St. Joes game

[huskiesnyc]

So I just rewatched the St Joes game and I honestly have no idea how we pulled that out. SJU played absolutely out of their A*Ses all night long. They got every lucky bounce and their guards were just hitting ridiculous off balance contested shots. The funny part is we played very well too it's not like we had an off night. Amazing belief and mental toughness to grind out a gutsy win like that. Kromah's defense toward the end of regulation was suffocating. I'm really going to miss that kid and wish we had him for more than one year. Hey survive and advance and good things can happen right?

 

[Silk City]

One of the more nerve-wracking UConn games I've ever watched, factoring in both situation and flow of the game. The 2011 tournament had a little bit of a house money feel after the BET, and in 2012 we basically were just relieved to have made it. Then after the year off all the juices were flowing coming into this week--not to mention potentially the last time we'd see Shabazz (who was an all-time legendary Husky even before the tourney began) As soon as the bracket came out I knew we had a huge break with Nova in the second round but the sacrifice was playing a much tougher first round game.


We trailed more in this game than we did the rest of the tournament combined and that St. Joes team has to be real proud after seeing how far we went.

 

[SubbaBub]

They didn't finish the job and ran out of gas (players).

 

[huskyharry]

Several factors made it a very tough game. First & most importantly, St. Joe's was a very tough team, playing their best basketball of the year at the right time and they had some match-up advantages against us. Skilled big men like Kanacevic gave us trouble (Ryan Anderson played very effectively, keeping BCU closer than they should have & Thomas of Houston gave us fits the first game). Roberts' leaping ability and positioning skill (senior experience) made him a tough match-up at the 4 (10 rebounds against us). Bembry's length and relative quickness at 6'6" allowed him to play more effective defense against Bazz compared to what he saw the rest of the tournament. Galloway was also red-hot, hitting 8-13 from the floor compared to 44% on the year.
The zebras also contributed, ignoring a few walks & carries by Kanacevic...as well as letting a few potential fouls slide that extended his time in the game.
But one of the biggest factors was that Bazz just had an off shooting night (7-22 for 31.8% compared to 31-60 for 51.7% the rest of the tourney)...partly due to Bembry but Bazz missed a bunch that he normally hits.
But clearly that game was the key to the season. Lose that one and we still love this team but are disappointed. Now, it is season for the ages and I feel incredibly blessed that we have had two magical ride seasons within the last 4.

 

[Greathusky]

So I just rewatched the St Joes game and I honestly have no idea how we pulled that out.

I felt that way with all our NCAA games after rewatching them.

 

[johnhuskies95]

It kind of reminded me of the 2011 Pitt BET game where they shot something like 55% from the floor and 70% from three and UConn ended up winning. Both times UConn was able to push through and continue playing really good offense, even though the other team was hitting everything they threw up on the other end.

 

[BLUEDOGHOUSE]

Great post bro!

 

[gtcam]

Several factors made it a very tough game. First & most importantly, St. Joe's was a very tough team, playing their best basketball of the year at the right time and they had some match-up advantages against us. Skilled big men like Kanacevic gave us trouble (Ryan Anderson played very effectively, keeping BCU closer than they should have & Thomas of Houston gave us fits the first game). Roberts' leaping ability and positioning skill (senior experience) made him a tough match-up at the 4 (10 rebounds against us). Bembry's length and relative quickness at 6'6" allowed him to play more effective defense against Bazz compared to what he saw the rest of the tournament. Galloway was also red-hot, hitting 8-13 from the floor compared to 44% on the year.
The zebras also contributed, ignoring a few walks & carries by Kanacevic...as well as letting a few potential fouls slide that extended his time in the game.
But one of the biggest factors was that Bazz just had an off shooting night (7-22 for 31.8% compared to 31-60 for 51.7% the rest of the tourney)...partly due to Bembry but Bazz missed a bunch that he normally hits.
But clearly that game was the key to the season. Lose that one and we still love this team but are disappointed. Now, it is season for the ages and I feel incredibly blessed that we have had two magical ride seasons within the last 4.

I have watched it 3 times and Kanacevic walked nearly every time he had the ball and was a moving pick machine

 

[FfldCntyFan]

I have watched it 3 times and Kanacevic walked nearly every time he had the ball and was a moving pick machine

I do remember yelling "that was a moving screen" about a dozens different times that game. From about seven minutes remaining (when we did for the most part look like we got ourselves back into the game) I told my son "once we get a two possession lead St Joe's will fall apart". The difficult thing was that we didn't get that lead until overtime.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I thought the officiating for that game was fine. It was just one of those "I can't believe this is happening" games that makes you struggle to keep dinner down while it is happening. St. Joe's played great, Martelli had a great game plan, and UConn was a little off. If St. Joe's had any kind of bench, they win that game. When Kanesevic got in foul trouble, I thought he backed off a bit on both ends.

I credit Ollie for keeping the pace up despite Martelli's attempts to slow it down. I thought the Hawks were gassed by the last 5 minutes + OT.

 

[Kitaman]

I feel the biggest reason we won was because that point forward dude fouled out. Its like us losing Bazz. He was effective all game.

Until he fouled out I wasn't sure we could win. After his fifth foul I had no doubt. Sure Brimah and others stepped up but his disqualification was huge.

 

[mauconnfan]

I feel the biggest reason we won was because that point forward dude fouled out. Its like us losing Bazz. He was effective all game.

Until he fouled out I wasn't sure we could win. After his fifth foul I had no doubt. Sure Brimah and others stepped up but his disqualification was huge.

Honestly you're right Kita we had no answer for him and it would have been tough for us if Iowa State had Niang too……..but you play the games as they are dealt and we wouldn't be the first NC's to have the chips fall where we needed them to!!

 

[Scoe]

We didn't peak at the right time we were peaking. It was a classic case of survive and advance. That St. Joes team was one of the hottest teams going into the tournament, no doubt they would have beaten Cuse.

 

[UChusky916]

The foul discrepancy was an ENORMOUS factor throughout the game. Because of how the game played out, it was worst-case scenario for UConn during regulation, but totally changed once UConn got into the bonus before OT:

-St. Joes was not a deep team, but their starting 5 was very effective and cohesive. The lack of fouls called on them allowed them to keep their starting 5 in for almost the whole game... each of their starters played at least 41 mins. Only 2 bench players saw the floor for them and they combined for only 9 mins.

-St. Joes was not a good free throw shooting team during the year, they only shot 64% as a team going into the tournament. Among their starters, only Galloway (82%) shot better than 66 percent. 3 of them shot in the 50-60% range. They happened to shoot 20-27 (74%) against us, which is a marked improvement from their regular season percentages.

-We were an excellent FT shooting team. Yet, during regulation, we only got to the line 4 times (3-4)! The game completely changed once Brimah made the hook shot and-one to tie it with under a minute left. That was Kanacevic's 4th foul and it put UConn in the bonus for OT. Once UConn was in the bonus, they went on to hit 15 free throws in a row!

-In OT, Kanacevic fouled out early. UConn finally started getting to the line. UConn shot 15-16 in OT with the only miss by Boat coming with 9 secs left and the game already wrapped up (7 pt UConn lead, 3 possession game).

Goes to show how important fouling/free throws are in determining the game.

 

[Kurt]

When the Kanacevic pumped fake, then still made the 3 with a hand in his face I thought the game was over , it was getting ridiculous.

 

[aceboon]

When the Kanacevic pumped fake, then still made the 3 with a hand in his face I thought the game was over , it was getting ridiculous.

lol, was that before or after Galloway went up for a 3, got challenged on the shot and was forced into an airball, and Bembry still managed to catch it under the basket for an alley oop. Lundquist and Raf swore it was a pass but Galloway was in a shooting motion all the way. They played well but man were they pulling some shots/passes out of their asses.

 

[pnete]

Brimah made the single greatest play UConn history and all sports included.
Without his three point play, UConn goes out in first game. Napier is not a national hero. Ollie is not a genius.
The program is in free fall in a lousy conference. Ollie doesn't get into any of these homes of the big time recruits.
And most importantly, we lose the pleasure of thumbing our noses at the Big Ten and ACC.