Probably our worst loss in the Dance

[August_West]

7-10 is a tossup game.

Great we tossed up our cookies. We were a 7 seed in 14 too

 

[Durks07]

In the elite 8

We just lost to a 10 seed in first round.

Good point. We were a 7 seed tonight. Much worse than losing to an 11 seed as a 1 seed in the region.

 

[August_West]

Good point. We were a 7 seed tonight. Much worse than losing to an 11 seed as a 1 seed in the region.

With your point guard tearing ACL 10 minutes in first half and still taking to OT. Sure.

 

[Vuce]

Rashad Anderson wasn’t healthy. He came back for the postseason after being in the hospital and missing a month or two, but he wasn’t close to himself. I basically shrugged off that year as a “what might have been” if AJ Price and RA didn’t both end up on their death beds. But I didn’t go to Worcester, so I can see it bugging people in attendance to lose that close to home.

That loss was worse. UConn was a National power. This edition is still on the way back up. Roster was loaded with NBA talent with a Hall of Fame coach losing a home game to a crappy ACC team.

 

[Gurleyman]

I remember the 2006 team struggling and playing down to the competition. They managed to be 30-4 but they didn’t get there the way most 30-4 teams do.

You remember correctly. We showed some grit early in the year winning Maui with freshman point guards. Then MW came back and we got crushed by the Steve Novak train.

At times we looked pretty good in the second half of the season when MW settled in - winning the rematch with Nova convincingly, and a blowout of Seton Hall. But then down the stretch, we went double overtime at home with an NIT team from Notre Dame, trailed in the second half to a 7-24 South Florida team, went down to the wire at home with a sub-.500 Louisville team, lost in the BE quarters in a 1-8 game, trailed by 12 in the second half to 16 seed Albany, barely held on against 8 seed Kentucky, needed the refs help to beat 5 seed UW in overtime (double tech on Brandon Roy) and lost to 11 seed George Mason. We ended the year with 7 or 8 straight blah performances.

At some point, that’s who you are. A pretty blah team living on the edge until you fall off it.

 

[swami7774]

George Mason ‘06.
Miss. State ‘96.
Florida (“Clank; clank”) ’94
Ia. State ‘12.
Tonight’s disaster.

 

[Durks07]

With your point guard tearing ACL 10 minutes in first half and still taking to OT.

We had 4 other first round draft picks playing that game. Losing to a double digit seed mid major was still worse than losing tonight in a game where Vegas made you a 3.5 point favorite.

 

[UconnOhNiner]

In an elite 8 game?

Against an 11 seed with four first rounders....

 

[tcf15]

Iowa State 2012 really is the worst - just not competitive and an absolute waste of time watching that game.

 

[Skiblets]

can we name a worse first round washout than tonight? This was bad

 

[Jaker]

Honestly not surprised we lost, so this is far from the worst for me.

 

[EnochRoot]

George Mason ‘06.
Miss. State ‘96.
Florida (“Clank; clank”) ’94
Ia. State ‘12.
Tonight’s disaster.

It's also important to remember this was a UConn program that had only two national titles. A third one in 7 years would've gone a long way in forcing the blue blood conversation. Very humbling experience.

 

[willie99]

free throws free throws free throws

2011 and 2014 teams won close games because they didn't miss free throws

If this team shot like those teams, that alone makes this a one possession game late

We never really put much game pressure on them

 

[Ratso]

i hated that loss to kansas with all tHat talent

payback is a bich with nova

 

[Gurleyman]

That loss was worse. UConn was a National power. This edition is still on the way back up. Roster was loaded with NBA talent with a Hall of Fame coach losing a home game to a crappy ACC team.

It was a lot worse loss than today, no doubt. I just don’t rank it highly on the ones I’ve lamented over the years. We were down our projected starting 2 and 3 to life threatening illnesses (the RA who played not being the same, and AJ was going to step into the Ben Gordon 2 guard role from day one). I was personally over that loss about 2 minutes after the game ended. Just one of those years where too many things went wrong. I remember Steve bleeping Blake, the ball getting stuck in the rim at Texas and George bleeping Mason a lot more when i think of the frustrations of that era around the first two titles. But obviously others experience may vary

Iowa State was awful, but so bad that I don’t waste any time thinking about it. Same with Kansas - thought we’d give them a better fight but oh well. Michigan State doesn’t bug me too much - I just wished we stayed solid after Sticks dunk cut it to three instead of allowing a breakaway dunk with a “chicken with heads cut off“ press. We had it down to 3 with a minute left and didn’t give ourselves a chance to keep the pressure on. San Diego I chalked up to the AJ injury and knowing we wouldn’t go very far without him.

Pre-1999 they all sucked and I don’t want to remember any of them ever again.

 

[TortillaMonster]

Many mentioned already were worse, but Tennessee in 2000 felt similarly underwhelming

 

[Ratso]

that is a maryland team that’s gonna get killed by alabama

 

[AdamaNation]

Shooting percentage. Paper defense. Free throws. Team looked tight. Major disappointment

I thought the Iowa state loss was wasaayyyy worse

 

[Gurleyman]

We had 4 other first round draft picks playing that game. Losing to a double digit seed mid major was still worse than losing tonight in a game where Vegas made you a 3.5 point favorite.

Thabeet was - but nobody else. Adrien and Dyson did make it to the league (Adrien for a few years, Dyson for a cup of coffee) - Sticks never did.

 

[AdamaNation]

ding ding ding.

Our 2012 team was infinitely more talented than this one. They just didn't give a crap. They had Napier, Lamb, and Drummond...and lost to Iowa State.

Don’t forget ao scoe boat gift Deandre

 

[Vuce]

It was a lot worse loss than today, no doubt. I just don’t rank it highly on the ones I’ve lamented over the years. We were down our projected starting 2 and 3 to life threatening illnesses (the RA who played not being the same, and AJ was going to step into the Ben Gordon 2 guard role from day one). I was personally over that loss about 2 minutes after the game ended. Just one of those years where too many things went wrong. I remember Steve bleeping Blake, the ball getting stuck in the rim at Texas and George bleeping Mason a lot more when i think of the frustrations of that era around the first two titles. But obviously others experience may vary

Iowa State was awful, but so bad that I don’t waste any time thinking about it. Same with Kansas - thought we’d give them a better fight but oh well. Michigan State doesn’t bug me too much - I just wished we stayed solid after Sticks dunk cut it to three instead of allowing a breakaway dunk with a “chicken with heads cut off“ press. We had it down to 3 with a minute left and didn’t give ourselves a chance to keep the pressure on. San Diego I chalked up to the AJ injury and knowing we wouldn’t go very far without him.

Pre-1999 they all sucked and I don’t want to remember any of them ever again.

Fair enough. You are comparing this loss literally minutes after it happened. This team would have gotten destroyed by the 2005 UConn team. And yet both lost to a 10 seed. I won’t remember this loss except for the fact that it will be a jumping off point for the success ahead. The talent level is still on the rise. We are climbing back up the mountain.

 

[my2cents]

All those losses were bad....this one was just plain embarrassing, 63 other teams in this tournament would have beaten us tonight.

 

[uconnfan68]

The George Mason game was the worst loss in UConn MBB history, period.

Duke in1964 was much worse.

 

[Gurleyman]

Fair enough. You are comparing this loss literally minutes after it happened. This team would have gotten destroyed by the 2005 UConn team. And yet both lost to a 10 seed. I won’t remember this loss except for the fact that it will be a jumping off point for the success ahead. The talent level is still on the rise. We are climbing back up the mountain.

I may have been more forgiving since we had just won in ‘04. And maybe if that NC State loss was in the Sweet 16 or EE, I might have gotten caught up in visions of a repeat and feeling like we missed a great opportunity. Repeat chances don’t come along often, and we haven’t come close in any of four opportunities.

The ball stuck in the rim in Texas was also a little easier to get over since I felt like we’d be better the next year, and I probably had some of those same thoughts in 2005 - thinking everyone was returning and we’d add AJ. Of course, then the laptops thing happened, and I don’t think AJ would have played anyway. It was 2008 before he looked like the player we expected (not sure if CV turning pro was a surprise at the time - I remember it being really surprising he went so high in the lottery, but I forget if conventional wisdom was that he was leaving).

 

[Hoopcrazee]

Missiissippi State in 1996 ( 56 pts ? ) and George Mason