Everyone was worried about how the No.1 seed UConn Huskies would play against the No. 16 seed Chattanooga Mocs without head coach Jim Calhoun, who was out due to illness. Calhoun was probably feeling a little better after watching the effort that his Huskies put forth this afternoon.
Stanley Robinson led five players in double figures with 24 points to help the Huskies to a 103-47 destruction of the Mocs to advance to the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia. It’s the Huskies first win in the NCAA Tournament since beating the Washington Huskies in Sweet 16 back in 2006.
The Huskies (28-4) will take on the Texas A&M Aggies on Saturday at a time to be determined. The Mocs finish up the season 18-17.
Hasheem Thabeet added 20 points, 13 rebounds and 3 blocks while A.J. Price also had 20 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals. Jeff Adrien finally showed back up as he had 13 points, 16 rebounds and 4 assists. Kemba Walker rounded out the Huskies in double digits with 10 points to go along with 6 assists while Craig Austrie also had 6 assists to go with his 4 points.
The Mocs were led by Kevin Goffney’s 15 points. Nicchaeus Doaks chipped in with 9 points and 6 rebounds while Chris Early had 8 points. Mocs leading scorer Stephen McDowell had a rough game from the floor (1-for-12) and finished with 2 points.
For about the first 5 minutes of the game, it looked like the Mocs might hang around with UConn as they held an 8-6 lead with 15:18 to go in the first half. Then the Huskies went on a 10-0 run before an Early layup stopped it to make it 16-10 UConn.
The Mocs came back though as they went on a 6-1 run that ended on a Jeremy Saffore layup that cut UConn’s lead to 17-15. It was all Huskies after that as they went on a 14-0 run to open up a 31-15 lead. After Doaks made a layup to stop the run, the Huskies went on an 11-0 run to push the lead to 25 at 42-17. The Huskies would go into the locker room with a 48-20 lead.
If there was any chance of a Moc’s come back in the second half, UConn quickly put that to rest as they opened up the half with a 15-0 run in the first 4:18. After that it was just a clinic by the Huskies as the Mocs missed 27 straight shots that started with 7:45 to go in the first half and ended when Goffney made a layup with 14:54 to go in the rout.
While the Huskies were without their leader in Calhoun, the guys you expect to step up did just that. Robinson and Thabeet were outstanding on both ends of the floor. Once Price got hot, you knew it could be a long night for the Mocs and it was. Also good to see Adrien back playing some basketball instead of being invisible on the floor and stat sheet.
If there was one thing that the Huskies didn’t do well today, it was their free throw shooting (again). While it didn’t matter today, it may matter down the line and there’s no way the Huskies can shot 59.0% (23-of-39) from the free throw line and expect to win games.
Notes and musings:
Chattanooga Mocs vs UConn Huskies 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament 3.19.09
The starters were A.J. Price, Craig Austrie, Stanley Robinson, Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet.
This was the 21st time that Jim Calhoun has missed a part or all of a game in his UConn coaching career. The Huskies are 17-4 during those games.
This was the first time the Huskies scored over 100 points this season in regulation time and in their NCAA Tourament history. They had 117 points in the 6 OT loss to Syracuse.
Their 56 point margin of victory is the third largest in the history of the NCAA Tournament.
Since the NCAA Tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1985, the 56 point margin of victory is the second largest.
Nasty Block By Thabeet on Ty Patterson
Stanley Robinson Goes Up and Down
Welcome To Mr. Robinson’s Neighborhood
The Huskies shot 52.1% (37-of-71) from the floor while the Mocs shot 25.8% (17-of-66).
UConn had 28 assists on their 37 made baskets.
The Mocs had 19 turnovers while UConn had just 9. UConn also had 12 steals
The Huskies dominated the glass 57-33.
