HARTFORD, Conn. — Winning at home in Big East play hasn’t come easy this season for UConn.
You may look at the Huskies’ now 6-2 home record in league play and be a bit confused, but each of those six had its own challenges. In four of the six, UConn trailed by double figures and was able to pull off a comeback, and the two games that didn’t feature such a deficit were, ironically, overtime victories.
Wednesday’s clash with Georgetown would fall in that first category. After going down 14-4 less than four minutes into the game, UConn stormed back with a big second half to finish off a 93-79 win and a second straight perfect season in Hartford.
“They were spreading us out and had shooting and skill at all five positions,” head coach Dan Hurley said in praise of the Hoyas. “That was really tough to guard.”
With how the Huskies responded to an immediate large deficit and a challenging team to defend, you could tell they’ve been in that position a few times before. Right after Hurley burned his first timeout, Solo Ball led the response with a personal 8-0 run to make it a more manageable two-point game. The sophomore guard continued his breakout season, as he scored a team high-tying 20 points and knocked down four 3-pointers.
“Solo had some really great looks from three and went 4-for-10,” Hurley said. “He’s probably disappointed in that.”
“I had a couple of off games, so I just had the confidence to keep shooting,” Ball said. “You just have to have the mindset that a good game is coming. You have to keep that in the back of your mind.”
The play down low at center for Hurley this season has been, for the most part, as close to a 50/50 split as you can get between Samson Johnson and Tarris Reed, Jr. It hasn’t been over the past few weeks, however
Reed exploded off the bench against the Hoyas for 20 points and 10 rebounds, the third time he’s had at least 20 and 10 this season and the second time he’s done it as a reserve. He had some timely buckets and played one of his better games on the defensive end, picking the pocket of Micah Peavy and taking it coast-to-coast for a slam.
“When I get that version of Tarris Reed, he’s gonna play 28 minutes,” Hurley said. “If he can ever unlock in himself this motor and ferocity and dominating mindset, when he brings that, he’s a dangerous player.”
“Earlier in my career, I didn’t really take much pride in offensive rebounds,” Reed said. “Getting here, Coach is telling me to be ferocious. It’s honestly pretty fun to get the O-board over the defender and get the little putback.”
It was Reed who gave the Huskies their first lead of the night with a traditional three-point play, and they never looked back after that. Behind 11 points each for Ball and Reed, the Huskies flipped the 10-point deficit into a seven-point halftime lead.
“I thought we made a quality response,” Hurley said. “Thrilled with some of the things we did on offense. Good to see some guys play well offensively.”
The story of the second half for UConn was the balanced scoring attack. Five players scored between seven and ten points after the break, led by Hassan Diarra. The Husky floor general had 14 points and seven assists while continuing to play through a knee injury. Even though he’s banged up, you wouldn’t know it, and that’s the exact type of player that Hurley and the staff are looking for as the calendar shifts towards March.
“You just want soldiers, people who give heart,” Hurley said. “You can’t win shit without soldiers and warriors. These games are battles and fistfights. They’re not workouts.”
“For the most part, it gives us a bunch of motivation,” Ball said of his point guard. “In some games, he was literally playing on one leg and he’s still making these passes.”
Two more players that fit that mold even when the shots aren’t falling are Liam McNeeley and Alex Karaban. The duo combined for 30 points against Georgetown, with McNeeley scoring 17 points to go with four assists and Karaban netting 13. Both have had their struggles as of late, notably McNeeley shooting just 2-for-13 from the field on Sunday against St. John’s and Karaban being in a three-point slump for the better part of the past six weeks. Having both of them back on track is critical for the Huskies to have success come postseason play.
“If these guys get more stops and play with more freedom outside the system, it would make our stuff more effective,” Hurley said.
The 93 points that UConn scored are the most in regulation of a Big East game for the team this season. Being able to expand on a lead is something that this year’s team has struggled to do, so it’s an important step for the weeks ahead.
Next up for the Huskies is the final road game on the schedule for the season, at Amica Mutual Pavilion against Providence. Tip is set for 12 p.m. on Saturday.
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