Nova

[UConnSwag11]

Foul trouble will be the biggest factor in this game. Nova is great at getting their opponents in foul trouble. They back their guy down and force the opposition to defend one on one while they spread the floor. They are always moving without the ball as well. They are not the Nova teams of years past. They are a good team that does everything well. Every small detail is done to perfection and those add up. Every guy knows their role and does it well. I'm hoping we impose our will on them with Sanogo and can dictate the game. Not the other way around.

No Excuses

 

[XLCenterFan]

We need to hit some 3's, establish Sanogo, and stay out of foul trouble.

 

[AntG168]

Big game, but no longer a must win. I’m super excited for this game because in my opinion that pressure has been lifted. Had we lost today, the pressure would’ve been enormous. A loose, confident team. An energized fan base on a steady crescendo. This is a statement game with all of the ingredients there for us to pull it off. If we do, it changes EVERYTHING. Go Huskies. Now is the time. This game is huge for our psyche. I’m feeling good about it. But mojo of course. We re going to get curb stomped

Meet me at the XL! Go Huskies!

 

[UConnSwag11]

Big game, but no longer a must win. I’m super excited for this game because in my opinion that pressure has been lifted. Had we lost today, the pressure would’ve been enormous. A loose, confident team. An energized fan base on a steady crescendo. This is a statement game with all of the ingredients there for us to pull it off. If we do, it changes EVERYTHING. Go Huskies. Now is the time. This game is huge for our psyche. I’m feeling good about it. But mojo of course. We re going to get curb stomped

Meet me at the XL! Go Huskies!

IMO it is a must-win. Not record-wise but for other reasons. It'll show we can beat very good teams. We need a win against a team who has run us out of the building constantly. UConn is 1-9 the last two seasons winning games outright when a Vegas underdog. (With 2019 included the number improves 5-18 ). If we lose I don't think it's the end of the world and the season is over. Their play cannot be like it was at Nova. That would be completely unacceptable

 

[AntG168]

IMO it is a must-win. Not record-wise but for other reasons. It'll show we can beat very good teams. We need a win against a team who has run us out of the building constantly. UConn is 1-9 the last two seasons winning games outright when a Vegas underdog. (With 2019 included the number improves 5-18 ). If we lose I don't think it's the end of the world and the season is over. Their play cannot be like it was at Nova. That would be completely unacceptable

I don’t disagree. I was more so speaking on the trajectory of their season. I don’t think a hard fought loss changes anything in terms of seeding and what not. But a win puts us in a different stratosphere. I don’t think the pressure is the same as it was at Nova. We’re sort of playing with house money. We have confidence and an energized fan base. That can be a dangerous combo. Win or lose I’m expecting a good one.

 

[UConnSwag11]

They need to be in Hartford by this afternoon. Check into the hotel and start practicing until tip on Tuesday. Nonstop shooting and free throws

 

[Chin Diesel]

Storm thap]e court after the win.

Need a strong visual to show the king has regained his throne.
And do it again after winning BET.

 

[Jbirdp5]

Storm thap]e court after the win.

Need a strong visual to show the king has regained his throne.
And do it again after winning BET.

I disagree on this point, blue bloods like ourselves don’t storm the court after wins.

 

[mauconnfan]

Storm thap]e court after the win.

Need a strong visual to show the king has regained his throne.
And do it again after winning BET.

Nah been there done that against nova reg season act like you’ve been there if victorious Tuesday. Now win the Big East tourney, absolutely agree. That would be incredible bringing back memories of Smitty on the ground after an “and 1” against Georgetown with Tate lifting him off the ground ‘90. Lover to see this happen!

 

[UChusky916]

Hurleys quote of "you better get us now, because, it's coming" was after a loss to Nova a few years back.

While the team has steadily improved since then, we still haven't managed to beat Nova.
I expect Hurley to have the guys fired up for a statement win at home to show that it's no longer "coming", but it's here.

I also have faith in the staff that they have some game film from the earlier matchup to better prepare and gameplan for Nova's unique offensive system.

The key is going to be staying out of foul trouble. Last game vs Nova, Sanogo and Cole, arguably our 2 most important players, picked up 2 fouls each early and we never really recovered.

We need to play solid man to man D without fouling. Sometimes our guys are too aggressive on D, going for blocks, yet falling for pump fakes. They need to play disciplined but tough D.

 

[SixRings]

IMO, the most important part of this game is that if we can beat Nova on Tuesday we will have a lot confidence to beat Creighton at Creighton. That happens we are red hot heading into the tournaments and maybe drop down to 3 or 4 seed which makes it much easier to be a sweet 16 team this year. It’s a big ask to beat Nova and Creighton but man if we do… this could be a lot of fun.

 

[Brochacho]

Feels like Kevin Millar back in 2004 but don't let the Huskies win on Tuesday. We've been flirting with putting two halves of great basketball together lately and I hope it happens. Villanova's really only played well twice in February - us and Providence. They're better than us in all facets right now and absolutely worked us in Philly but not scary by any means.

 

[Fatroony5]

Foul trouble will be the biggest factor in this game. Nova is great at getting their opponents in foul trouble. They back their guy down and force the opposition to defend one on one while they spread the floor. They are always moving without the ball as well. They are not the Nova teams of years past. They are a good team that does everything well. Every small detail is done to perfection and those add up. Every guy knows their role and does it well. I'm hoping we impose our will on them with Sanogo and can dictate the game. Not the other way around.

No Excuses

Nova makes you earn everything. If UConn is going to win, they have to avoid the slow start. I’d be shocked if they switch up the starting line up but it’s one that is so prone to slow starts, they need to get going immediately. Feels like just seeing the ball go in on their first possession is huge for this team. They need to avoid fouls and stay down on the pump fakes. Cannot have RJ or Sanogo in foul trouble. Lastly, and most importantly, 12 or less turnovers. Absolutely cannot have a half with double digit turnovers. If they end the game with 12 or less, I like their chances. But it’s hard to do against Nova, UConn has a tendency of being careless with the ball at times. Let’s hope it’s different this time around.

 

[HooperScooper]

Hurleys quote of "you better get us now, because, it's coming" was after a loss to Nova a few years back.

While the team has steadily improved since then, we still haven't managed to beat Nova.
I expect Hurley to have the guys fired up for a statement win at home to show that it's no longer "coming", but it's here.

Funny, I had the same thought.

Last Time We Beat Nova

Saturday, March 22nd 2014 (Buffalo, NY) on the way to a title: W, 77-65. They have dominated us since in 5 meetings... Jan 2018: L, 81-61 Dec 2018: L, 81-58 (I was at this one at MSG and it hurt my heart) Jan 2020: L, 61-55 Feb 2021: L, 68-60 Feb 2022: L, 85-74 I'm so sick of this - on Tuesday!

the-boneyard.com

 

[UConnSwag11]

Can’t have that Tuesday

 

[alphasigko]

This game should be played at Gampel and not in Hartford.... Just sayin'...

 

[Yawin4Heisman]

The one thing that really makes me sick is that if we beat Nova we may hand deliver the Big East regular season title to PC (Nova would no longer control their own destiny)…

• The BE has been around since 1979… PC is the only original member to never have won a BE regular season title (BC had 5 for reference and they left long ago, SJU and SHU both have 3 I believe and plenty of non-original teams have won titles)… for them to win a BE regular season title on winning percentage because they had fortuitous COVID cancellations would suck… and we would help hand deliver it…
• I think we win out besides Nova anyway and thus if Nova beats us and PC it actually makes our road in the BET easier (I know, people will hate this take, people will say overthinking it, anything can happen so win now, yadda yadda, etc.) as we’d be in the bottom of the bracket along with PC as the 2 seed… semis could be UConn - PC in the night game… I think we win and I think someone could knock off Nova before the finals in the top part of the bracket (like Marquette who beat them twice already)... We aren’t winning the reg season title but would really love the tourney title and a loss Tuesday might actually set things up favorably…
• I don’t think the Nova game is consequential frankly for NCAA tourney seeding… frankly I would rather a 6 seed than a 4 or 5 if looking to make a deep run… and perhaps we could still get a 3 (unlikely tho) with a loss to Nova Tuesday if we win out rest of reg season and then beat say Xavier, PC and Nova in the BET on the way to title?

I guess what I really hate about this game is this: Winning their first ever BE reg season title means so much more to PC fans than a win over Nova means to us… they’re the worst program in the history of the BE by objective measures and I want it to stay that way - their fans, whom I despise more than any in sports, don’t deserve a title - I don’t want to give them their best memory in a quarter century…

yea I want to finish 3rd in the conference at this point but let’s win the BET title and make a deep run… if we play like last 10 mins of first half of Xavier we can beat anyone… it’s all about peaking in a couple weeks and if we do big things could lie ahead…

Again, I know people will hate this take but I just hate PC that much

 

[Yawin4Heisman]

The one thing that really makes me sick is that if we beat Nova we may hand deliver the Big East regular season title to PC (Nova would no longer control their own destiny)…

• The BE has been around since 1979… PC is the only original member to never have won a BE regular season title (BC had 5 for reference and they left long ago, SJU and SHU both have 3 I believe and plenty of non-original teams have won titles)… for them to win a BE regular season title on winning percentage because they had fortuitous COVID cancellations would suck… and we would help hand deliver it…
• I think we win out besides Nova anyway and thus if Nova beats us and PC it actually makes our road in the BET easier (I know, people will hate this take, people will say overthinking it, anything can happen so win now, yadda yadda, etc.) as we’d be in the bottom of the bracket along with PC as the 2 seed… semis could be UConn - PC in the night game… I think we win and I think someone could knock off Nova before the finals in the top part of the bracket (like Marquette who beat them twice already)... We aren’t winning the reg season title but would really love the tourney title and a loss Tuesday might actually set things up favorably…
• I don’t think the Nova game is consequential frankly for NCAA tourney seeding… frankly I would rather a 6 seed than a 4 or 5 if looking to make a deep run… and perhaps we could still get a 3 (unlikely tho) with a loss to Nova Tuesday if we win out rest of reg season and then beat say Xavier, PC and Nova in the BET on the way to title?

I guess what I really hate about this game is this: Winning their first ever BE reg season title means so much more to PC fans than a win over Nova means to us… they’re the worst program in the history of the BE by objective measures and I want it to stay that way - their fans, whom I despise more than any in sports, don’t deserve a title - I don’t want to give them their best memory in a quarter century…

yea I want to finish 3rd in the conference at this point but let’s win the BET title and make a deep run… if we play like last 10 mins of first half of Xavier we can beat anyone… it’s all about peaking in a couple weeks and if we do big things could lie ahead…

Again, I know people will hate this take but I just hate PC that much

Regarding 3rd bullet, I don’t think it‘s that consequential in and of itself… we beat Nova and win out and then lose to Nova in BET semis I think we are a 4 or a 5 seed still… beating them this one time doesn’t make a massive difference… and I would almost rather prefer a 6… obviously we beat them, win out AND win the BET well then we would be taking about a 3 seed as a base case… but I can’t that scenario happening…

 

[boba]

All said, we should extend to Villanova, brotherly love, Philadelphia style brotherly love.
Abel meet Cain.

 

[slepers]

Nova makes you earn everything. If UConn is going to win, they have to avoid the slow start. I’d be shocked if they switch up the starting line up but it’s one that is so prone to slow starts, they need to get going immediately. Feels like just seeing the ball go in on their first possession is huge for this team. They need to avoid fouls and stay down on the pump fakes. Cannot have RJ or Sanogo in foul trouble. Lastly, and most importantly, 12 or less turnovers. Absolutely cannot have a half with double digit turnovers. If they end the game with 12 or less, I like their chances. But it’s hard to do against Nova, UConn has a tendency of being careless with the ball at times. Let’s hope it’s different this time around.

They need to make threes to keep the middle open for sanago to work.

 

[MexicoHusky]

Gotta start with the fouls. Sanogo and Cole need to avoid them. Which is sorta unfortunate. I'd love to say we need to attack. Play aggressive. Etc... instead I'm saying we gotta be tentative.

This is a tall order. I think Nova has another gear we haven't actually seen yet. Because we've yet to give them a significant challenge.

We'll see what happens. The team is playing great. We are home. Maybe this is the night where Polley and Hawkins are both dialed in.

 

[Mike1984]

I’m curious as to which nova player is going to go off for a career high Tuesday.

 

[Get a Job]

Don't know what to make of people being anywhere from preemptively accepting of to downright rooting for a loss. I understand the game theory stuff, but finally beating Villanofun is worth any seeding "downside" that might come of it. And who gives a crap who wins the regular season title if it's not us?

Now, if you asked me if I would take a loss Tuesday in exchange for a BET title, I'd take it, but that's a worthless hypothetical. There are too many variables, even this late in the season. Just win.

 

[HooperScooper]

Hurley's pregame speech to the team on Tuesday.

Tonight, we stay with 'em, and we shut them down because we can!

Tonight, we are the greatest college basketball team in the world.

You were born to be basketball players -- every one of ya.

And you were meant to be here tonight.

This is your time.

Their time -- is done. It's over.

I'm sick and tired of hearin' about what a great basketball team Villanova has.

Screw 'em!

This is your time!!

Now go out there and take it!

​

 

[Jbirdp5]

Don't know what to make of people being anywhere from preemptively accepting of to downright rooting for a loss. I understand the game theory stuff, but finally beating Villanofun is worth any seeding "downside" that might come of it. And who gives a crap who wins the regular season title if it's not us?

Now, if you asked me if I would take a loss Tuesday in exchange for a BET title, I'd take it, but that's a worthless hypothetical. There are too many variables, even this late in the season. Just win.

Agree absolute loser mentality to want your own team to lose so someone else doesn’t win.