Thumbs Up, Thumbs Down: UConn in AAC

It’s hard to have a lot of thumbs down in a 39-point win. We only have one – a minor one – for the Coogs today.

   Coogs came out with intensity. I wondered whether the conference title in the regular season would create an issue with focus. How dumb can I be? The Cougars start with a beautiful inside-out play where Davis drains a three and takes a foul. The FT made it 4-0 and the Coogs were off and running. UH started on an 11-0 run.

  UConn punches back. The Coogs lost a little focus after the quick start and UConn drew within 2 at 18-16. Kelvin Sampson called a timeout as annoying UConn coach Dan Hurley came out across midcourt “encouraging his players” and the our guys definitely took notice.

   But here come the Coogs. After the timeout, the Cougars went on another 11-0 run to open it up to 29-16 and never looked back. UH led by 14 at the half.

   Second-half rout. Houston came out on fire in the second half as Galen Robinson took the game over. Robinson scored 9 and had a couple of assists in the first 6.5 minutes of the half as the Cougars extended the lead to 29. Robinson finished 7/8 shooting for 16 points and 5 assists.

Cougars bully Huskies. UConn shot only 26% for the game and an embarrassing 3/26 (.115) from three-point range. All credit to the Cougar defense.

   Turning point. UConn’s Josh Carlton made a lay-up to cut the lead to 12 with just over 17 minutes to play. But a 6-0 UH run led to Hurley to call his second-to-last TO.

 

The Coogs followed that break with a 5-0 burst in the next 52 seconds to get him to call his final one. Hurley was so exasperated by his team that he’d called all of his timeouts in the first 5 minutes of the second-half.

   11-0. The Cougars went on three different 11-0 runs in the game.

   Don’t Stop. Won’t Stop. At the under-12 timeout, Corey Davis and Galen Robinson had outscored UConn in the game, 34-32. They also had more assists (7-5) than the Huskies.

 

Eventually, UConn would outscore the duo. Robinson and Jarreau combined for 8 assists – more than UConn’s 7.

   Double trouble: With 4:07 left in the game, Cedrick Alley made a lay-up to go ahead 80-40. UH had doubled-up UConn as early as 64-32.

   Seedology: UH is fighting for a two-seed. Potential two-seed Texas Tech lost Thursday night to drop them at least to a three-seed. Today, LSU loses to Florida and combined with their FBI trouble, the early exit is enough to drop them to a three-seed.

 

UH probably needs to win the AAC and a Friday conference tournament exit for either Michigan or Tennessee to have a chance.

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