By PAUL GOTHAM
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Six years removed from its most recent NCAA Tournament game victory, the current UConn men’s basketball team realizes the history of the program but does not allow that to get in the way of the present.
And a forgettable end to the 2020-21 season has added to UConn’s focus.
Dan Hurley’s No. 5 seed Huskies (23-9) will face No. 12 New Mexico State (26-6) in West Region first round on Thursday.
Graduate point guard RJ Cole didn’t hesitate when asked about the Huskies’ mindset entering the tournament.
“I would say just win a game,” Cole remarked during Wednesday’s media session. “The first game would be cool. We just didn’t get that chance through last year with the way it ended for us. Just winning one game right now, and thinking about the rest — thinking about everything else later and taking it one game at a time.”
That could sound like coach-speak or Cole trying to pull listeners into a web of clichés, but with this version of Huskies there is no other way. Once a program that could realistically think about the second weekend of the tournament and beyond, Cole and his teammates can’t get ahead of themselves.
“We just really want to make sure we take the next step for UConn,” teammate Isaiah Whaley said. “That’s a lot for this whole year just taking the next step, and each big game has just been another step for us, and this tournament is another huge step for us, and that’s what we want to keep on doing. Just keep on taking the next step and build momentum for the program.”
Whaley returned for his fifth year of eligibility and a chance to bring UConn back to national prominence.
“My first two years, my teammates we were talking about making plans for Spring Break and March Madness was not even in our mind. And now it’s just like we’re here, and now we’re filming for our next opponent and literally each game could be our last, but we’re really excited for the moment. Just to be a part of the transition, and it’s an amazing feeling because, you know, I’ve always wanted to be a part of this.
“This is what you come to UConn for. You want to come to UConn just to be in this position because everybody knows when UConn is in the tournament, anything can happen. Just to be able to be a part of that is really special moment.”
Last season, the Huskies took a five-game winning streak into the Big East tournament and fell to Creighton, 59-56 in the semifinal. Days later a 63-54 defeat at the hands of Maryland days ended the season. Hurley turned the last 45 minutes and 7 seconds of 2020-21 into the rally cry of 2021-22.
“This could be a great moment, especially for this group of guys that are up here,” Tyrese Martin said. “We kind of are the ones that helped change the culture around to bring UConn basketball back to what it is. It hasn’t been to where it needs to be at the championship level, but we’re obviously still taking building blocks to get there, so just making sure we go out here and just win one game at a time. That’s our approach.
“The way we ended last year was very rough. I felt like we’re not in that direction anymore. We’ve been playing “really well, and we practice 11 months a year to make sure we’re playing our best basketball come March, so we just want to make sure we are playing our best basketball at this time.”
Cole leads the Huskies with 15.7 points and four-plus assists per game. Whaley scores 7.6 points and has 4.8 rebounds per game. Adama Sanogo grabs a team-high 8.9 rebounds and scores 14.9 points. Martin adds 13.7 points and 7.6 rebounds.
“I just feel like to this point that this team has given me everything they have,” Hurley said. “I feel like this group has kind of squeezed the lemon dry. I think individual players like R.J. and Adama and Tyrese have had unbelievable years. I think that this team has dealt with a lot, a lot of injuries and a lot of different things during the course of that nonconference to end the nonconference to the beginning of the Big East tournament. I love this team. I love what this team has given UConn this year.”
National champions in 2011 and 2014, Hurley took over a UConn program with back-to-back losing seasons playing in the American Athletic Conference in 2016-17 and 2017-18. The Huskies will finish with a third straight winning season including the past two in the Big East.
“This group will always be remembered for lifting this program from a really, really embarrassing bad point. Nowhere near contention for any type of postseason tournament to a program that’s become — that’s going to end the season nationally ranked, has played at the top of the Big East. It’s not easy coming from a worst league with a bad team to one of the best leagues in the country and playing at the top of the conference two years in a row, getting to the semis and being a hair away from playing for a championship on Saturday, going back-to-back NCAA tournaments from where we were in the AAC.
“This group will be remembered for that, but you want to add to legacy, obviously, when you watch the New Mexico State on film, you don’t think about a run in the NCAA tournament. You just think about surviving Thursday’s game, but winning games in the NCAA tournament is where you get obviously remembered at a much different level.”
UConn faces a New Mexico State team led by Teddy Allen, Johnny McCants, Will McNair and Jabari Rice.
“It’s going to be a very, very physical game,” Hurley stated. “They are two very, very tough teams. They’re a really, really mature team, older players. I don’t know if McCants is maybe a sixth your player. Rice and Teddy Allen are really, really experienced players. McNair is a big physical guy. They’re deep and athletic, and they — we do a lot of the same things that — we mirror each other in a lot of ways. It’s just who is going to do it better tomorrow in a 40-minute game.”
A 6:50 p.m. tip off is scheduled. The game will be televised on TNT. The winner will face either No. 4 Arkansas or No.13 Vermont.
Leave a Reply