Elite Eight Preview – Phoenix Region
(2) Connecticut vs. (8) Alabama
The UConn Huskies have been yet to be tested so far in the NCAA Tournament, and the Alabama Crimson Tide hopes to be the team to finally step up to the plate.
The two leaders for the Huskies so far in the tournament have been Ben Gordon and Rashad Anderson, who have led the team in scoring in their first three games. The duo have been torching opponents from the outside, while Emeka Okafor finally looks to have gotten over his back injury to regain his dominant inside presence. The all-around excellent of this UConn team will be hard for Alabama to handle, which has proved the case for each of Connecticut’s three tourney opponents thus far – especially in the squad’s dominating win against Vanderbilt on Thursday night.
The Huskies’ defense has also been stellar as of late, as the team has been routinely shutting down its opponents’ top stars. UConn limited Vermont’s Taylor Coppenrath to just 12 points, DePaul’s Delante Holland to 12 and Matt Frejie, Vanderbilt’s leading scorer, to only eight points.
Alabama, which has not yet had an easy game during its surprising run, will counter with the duo of Kennedy Winston and Earnest Shelton. The two have been the primary offensive forces for the Crimson Tide, providing a constant stream of points from the forward and guard positions, respectively. The duo and their team, however, have yet to face a team like Connecticut. Alabama will need to shoot the ball very effectively from the outside, especially from beyond the arc, if it wants to hang with the explosive UConn offense. If the ball doesn’t drop, then so will their chances of victory.
Both teams come into this game on a roll, but Connecticut is certainly the more powerful team. Expect the Huskies to shoot the ball very well and exploit its excellent inside-outside game in order to end the Crimson Cinderella story.
