UCONN Shoots Down the Stags

On Saturday Night, Nov 18th, the UCONN Huskies men defeated the Fairfield University Stags 74-49 behind 17 pts and 12 rebounds from Jeff Adrien. This was Adrien’s third consecutive double-double. AJ Price and Hasheem Thabeet added 12 each for the Huskies.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Price, Dyson, Johnson, Thabeet and Adrien.
• Adrien was a monster on the boards tonight pulling down 12 rebounds. I’d expect as he faces some bigger competition those numbers may go down a little.
• Coach Calhoun showed the quick hook in the first minute of the game when Jerome Dyson committed a quick foul.
• Jerome Dyson did not play well tonight as he was scoreless in the first half due to foul trouble. Dyson finished with 4 points on the night.
• UCONN blocked 13 shots in the game tonight. Hasheem Thabeet had 9 of those, including 6 in the first half, and Jeff Adrien added 4 blocks.
• Have I mentioned that Hasheem Thabeet is an excellent free throw shooter? He was actually 4 for 7 at the line tonight. A huge improvement over yesterday’s 1 for 5.
• Free throwing shooting improved a little for the Huskies as they were 19 for 29 (66%)
• AJ Price continues to improve as he scored 12 pts and had 4 assists tonight. It probably won’t be until January for him to get his “basketball legs.”
• Curtis Kelly pulled down 6 rebounds during the game and added 4 pts as he continues to improve as well. During the television broadcast, he was compared to Lamar Odom by Bob Picozzi and Doug Gottlieb.
• Speaking of Bob Picozzi, he made a really dumb statement during the telecast. He stated that the Fairfield Stags will play 4 Big East teams this year, including the Boston College Eagles. I didn’t know the BC Eagles had rejoined the Big East since departing a few years ago.
• Former UCONN star, Chris Smith, is a volunteer assistant coach for the Stags.

All and all, a decent effort again for the young Huskies. They looked solid again on the defensive end and the offense looked pretty good. Thabeet will be a project during the year this year offensively but that was expected. Even though Calhoun showed a quick hook with Dyson in the first half, he seems to be settling down a little bit and letting them play. This can only be good for the Huskies as they develop their rotations for the season. Next up for the Huskies is the Mississippi Rebels on Sunday night at 8 PM at the Hartford Civic Center in the 2006 Hispanic College Fund Classic.