Husky Hoop-la: Week (actually two) in Review for the Connecticut Huskies Men's Basketball

Sorry for the absence, been a little busy writing some other stuff and avoiding yet again another flame war, (at least that is what I was informed). The fact the Boss Man took down the Lockerroom (about fackin' time) was another giveaway.

Before I get into the reviews, there is breaking news today involving two Husky players. Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins have both been suspended indefintely by Coach Jim Calhoun for an unnamed violation of team rules. Calhoun announced the suspensions earlier tonight at the Huskies team hotel in Bloomington, Indiana where they will face the nationally ranked Indiana Hoosiers on Saturday. Neither Dyson, the Huskies second leading scorer at 14.3 ppg, or Wiggins, UCONN's leading bench scorer (6.6ppg) accompanied the team to Indiana.

Now, let's talk basketball. The Huskies have gone 2-2, all in Big East Conference play, since the last update following the St.Johns game on January 8th.

On January 12th, the Huskies travelled to Washington D.C. to face long-time rival and sixth-ranked Georgetown in a nationally televised (ESPN) game. This game also marked just the third game in his 22 year career Coach Jim Calhoun missed, spending the entire game in the lockerroom with flu-like symptoms. The game was surprisingly close throughout, with a late 10-2 Husky run giving them a six point lead, 67-61, with just over three minutes remaining. Georgetown went on a mini-run of their own, and with 28 seconds remaining the score was tied at 69. Georgetown came down and had trouble finding an open man due to the Huskie's tenacious trapping defense, and with no time on the shot clock and four seconds on the game clock, the Hoyas All-American center Roy Hibbert found himself alone, at the top of the key behind the three-point arc, and with the ball. Swish!, Hibbert hit just his second career three-pointer, jabbing the dagger into the Husky hearts and giving the Hoyas a 72-69 victory. Jeff Adrien led the Huskies with 18 points and seven rebounds, with A.J. Price contributing 17 points, nine assists and just two turnovers in thirty-seven minutes.

On Tuesday, January 17th, the Huskies welcomed the Providence Friars to the Hartford Civic Center. Behind Dwain Williams 23 points and a combined team effort of 14-25 from three point range, the Friars upset UCONN, 77-65. The Huskies had a one point lead at the half, but with Providence shooting 11-17 from behind the arc in the second half and UCONN's own struggles from the floor (5-25) after intermission, the gap was too great to close. Jeff Adrien led the Huskies with his 24th career double-double (and 8th of the season) with sixteen points and fifteen rebounds. Doug Wiggins came off the bench with fifteen points and five assists to go with zero turnovers.

On Sunday, January 20th, the Huskies welcomed the 13th ranked Marquette to Gampel Pavilion and responded by blowing out the Warriors 89-73. Guard A.J. Price led five Huskies in double figures with 17 points. Price added eight assists and was joined in double figures by Hasheem Thabeet (15), Jeff Adrien (15), Craig Austrie (15) and Stanley Robinson (10). Thabeet also chipped in with seven rebounds and six blocked shots, Adrien with six rebounds and Robinson five. The Huskies were impressive from the opening tip, scoring the first basket and never trailing throughout, and upping their lead to 29 points with just over nine minutes remaining.

This past Tuesday, the 22nd, UCONN hit the road for a game in Ohio against the University of Cincinnati. The game was a back and forth affair, with each team holding a double digit lead in each half. The Bearcats had a 41-38 lead at the half, helped immensely by thirteen Connecticut turnovers. Both teams went on big runs at the start of the second half, with the last, by Cincinnati, giving them a 60-56 lead with 10:34 remaining. After a few basket trading sequences, the Bearcats went on another big run which gave them a twelve point lead, 74-62, at the six minute remaining mark. After a time-out, the Huskies went on a 9-2 run, capped by a Jerome Dyson three which narrowed the Cincy lead to just two, 76-74, with 3:05 to go. An intentional foul called on Jerome Dyson with 1:08 forced him to the bench with an injury, Craig Austrie came into the game and hit both free throws, tying the score at 80. A Rashard Bishop basket gave Cincinnati an 83-82 lead with 9.8 seconds to go, and he immediately fouled A.J. Price on the inbounds play, with Price canning both free throws. Marcus Sikes got off a three point attempt at the buzzer and missed, and the Huskies escaped with a hard fough, 84-83 win, giving them an overall record of 13-5 and 4-3 in the competitive Big East.

For the Huskies, Hasheem Thabeet scored a career high 22 points and Jerome Dyson scoring 20.

As mentioned, the Huskies return to action tomorrow at 1 PM local time against the seventh ranked Indiana Hoosiers in a game which will be televised nationally by CBS

Kelsdad covers the UCONN Men's Basketball beat for ArmchairGM