The Boatshow Must Go On, Buzzer Beater Sends UConn to Saturday’s Semis
Photo credit: Ian Bethune – SOX & DAWGS
On a night when downtown Hartford rocked, despite a less than capacity crowd, Ryan Boatright hit a three with just two-tenths of a second remaining, breaking a 54-all tie, and sent a delirious crowd into a cold March night. There will be basketball tomorrow, another must-win, but let’s enjoy this one for a moment, as it had it all.
Game winner at the buzzer? Check. Solid defense from start to finish? Check. Great guard play to once again give the Huskies another postseason win, their eighth in a row? Check.
Boatright, who missed the front-end of a one-and-one with the Huskies up 54-52 with just twenty-five seconds remaining, had thoughts of the Texas loss earlier in the year at Gampel go through his head, a game the Huskies lost on a buzzer three. This time, however, Cincinnati drove the lane and was able to get a tip-in off a miss, to tie the game.
Enter Boat, stage right.
“I’m just blessed and fortunate to be in this situation to have the opportunity to play with this team and this great program,” he said after the win. “Just to make a shot like that, with the great guards we’ve had with Shabazz and Kemba, we put in that work to be in that situation, to be able to make that shot. But without my teammates, we’re not even in that situation to be able to take that shot, so I give all the credit to them.”
On a night the Huskies struggled shooting the ball, including an uncharacteristic 5-for-16 from Boatright, he still ended with a game-high 18-points. He also received some of the help that is going to be needed to make this stretch run complete, as Rodney Purvis put in 17-points, on 7-of-15 from the field.
“Just going out and being aggressive,” he said on why he’s come on of late. “Coach is putting the ball in my hands and my teammates are finding me in positions where I can get good looks, so I’m just trying to stay aggressive and just take what the defense gives me. The main thing is I’ve just been in rhythm, been getting a lot of shots up, working hard and finding that.”
The hero of the night, concurred.
“He’s just playing with confidence,” Boatright added. “He’s not thinking, he’s letting his basketball skill take over and he’s not looking over at coach every time he makes a mistake. He’s locked into the game and being the great player that he is.”
UConn held Cincinnati scoreless for over five minutes in the stretch run, as the Huskies defense came through when it was needed most.
“We were playing good defense,” Omar Calhoun said inside the locker room. “They couldn’t really do anything one-on-one. The only way they scored were on rebounds and put backs. Once we took care of that, they really couldn’t score on us.”
The Huskies rode a raucous environment to the finish line and much of the same is expected tomorrow from the fans in the stands.
“We have the greatest fans in America,” Boatright said. “They pull us through so much. They were loud and they were great the entire night tonight. They supported us all year through the ups and downs, so we give all the credit to our fans and we’re just giving them a show for supporting us all year.”
At one point Purvis even wanted to join in.
“It was crazy, I just couldn’t wait for one of my teammates to make the next shot, that’s how loud it was in there,” he said. “I just wanted to jump in the crowd with them, it was exciting out there today. That’s what you come to UConn for. We’re fortunate to have the tournament here and we’re just giving the crowd something to cheer for.”
Husky Nation will be back in full throat tomorrow as UConn takes on the two-seed, Tulsa, in the second semifinal.
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