally with 11.5 sacks this season, should have a strong showing during one-on-one pass-rushing drills but it will be interesting to see how he holds up physically at the point of attack versus the run. We also want to see how he does as a pass-rusher. Is he able to use his long arms and quick hands to disengage or will he get overpowered?

He also added this about Witten in another article.

Witten’s senior season couldn’t have gone much better, as he had his best year at UConn and finished tied for ninth in the nation with 11½ sacks. At 6-foot-4, 248 pounds, Witten is an undersized end and might be asked to move to linebacker in the NFL. He needs to prove this week that he’s strong enough to hold his ground against the run and fluid enough to drop into underneath coverage. A strong showing in Orlando could land Witten a spot in the third round of April’s draft.

The East-West Shrine Game will be shown on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. on ESPN2.

Editor’s note: The above links are from ESPN Insider

UConn Football links

The Release From UGA On New DBs Coach Scott Lakatos [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

A tumultuous decade for the Big East [ESPN.com – Big East Blog]

UConn football loses second assistant [Connecticut Post]

UConn Football Assistant Heading To Georgia [Hartford Courant]

Georgia hires away UConn DB coach [New Haven Register]

Georgia hires Lakatos as DB’s coach; UPDATED with contract info [Atlanta Journal-Constitution]

UConn DB Coach Scott Lakatos Named Secondary Coach At UGA [GeorgiaDogs.com]

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According to Peter Gammons of NESN, the Boston Red Sox and Jason Bay had agreed on the details of a four year, $60 million deal back in July 2009.

That was of course until Bay underwent an MRI which showed some issues with both of his knees. In turn according to Gammons, the Red Sox ownership group reduced their offer to a 2-year deal.

Very interesting stuff. It makes me wonder if the 4-year, $60 million dollar deal offered by the Red Sox during the offseason was actually offered to him.

Obviously the Mets doctors didn’t see the same problems with his knees as the Red Sox docs did with the 4-year, $66 million dollar deal.

For at least the first half, it looked as though the No. 7 Duke Blue Devils were going to give the No. 1 UConn Huskies a run for their money. Instead, whatever Geno Auriemma said to his squires at the half worked as the Huskies put on a clinic in the second half.

A 23-9 run just after the half helped propel the Huskies to an 81-48 win over the Blue Devils in front 9,418 and a nationally televised audience on ESPN2 on Monday night.

It’s the 57th straight win for the Huskies who improve to 18-0 on the season. The loss for Duke ends a 23 game winning streak at Cameron Indoor Stadium as they fall to 15-3.

Maya Moore led the way for the Huskies, who saw all five scorers in double figures, scoring 14 of her 20 points in the second half. Moore had spent the late part of the first half on the bench with two fouls. Kalana Greene was outstanding as she had 18 points and added two rebounds and four assists.

The sophomore backcourt duo of Tiffany Hayes and Caroline Doty both had 13 points with Hayes adding four assists and Doty three. Tina Charles, who earlier on Monday was named the Big East Player of the Week for the third straight week, finished with a double-double of 10 points and 14 rebounds.

Jasmine Thomas paced the Blue Devils with 17 points. Both Bridgette Mitchell and Joy Cheek added eight points. Karima Christmas led the Dukies with seven rebounds while adding four points.

UConn got out of the gates quickly in this one hitting two 3-pointers, one each by Moore and Hayes. Duke cut the lead to three at 8-5 but the Huskies used a 17-10 run to push the lead to ten points at 25-15.

Two free throws by Krystal Thomas would get the lead down to eight points at 29-21 but the Huskies would push the lead to 13 points with 2:09 left in the half. Duke would score the final three points of the half to trail by 10 at 38-28.

The 23-9 run to the start the second half made sure the Huskies would get that 57th straight victory.

The Huskies never trailed in the game but Duke never look scared of them, at least in the first half. We’ve seen teams look afraid walking on the court and the results have shown up in the box scores. We all know Auriemma is a master motivator and whatever he said worked as the Huskies looked like a totally different team in the second.

Actually, they looked like the team we’ve seen all season long.

The Huskies are off until Saturday when they head to see Auriemma’s old friend Harry Peretta and the Villanova Wildcats. Tip is scheduled for 2 p.m. and the game is scheduled to be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV.

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UConn Huskies senior center Tina Charles seems to be on her way to Big East and National Player of the Year honors if she keeps playing at the level she’s been doing.

For the third straight week, the Big East Conference has named Charles the Big East Player of the Week. It’s the fourth time she’s won it this season.

In UConn’s two wins over Marquette and Notre Dame, Charles averaged 23 points and 12 rebounds.

In the win over Marquette, Charles had 23 points, 12 rebounds and two steals. Against Notre Dame on Saturday night in primetime, Charles had 23 points and 12 rebounds in help the Huskies to a 24 point win.

The UConn women are back in action tonight as they are in Durham, NC for a non-conference MLK Day matchup with the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they are in Durham, NC for a MLK Day non-conference matchup with the Duke Blue Devils at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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The UConn Huskies are going to need to wake up and wake up quick. Otherwise, they are going to find themselves fighting for an NIT bid.

The Michigan Wolverines used the three-point shot, including a clutch one late in the game by Zack Novak, to get past the No. 15 Huskies in front of a sold-out Crisler Arena on Sunday afternoon.

It’s the third straight loss for the Huskies who fall to 11-6 on the season. The Wolverines, now winners of two straight, improve to 10-7 and get that signature win that’s eluded them all season long. The Huskies are still looking for that type of win themselves.

Point guard Kemba Walker paced the Huskies with 15 points that included an 11-of-13 showing from the free throw line. Gavin Edwards came off the bench to add 14 points and eight rebounds.

Jerome Dyson spent most of the first half on the bench with foul trouble but came back to score 11 of his 13 points in the second half. Stanley Robinson chipped in with 11 points while Alex Oriakhi led the Huskies with 13 rebounds.

Manny Harris led the Wolverines with 18 points and had eight rebounds. Stu Douglass added 13 points and Novak finished up with 10 points. DeShawn Sims led the Wolverines with 11 rebounds.

The Huskies got out to a 12-6 lead in the first 5:15 of the game even with Dyson hitting the bench with two fouls at the 17 minute mark. The Huskies then went cold as the Wolverines went on a 17-2 run in which they hit five 3-point shots to go up 23-14.

UConn would get as close as five points at 27-22 on two Walker free throws but Michigan responded with 5-0 run to push the lead back to 10. Edwards made 1-of-2 at the line to cut the lead to 9 at 32-23 with 1:38 to go in the half and that’s where the half ended.

In the second half, the Huskies started chipping away at Michigan’s lead as Walker layup cut the lead to four points at 34-30. Trailing by six at 39-33, the Huskies went on a 6-0 run to tie the game up. They took their first lead at 41-40 on a Dyson jumper.

The Huskies would only see the lead one more time at 47-45. They would however tie it up at 54-54 and 58-58 before Novak’s three and a Harris layup would push the lead to five. The Huskies missed four free throws down the stretch while the Wolverines hit 5-of-6 to put the game away.

All season long, the Huskies have never really played up to their ranking. Sure they’ve had a few close games against ranked opponents in Duke and Kentucky. But what about the other games we’ve seen them struggle.

This team is lacking an identity right now and it showed on Sunday afternoon. They looked out of sync with Dyson on the bench in foul trouble and they didn’t get the ball to Robinson enough to help carry them in the first half.

UConn did fight back hard in the second half but as we’ve seen too many times, they folded like a bad hand in poker at the end. Simply put, they suck at the free throw line.

With another big non-conference matchup looming next Saturday against the No. 1 Texas Longhorns, the Huskies can’t be looking past Wednesday’s Big East matchup with the St. John’s Red Storm at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. The game is scheduled to start at 7 and will be broadcast locally on My-TV9.

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