Calling Sat Bonnie game a must win...

[Hi-Low]

otherwise our OOC results will be middling at best at 2-3. Not counting the 6 glorified exhibition games, wish we had upgraded a couple of those to a tad higher quality opponent...6 of those buy games are too many imo.

Win Saturday and will feel much better going in to conference play after losing very winnable games against MSU and WV. Auburn was a great win, VCU win may or may not mean anything, so now we need the Bonnie win as well.

Hope Martin is back, doesn't seem like Sanogo is likely but either way with or without one or both of them no excuses, Bonnies are down one of their best players as well.

Let's go Huskies!!

 

[bendm]

We’re a third of the way into the season it’s not a must win

 

[Hi-Low]

We’re a third of the way into the season it’s not a must win

Easy to say and seems obvious but has a must win feel to me...don't want to lose final 2 ooc games heading into 20 game BE schedule with 10 true road games.

I bet the team and DH feel it's close to a must win to stay on track for the expected really good year.

I think they'll respond and play much better than tonight but need the win Sat.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

It's an important game.

 

[UncleSpliff]

If we play like we did tonight St Bonaventure will roll us. They are much better than West Virginia.

 

[Yawin4Heisman]

The Bonnies have not played that well this year outside of Charleston - and losing Lofton (their best player) has made it worse (they were trailing the 278th ranked team per KenPom in the 2nd half today)… if we had the results the Bonnies have had in their last 4 games and were missing a key cog the likes of Lofton for as long as they‘re possibly going to be without him then there might actually be cause for the amount of concern that you see on this board…

Bonnies (without Lofton) on a neutral court that should lean pro-UConn is not a more difficult game than a full strength WVU team @Morgantown… this will be obvious to Vegas and thus will be reflected in the spread

If we play like we did tonight (warts and all) we will beat St. Bonaventure - assuming our shooting reverts even somewhat to the mean (so not shooting 14% from 3 or 54% from the line) and it likely will… our defense and effort usually travels… despite the shooting which was horrendous tonight’s final was basically a push (+2.5 and lost by 3) after blowing another late lead and having a 3 to tie at the buzzer…

I’m more concerned that the Bonnies could eventually be a bad loss for us… I could see them dropping one if not both of their next 2 OOC after us without Lofton and having a rough start in A-10 play if Lofton is indeed out for say 6 weeks… right now they’re squarely Quad 2 and I’m going to guess they‘re going to trend towards Quad 3 (us beating them would contribute to that) until Lofton gets back - hope I’m wrong but shame on us for scheduling 6 cupcakes which is why it might matter

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

Three OOC wins vs the top 100 teams just looks so much better than 2

 

[djct1999]

Three OOC wins vs the top 100 teams just looks so much better than 2

Yep and 2 look better than 1. That auburn win will carry weight!!!!

 

[djct1999]

Come on guys. We aren’t in the American anymore, let’s act like it. When you play in the Big East, no game in December is a must win. UConn avoided any bad OOC loss, that’s a win it itself.

 

[navery12]

It's a must win because this board is going to be insufferable if we lose. In terms of basketball no, not even close

 

[UConNick]

If we want to stay ranked it’s definitely a must win. Basketball-wise… no, although I will feel miles better about the team if we do win.

But I’m thinking national perception here: I’m tired of UConn being an afterthought or even a laughingstock. We’re really starting to break back in to the national conversation, and I don’t want any setbacks. While it’s a small thing in reality that won’t impact this team in March, keeping that number next to our name for as many weeks as possible is crucial.

 

[husky429]

No game is a "must win" game when it comes down to it. Would the win be a vital piece of building our OOC resume for the selection committee? Yeah. We're likely getting in regardless, but it would help with seeding.

 

[Candyman]

The Bonnies have not played that well this year outside of Charleston - and losing Lofton (their best player) has made it worse (they were trailing the 278th ranked team per KenPom in the 2nd half today)… if we had the results the Bonnies have had in their last 4 games and were missing a key cog the likes of Lofton for as long as they‘re possibly going to be without him then there might actually be cause for the amount of concern that you see on this board…

Bonnies (without Lofton) on a neutral court that should lean pro-UConn is not a more difficult game than a full strength WVU team @Morgantown… this will be obvious to Vegas and thus will be reflected in the spread

If we play like we did tonight (warts and all) we will beat St. Bonaventure - assuming our shooting reverts even somewhat to the mean (so not shooting 14% from 3 or 54% from the line) and it likely will… our defense and effort usually travels… despite the shooting which was horrendous tonight’s final was basically a push (+2.5 and lost by 3) after blowing another late lead and having a 3 to tie at the buzzer…

I’m more concerned that the Bonnies could eventually be a bad loss for us… I could see them dropping one if not both of their next 2 OOC after us without Lofton and having a rough start in A-10 play if Lofton is indeed out for say 6 weeks… right now they’re squarely Quad 2 and I’m going to guess they‘re going to trend towards Quad 3 (us beating them would contribute to that) until Lofton gets back - hope I’m wrong but shame on us for scheduling 6 cupcakes which is why it might matter

Except Lofton is playing.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

If we can beat SBU without Lofton and then go run train on the A10 and end up fringe 25 that would be astronomical

 

[navery12]

Except Lofton is playing.

He said he's pushing to play, so we'll see how that goes. As we know all to well with Bouknight and Martin, players love to push to play and then don't. But I'd sign up for Lofton being back if it means Martin is back as well

 

[auror]

Very little chance Lofton plays, and if he does he won't be at anywhere close to 100%. High ankle sprain in less than 2 weeks? Nah man.

 

[Ts5034]

One thing that bothers me, and I know It’s not a make or break thing, Is the fact that no matter what happens, we only have 1 win OOC vs a Power 6 team. We had a chance vs MSU, and another vs WVU last night, and we came up short in both. Being in the Big East will give us plenty of opportunities for Quad 1 wins, but I just wish we padded our resume a little bit with multiple OOC wins vs Power 6 teams like a lot of other Big East teams did up to this point.

 

[Waquoit]

I'm convinced that everybody is on dope.

 

[Hi-Low]

One thing that bothers me, and I know It’s not a make or break thing, Is the fact that no matter what happens, we only have 1 win OOC vs a Power 6 team. We had a chance vs MSU, and another vs WVU last night, and we came up short in both. Being in the Big East will give us plenty of opportunities for Quad 1 wins, but I just wish we padded our resume a little bit with multiple OOC wins vs Power 6 teams like a lot of other Big East teams did up to this point.

This my general sentiment that makes it feel like a "must win". Not as much the "power 6" because the A-10 and other conferences have legit teams but the idea that we've had 4 "legit" games that we should have won and we gave away 2 of them (MSU & WV) and almost gave away the other 2 against Auburn & VCU. This team has trouble closing against good teams which presents a problem entering BE play.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

The thing that makes it a "must win" for me is that the next 5 games after St. Bonaventure are:

PC
@ Marquette
@ Xavier
Butler
@ Seton Hall

It gets a little easier after that.

PC, Marquette, Xavier and Seton Hall look like tournament teams, and UConn may not get Martin or Sanogo back until the middle of January. I like UConn's chances against Butler, but that is not a guaranteed win by any means, so UConn could go 1-4 after St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies are missing their best player, they are a respectable team, and I don't like the schedule coming up after that game. It makes Saturday kind of a must win.

 

[BlueMAB]

The committee will know we lost to MSU without 1 starter, and WVU (on the road) without 2 starters.

Important? Yes.
Must win? LOL.

 

[navery12]

The thing that makes it a "must win" for me is that the next 5 games after St. Bonaventure are:

PC
@ Marquette
@ Xavier
Butler
@ Seton Hall

It gets a little easier after that.

PC, Marquette, Xavier and Seton Hall look like tournament teams, and UConn may not get Martin or Sanogo back until the middle of January. I like UConn's chances against Butler, but that is not a guaranteed win by any means, so UConn could go 1-4 after St. Bonaventure. The Bonnies are missing their best player, they are a respectable team, and I don't like the schedule coming up after that game. It makes Saturday kind of a must win.

Martin will be back for Saturday and at the very latest Providence

 

[UConnStats]

Very little chance Lofton plays, and if he does he won't be at anywhere close to 100%. High ankle sprain in less than 2 weeks? Nah man.

Yeah I can’t see him playing and if he doesn’t, this is a game that you just shouldn’t lose even with Martin and Sanogo out.

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Yeah I can’t see him playing and if he doesn’t, this is a game that you just shouldn’t lose even with Martin and Sanogo out.

Incredibly fair take and I 100% agree.

Without Lofton, the Bonnies beat Buffalo (KenPom 72) by 3 and Loyola-MD (KenPom 278) by 13.

Without Lofton, the Bonnies lose their best scorer, facilitator and athlete. They also lose one of their only two players who attacks the rim and gets to the line.

Also, their defensive strength is Osun Osunniyi, who would have been a major challenge for Sanogo on the post. Without Sanogo, our offensive style has totally changed and with no players parking themselves in the low blocks, Osunniyi will need to move around to be a valuable defender, thus limiting his defensive potential.

 

[Umami Zen]

Usually associate must-wins with Tournaments

Win would be great for building Mojo for BE schedule/games