OT: Best individual Husky performance of all time?

[JohnFSilver]

People around the program last 40 years have one performance, and one performance only.

Caron Butler agaisnt maryland.

 

[superjohn]

That bump was at 1/2 time I believe.

9:19 left in the game. SDSU went up by 4 and had all the momentum. Calhoun called a timeout and while the teams were walking back to the bench Franklin intentionally bumped Kemba. Kemba went on to score 14 straight points for UConn.

 

[The Yakk]

Ricky Moore in NC. Played possessed on both ends. All of his stats were above his season averages, and he locked them down on the defensive end. My favorite Husky of all time.

I will never understand why Ricky Moore couldn't play in the NBA, while toads like Charlie Ward and Greg Anthony somehow had jobs. Or Chris Duhon a few years later. Man, Moore would have owned him at both ends of the floor.

 

[JB75]

Two things I remember about carons performance against Maryland - didn’t he and Calhoun get into a screaming match in the locker room at halftime ? basically lit a fire under him. He dropped 25 in the second half. I will never forget Carons thunderous, one-handed dunk in the last few seconds, with Maryland already in control. And yes Kembas performance against San Diego State in the 16 was great because that was basically a home game for them. Kawhi Leonard was on that team and they were talking a lot of ish. We had to show them what was up with the East Coast in that one. Lol. Great memories.

 

[Kitaman]

Can someone with a better game memory than me give Ben Gordon a shout out?

 

[JB75]

Also in a tough loss. Great game though.

Yup. Ray dropped 36 on Toby Baileys head. Pretty much the top defender in the nation. Another home game for the opponent. Now that I think about it, UConn‘s had a lot of tough tournament games that were pretty much home games for the other team- 2003 in Texas against Texas in sweet 16 and Marcus white got the ball stuck in the rim, sd st when Kemba took over , Michigan st in 2009 final 4, elite 8 vs unc in 98 (Hamiltons squad vs Vince Carter and antoine Jamison ) committee has given us some tuff regions. We did get msg tho in 2014. They owe us a few more lol

 

[HooperScooper]

Can someone with a better game memory than me give Ben Gordon a shout out?

@Kemba Time did.

OT: - Best individual Husky performance of all time?

Slow day at the office. I’ll go first: Kemba in Big East tourney vs Syracuse. 33 pts 12 boards 5 assists 6 steals. 50% from the field, 33% from 3 13-14 from the line. Played every minute of game including ot, Cuse guards shot 12-40 (Triche, Jardine, Waiters) I LOVE MARCH GO DAWGS

the-boneyard.com

 

[uconndogs]

Ricky in the first NC. Not flashy, but SO impactful, in the game, and to the program.
His first half takeover of the game at the offensive end righted what appeared to be a foundering Husky ship. We were down 9 to 2, then Ricky started taking it to the rack, and suddenly, it was a 13 to 11 game. Even more important, a key element in JC's game plan was taking the ball inside, all the way to the iron. The team had somehow forgotten it in the heat of the moment, despite JC's vocal urging and pleading from the sideline. It was Ricky who singlehandedly put the team back on the course JC had plotted for them.
View attachment 84608
And I can't forget the 5 seconds of defense on Trajan Langdon that forced the turnover that ended Duke's chances of coming back?
Oh yeah... and 8 boards. From the off-guard spot, while defending Langdon. Note too, that if the travel hadn't been called on Langdon at the end, Ricky was the one who rebounded the brick he bounced off the rim, so it would have been 9.
Many pundits pointed to Rip's "knife in the heart" three at the 2-1/2 minute mark as the decisive moment of the game, and credited it as being the deciding factor in voting for Rip as MVP. Everyone forgets that three came off Ricky's steal from Avery at the other end.

This is it for me. He set the tone right away taking his man off the dribble.

"Take him Trajan!".......yeah, how'd that work out for you Coach?

 

[MJKI]

Pure statistical impressive performance, regardless of opponent I'll throw this one out there...
Amida Brimah, 40 pts vs Coppin State. 13/13 fg, 14/16 FTA for a guy not known for his touch. Competition wise, doesn't compare to any of the names on this list. But still this one always sticks out to me

 

[JohnFSilver]

Can someone with a better game memory than me give Ben Gordon a shout out?

Caron against Maryland is the best performance that a UConn player has ever had. His second half was incredible .

 

[August_West]

Kawhi Leonard was on that team

SDSU fans told us we could never win that game because of the size of Kawais hands and that we never played in high altitude conditions . I’m still trying to figure that last one out.

 

[Excalibur]

That bump was at 1/2 time I believe.

No, it was during a timeout.

 

[CONN78SEJ]

Love that inside out dribble and point at McNeal while he lays there helplessly. I remember arguing with Sticks about this play cause he thought it was the crossover that broke him, I had to tell him it was a nasty lefty inside out dribble. AJ confirmed for us as did the highlights. Sticks was an absolute monster down the stretch of that season. Put back dunk after put back dunk. And the scream.

But to answer the question it was Kemba in the BET taking souls.

Chris Smith had a great cross over dribble, I remember it well.

 

[SportsFan88]

Y

Love that inside out dribble and point at McNeal while he lays there helplessly. I remember arguing with Sticks about this play cause he thought it was the crossover that broke him, I had to tell him it was a nasty lefty inside out dribble. AJ confirmed for us as did the highlights. Sticks was an absolute monster down the stretch of that season. Put back dunk after put back dunk. And the scream.

But to answer the question it was Kemba in the BET taking souls.

Yea definitely can’t argue with Kemba

 

[Kolumbo]

Ricky in the first NC. Not flashy, but SO impactful, in the game, and to the program.
His first half takeover of the game at the offensive end righted what appeared to be a foundering Husky ship. We were down 9 to 2, then Ricky started taking it to the rack, and suddenly, it was a 13 to 11 game. Even more important, a key element in JC's game plan was taking the ball inside, all the way to the iron. The team had somehow forgotten it in the heat of the moment, despite JC's vocal urging and pleading from the sideline. It was Ricky who singlehandedly put the team back on the course JC had plotted for them.
View attachment 84608
And I can't forget the 5 seconds of defense on Trajan Langdon that forced the turnover that ended Duke's chances of coming back?
Oh yeah... and 8 boards. From the off-guard spot, while defending Langdon. Note too, that if the travel hadn't been called on Langdon at the end, Ricky was the one who rebounded the brick he bounced off the rim, so it would have been 9.
Many pundits pointed to Rip's "knife in the heart" three at the 2-1/2 minute mark as the decisive moment of the game, and credited it as being the deciding factor in voting for Rip as MVP. Everyone forgets that three came off Ricky's steal from Avery at the other end.

That was a team supremely focused for 40 minutes and no one epitomized the focus more than Ricky. He was the defensive specialist but as you said his offense was key. To the young guys, basketball is 90% mental. The other half is physical.

 

[Kolumbo]

Even tho it was in a losing effort , Caron’s monster second half against Maryland in the elite 8 in I believe 2002.

Great game live. Juan Dixon and Lonnie Baxter were tough, no question.

"Wow, what a matchup in Syracuse! Maryland and Connecticut battled down to the wire. Maryland's Gary Williams and UConn's Jim Calhoun matched moves and their teams gave their all. It was a Maalox Masher that wasn't decided until the final minute.
In the end, it came down to Maryland's seniors coming through. Guard Juan Dixon hit big shot after big shot down the stretch, and center Lonny Baxter was a force inside with UConn diaper dandy Emeka Okafor in foul trouble."

"Second-seeded UConn stayed in the game thanks to sophomore Caron Butler, who had 26 of his 32 points during a second half in which
neither team lead by more than three points from the 14-minute mark until the final 36 seconds."

Maryland 90-82 UConn (Mar 24, 2002) Game Recap - ESPN

Expert recap and game analysis of the Maryland Terrapins vs. UConn Huskies NCAAM game from March 24, 2002 on ESPN.

www.espn.com

 

[uconnfan68]

Pure statistical impressive performance, regardless of opponent I'll throw this one out there...
Amida Brimah, 40 pts vs Coppin State. 13/13 fg, 14/16 FTA for a guy not known for his touch. Competition wise, doesn't compare to any of the names on this list. But still this one always sticks out to me

Won that game for us.

 

[gsmooth]

All of these are good answers, but I am surprised no one has mentioned Okafor going for 24 pts and 15 rebounds in the final against Georgia Tech star centEd Luke schensher

 

[Ratso]

kemba 2011

 

[BGesus4]

Can someone with a better game memory than me give Ben Gordon a shout out?

Not a whole game but there was a BET game against Seton Hall his sophomore year that he had his man one on one at the three point line, danced on him, did a spin move into a pull up three. Never seen that before or since.

 

[uconngb]

Chris Smith had a great cross over dribble, I remember it well.

Yes but he carried the ball…..

 

[temery]

Togo, 1925. Balto got all the credit though.

 

[RichZ]

All of these are good answers, but I am surprised no one has mentioned Okafor going for 24 pts and 15 rebounds in the final against Georgia Tech star centEd Luke schensher

Aside from the fact that no-one considered Schenscher a major star, following the thriller with Duke in the semi-final game, the Georgia Tech game wasn't close enough to bring the excitement. But Emeka did have what I considered his best block of the year in that game.

 

[RichZ]

Yes but he carried the ball…..

90% of Boneyarders are probably too young to remember the reference. Some of us (me) are too old to remember whether it was Packer or Vitale who said it. I THINK it was Packer.

 

[Kitaman]

90% of Boneyarders are probably too young to remember the reference. Some of us (me) are too old to remember whether it was Packer or Vitale who said it. I THINK it was Packer.

It was a Packer obsession.