Good game and we fought hard but Villanova played slightly better. We shot 37% and that’s not good enough and gives you a small margin for error.
Chief’s Polley barometer played out. He had 5 points, much closer to his 3 point average in UConn loses than the 9 points he averages in UConn wins. When you lose by 3 points, small things make a difference including having a three waved off, I believe for stepping out of bounds?
Our defense was tough, however Gillespie summed it up best, when he spoke about how he took advantage of UConn’s double teams and found the open man for 10 assists. Many of which led to open shots as defenders were in between in no man’s land, after playing on the high hedge defense.
How effective was this defense scheme in disrupting the Villanova offense? It led to just 6 turnovers in 40 minutes, 43% FG shooting and and 87% FT (not a sign of tired legs).
Moreover, the energy expended on the high hedge fantic pace, likely resulted in UConn missing easy close-up shots late in the game as our legs went dead. Sanogo was an example of that.
Bottomline, you can’t predictably double good teams on the 3 point line. Your defenders are too disperse to recover to who was the open guy. The shot is off before you get there.
Again, our starters averaged 35 minutes and Polley took up nearly all the remaining minutes. Depth on this team against good competition is way overstated.
I thought Martin played well and Sanogo rebounded. Whaley gave us very little beyond effort. Few corresponding results. Gaffney played 3 minutes and did not populate the boxscore, despite Cole playing and looking tired.
We have come to learn what our formula is for close loses. Yet, we have been either unwilling or unable to make adjustments to change that formula other than reducing our turnovers.
My sense was that Hawkins was about ready to explode before his concussion. Chief hopes the protocol is going well and that he will be ready to give the team a good shot in the shooting arm. It’s a lot to ask on a freshman coming off an injury but it’s much needed.
