Huskies Take Down SMU As Team is Coming Together
Photo credit: Ian Bethune – SOX & DAWGS
The UConn men’s basketball team made a statement in their 81-73 win over No. 21 SMU at the XL Center this afternoon in Hartford. Rodney Purvis had a career high 28 points, including an emphatic, driving dunk early in the second half, that brought and kept the crowd on their feet for the remainder of the game, sparking memories of crowds of Big East basketball past.
While it may be too late for an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, the Huskies are making strides at exactly the right time, during the stretch run of the regular season, as the conference tournament is just eleven days away. Ryan Boatright was Ryan Boatright, scoring 23 points, dishing out 5 assists and grabbing 3 rebounds. But the story of the day was the emergence of Purvis, who entered the game shooting 40-percent from the free throw line and proceeded to go 7-for-7 from the charity stripe, as well as hit three of his six three’s.
“Free throws are easy points, they can get you going,” Purvis said after the win. “I’ve been shying away from contact, not being as confident. I just need to go to the basket.”
Boatright concurred.
“I don’t know what’s wrong with him, he’s been shooting floaters,” he laughingly joked. “I tell him all the time, if I had your frame and height, I’d have all kinds of dunks. You need to have my instinct and want to dunk every single time and complete it and he did that today.”
With the big three of Boatright, Purvis and Hamilton, who had 16 of his own, combining for 67 points, the Huskies will be a tough out, should this production consistently continue.
“The sky is the limit” Boatright said. “We just want to keep getting better every day, take care of these games, game by game. Just get in the tournament and once we get in the tournament, anything can happen.”
Boatright knows the struggles of an up-and-down year, but also knows, good things can come.
“I think it was just growing pains,” he said when talking about Purvis’ early season struggles. “He really only played one full year of college basketball, sat out last year and had surgery. He had that pressure put on him and I think early in the year, he had his ups-and-downs and you have to go through those. I went through that last year, that wasn’t my best year, but I stayed with it, kept believing and we finished strong with a National Championship. As long as he continues to keep believing in himself and keep working hard, we can turn this thing around.”
After the performance in today’s win over SMU, the Huskies may have already made that turn.
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