As painful as the offense was to watch - and the early offense especially contributed in a big way to the loss - it was the early defense that was a huge problem. We couldn't handle big conference physicality. Almost all of Cincy's early scoring was in the lane or at least close to the basket. And they drew fouls. And Cumberland wasn't even very involved as they jumped out to the big lead.
We saw the same sequence of events repeat over the first 10 minutes.
UConn possession: Turnover or contested deep jump shot.
Cincy possession: Made basket within 10' or draw a foul.
Cincy ended up with 42 points in the paint tonight with almost no runouts (were there any?).
Going deep jumper against good interior looks is going to dig you a hole unless you're lucky enough to start on fire. And it's much worse, as we saw, when you mix in turnovers with the missed deep jumpers.
I think the boys just weren't ready for in-conference defensive (and offensive) aggressiveness and combined with the higher level of competition.
We saw the same sequence of events repeat over the first 10 minutes.
UConn possession: Turnover or contested deep jump shot.
Cincy possession: Made basket within 10' or draw a foul.
Cincy ended up with 42 points in the paint tonight with almost no runouts (were there any?).
Going deep jumper against good interior looks is going to dig you a hole unless you're lucky enough to start on fire. And it's much worse, as we saw, when you mix in turnovers with the missed deep jumpers.
I think the boys just weren't ready for in-conference defensive (and offensive) aggressiveness and combined with the higher level of competition.