UCONN Men Struggle In Loss To Marquette

Ousmane Barro’s 17 points and 13 rebounds led the Marquette Golden Eagles past the UCONN Huskies by the score of 73-69 on Wednesday night at Gampel Pavilion. Jerel McNeal had 19 points and Dominic James had 17 points for the Golden Eagles. Doug Wiggins led the way for the young UCONN Huskies with 19 points while Jeff Adrien added 18 points and 7 rebounds.

It was a typical Big East game. Very physical, lots of half court sets. Both teams struggled mightily offensively in the first half as neither team was able to do much. UCONN shot only 29% in the first half but was able to be within 4 points at halftime. Considering all the turnovers UCONN made they were lucky to be that close at the half. UCONN tied the game at 44 all but Marquette went on a 10-0 run to essentially put the game away. UCONN, courtesy of Doug Wiggins’ 3 point shooting, made a valiant effort at the end of the game to try and get back in it but it just wasn’t enough.

Notes and observations:

• Jim Calhoun was honored before the game with a banner commerating his induction into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame.
• The starters were Price, Dyson, Johnson, Thabeet, and Adrien.
• Two minutes in the game, UCONN had played 10 guys. Calhoun wasn’t happy with everyone and showed his trademark quick hook.
• The backcourt duo of Jerome Dyson and AJ Price struggled heavily tonight. They combined for 9 points,3 assists, and 4 turnovers. They shot a combined 1 of 7 from the floor.
• Marcus Johnson was a non-factor on the offensive end of the floor tonight. He was 0 for 3 from the floor and had 0 points.
• Hasheem Thabeet is still struggling as well. He too decided to take the night off offensively but he did block 4 shots.
• Craig Austrie was the other Husky in double figures with 10 points.
• Marquette outscored UCONN 38-20 in the paint and also out rebounded the Huskies by 11 rebounds (50-39).
• This was Marquette’s first trip to Gampel Pavilion. They are the first team to win in their first trip there.
• The loss ended a 31 game home court winning streak.
• This was the longest regulation game I’ve ever seen. It took 2 and half hours to play 2 halves of basketball.

For UCONN, it was their second consecutive loss in three games and third in the last four. To me, UCONN had trouble with Marquette playing a 3 guard set. Plus it didn’t help, they had 21 turnovers. For the game, they shot only 32%. I think on Saturday night at MSG vs St. John’s, we will see one change to the lineup. I would have to say that we will probably see Doug Wiggins replace AJ Price to start the game. He has struggled the last three games and it seems like his conditioning is too blame. He did miss the past two seasons with troubles from his brain injury and his own legal troubles. This loss will definitely knock UCONN from the National polls. Next up for the Huskies is St. Johns at MSG at 9:30 on Saturday night. The game will be televised locally on CW20.

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