With a tough stretch of games coming up against the likes of Georgetown, Louisville and Marquette coupled with losing three of their past four games, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team really needed to pick up a win on Sunday night against the Providence Friars. And for the first half and early part of the second half it didn’t look like the Huskies were going to get it done.
But a big night from Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, who had a career-high 25 points, helped the Huskies to a 75-57 win in front of a sold-out crowd at Gampel Pavilion.
With the win, UConn improves to 19-5 (7-5, Big East). The Friars fall to 14-11 and 3-9 in the Big East. By the way, UConn was 18-16 last year.
If it weren’t for Coombs-McDaniel’s 12 points in the first half, this game could have a much different outcome. He was 10-of-17 from the floor and also pulled down eight rebounds. Kemba Walker looks to be out of his funk as he had 22 points on 7-of-10 shooting and added seven assists. Charles Okwandu was also a big factor as he played 25 minutes and had six points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots.
The Big East’s leading scorer Marshon Brooks had 25 points but had a poor shooting night as he was just 7-of-22 from the floor including 1-of-8 from three-point land. Brooks also added a team-high seven rebounds. Bryce Cotton was the only other member of the Friars in double-digits with 10 points. Vincent Council didn’t have any points but had a game-high nine assists.
The Huskies fell behind 9-4 out of the gates but a Jeremy Lamb dunk and Kemba Walker three-pointer knotted the game back up at 9. Cotton then nailed a three to put the Friars back out front. UConn would get it done to two points a few times during the next three minutes or so.
With Providence holding an 18-16 lead, they scored the next four points to open up a six point lead to silence the crowd at Gampel. UConn battled back though with a 6-1 run to cut the lead to one point at 23-22. After a Brooks free throw, Napier tied the game up with a layup. Four straight points by the Friars opened their lead back up to four before UConn started to cut into it with Coombs-McDaniel scoring six of the final seven points during a 7-0 run to close out the first half.
The first five minutes and sixteen seconds of the second half saw the score stay close. But with the game tied at 41-all, the Huskies went on a 9-0 run. Providence would then score the next four points before the Huskies responded with five straight of their own. The Friars would eventually get the game down to seven points at 60-53 but UConn would close out the game on a 15-4 run to put it away.
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With the way that he played on Sunday night, Coombs-McDaniel will probably find himself on the court a little more. It was also nice to see Walker get going again. He was at his best tonight when he had the ball in his hands. When he didn’t, he was able to get some better screens.
And I can’t say enough about the play of Okwandu. With Alex Oriakhi in a funk of his own right now, Okwandu’s play was huge. His presence in the middle made a big difference.
Overall, I thought UConn was at its best when they played with three guards on the floor. Going a little smaller allowed them to play a little more uptempo and keep the Friars off balance.
The Huskies are back in action on Wednesday night when they’ll host the Georgetown Hoyas at the xL Center in Hartford, CT. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be televised locally here in Connecticut on SNY.
Notes and musings:
Providence Friars @ UConn Huskies 2.13.11 box score
Here are quotes from UConn head coach Jim Calhoun, Kemba Walker, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, Donnell Beverly, Charles Okwandu and Providence head coach Keno Davis.
The starters for UConn were Kemba Walker, Jeremy Lamb, Roscoe Smith, Alex Oriakhi and Charles Okwandu.
The Friars were without freshman guard Gerard Coleman due to academic issues.
Coombs-McDaniel was only averaging 4.5 points a game and his previous career-high was 13 points before tonight’s 25 point outburst.
UConn shot 46.8% (29-62) from the floor while the Friars shot 33.3% (20-60).
The Huskies had 19 assists on their 29 made baskets.
UConn was 7-of-16 (43.8%) from three-point land. The Friars were 3-of-20 (15%).
The Huskies were 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the charity stripe.
UConn won the battle of the boards 42-35.
The Huskies outscored the Friars 34-26 in the paint and 18-4 on the fast break.
UConn had 15 points off of 11 Providence turnovers. The Friars had 14 points off of 11 Huskies turnovers.
Photo credits: Mark Mirko – Hartford Courant (No. 5, No. 11)
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