STORRS, Conn. – Kevin Ollie wanted to make sure those covering Wednesday night’s game do at least one thing above all else.
“I hope y’all write that we’ve got heart – at the end of your articles, this team has got heart,” said the UConn head coach.
He’s right. This team has heart. It was fully on display Wednesday night in a game they had no business even getting to overtime, let alone a second overtime where they led 78-71 with just over two minutes left.
The Huskies had a 22-19 lead after a first half that neither team could be proud of offensively. Connecticut shot 34.6 percent from the field and Georgetown was worse at 28.6 percent, and both teams had nine turnovers. Even if you love defense, this was not a thing of beauty as the offenses had at least as much to do with the futility. Both teams made bad decisions, took bad shots and were sloppy for stretches.
The second half was a different story. The Huskies got going offensively for a stretch, but Georgetown couldn’t miss at times and built an 11-point lead. The Huskies tried to keep up, but when Georgetown made it 60-48 with 4:36 left, it didn’t look good. But Connecticut came back by scoring the next nine points as part of an 11-2 run, and in the final seconds they got the ball to freshman Omar Calhoun, who buried a three-pointer with 2.2 seconds left to tie the game and make it a 14-2 run.
Connecticut almost won in regulation, as after a timeout the inbounds pass went right to Neils Giffey and he got a great look at the basket but was off-balance. Shabazz Napier said he thought the shot was going in, but it was an airball and we had overtime.
Fast forward to the second overtime, and as Napier remained hot the Huskies were able to build a 78-71 lead with 2:03 left. All of a sudden it looked like they had snatched victory from the jaws of defeat. But turnovers doomed them, and after a Ryan Boatright attempt from in front of his own bench at the buzzer was no good, the Huskies had lost a heartbreaker.
“It’s a very, very, very emotional game,” Boatright said. “These losses are the toughest, because you fight so hard to win the game, you give it your all to fall short.”
The Huskies definitely fought hard. Despite being smaller and thinner up front, they out-rebounded Georgetown 38-28, had a 16-6 edge in second-chance points and a 32-26 edge in points in the paint. They battled even when it looked like they had lost this one. It wasn’t lost on Georgetown head coach John Thompson III, who wasn’t engaging in coach-speak when he said, “I think they showed a terrific will to win, as did we.”
DeAndre Daniels, who looks more confident, had the first double-double by a Husky all season with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Napier and Boatright were slow to get untracked, with Boatright never quite getting there, but Daniels was a big reason the Huskies were even in the game before that happened. He battled all night long, from lots of contact inside to having to guard the likely Big East Player of the Year. Ollie said he passed the test, and it’s hard to argue with that one.
“I believe so, I hope so,” Napier said when asked if he thinks Daniels is more confident. “We always stress the fact that we need him to score. Today he did a great job of that, but he also played tremendous defense. He dug down deep, got a lot of rebounds and got a lot of key stops.”
Added Ollie: “He’s been a man this whole year. This is a step up, and he’s going to keep aspiring to go higher, grow and keep learning.”
Napier battled a bad right foot, which he seemed to aggravate when he came down after a layup early in the second half. You could see him hobbling as he tried to run back and forth on the court, but he was a warrior. He scored all 16 of his points after intermission, and all but two came after the layup. He was in a walking boot after the game, but there’s no reason to think he won’t be back out on the court Saturday at Cincinnati.
The Huskies lost the game, so talking about their heart might seem like moral victory talk. But they have won their fair share of games this season, and if they were eligible for the NCAA Tournament you could consider them a lock at this point given their resume. With no postseason to play for, this team still battles as if they’re competing for a championship. They’re competitive kids, of course, so that accounts for much of it, and they wouldn’t mind reaching 20 wins, which they almost did on Wednesday night.
Wednesday night’s game is ultimately of no consequence to this team on the bottom line. Even if they were eligible for the NCAA Tournament, the loss wouldn’t damage their chances of getting in. But the Huskies battled all the way, wanting this game, fighting through missed shots, turnovers, injuries and physical play. They did all they could and nearly pulled out an improbable win. They reflect their coach, but they also have just what their coach says they have.
