Tournament Losses

[lateralous]

Everyone focuses on Laettner's shot. Tate George would be crucified here for dropping the steal. In today's era of "title or the season absolutely sucked, how can you be a lose and suggest otherwise," it likely overshadows the shot against Clemson.

Ha, you beat me to the Tate George "steal" as I was typing up my response.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Everyone focuses on Laettner's shot. Tate George would be crucified here for dropping the steal. In today's era of "title or the season absolutely sucked, how can you be a lose and suggest otherwise," it likely overshadows the shot against Clemson.

I still contend that Tate fumbled that steal because K distracted him. K saw from the sideline what was unfolding, jumped and started rolling his arms like a referee calling a travel, likely trying to plant a seed in the ref's mind. This happened just to the right of George, and as the ball went out of bounds he stared right at K.

 

[Gurleyman]

Everyone focuses on Laettner's shot. Tate George would be crucified here for dropping the steal. In today's era of "title or the season absolutely sucked, how can you be a lose and suggest otherwise," it likely overshadows the shot against Clemson.

I dunno if he’d be killed. Great heady play to jump the passing lane - just didn’t hold on (to this day, i still don’t think that ball went out of bounds until it bounced a couple times and went out at midcourt - but could be an optical illusion). We’d maybe be killed more for leaving the inbounds passer unguarded.

We needed a clutch Smitty 3 and Abdelnaaby blowing a layup off the inbounds at the buzzer to be in that spot too.

 

[Matrim55]

I came to grips with that game a long time ago given everything that has happened since, especially since it think it was probably better to go down in an all-timer of a game like that than be fed to the UNLV woodchipper but...

Tate George had that game in his hands with like two seconds left when he basically had the steal but lost it out of bounds. Not knowing how the future would turn out for UConn, it kind of felt at the time like their one chance at making the Final Four had just slipped through his hands. I was so crushed after that one.

That one hurt so bad but the Mississippi State loss in '96 was the absolute basement for me as a UConn fan. I thought we'd never make the final 4 at that point.

 

[huskyjawz]

I still contend that Tate fumbled that steal because K distracted him. K saw from the sideline what was unfolding, jumped and started rolling his arms like a referee calling a travel, likely trying to plant a seed in the ref's mind. This happened just to the right of George, and as the ball went out of bounds he stared right at K.

First I've heard of this.

 

[OviedoFLHusky]

Good article; doesn't exactly classify the game as a good or bad loss, but possibly an "honorable" loss.

UConn's historic NCAA Tournament run comes to an end, but Huskies go down swinging in honorable performance

 

[lateralous]

That one hurt so bad but the Mississippi State loss in '96 was the absolute basement for me as a UConn fan. I thought we'd never make the final 4 at that point.

As someone like you (presumably) who went through all the heartbreak of the Sweet 16 and Elite 8 losses of the 90's (plus '89) it makes last years 30-0 run, in a game to go to the Final Freakin Four, all the more amazing.

 

[JB75]

That one hurt so bad but the Mississippi State loss in '96 was the absolute basement for me as a UConn fan. I thought we'd never make the final 4 at that point.

Yeah miss st loss was up there too. Erik dampier and dahntay jones squad

 

[ValleyGuy]

2003 loss to Texas in S16. That team came back hungry to win a title in 2004.

Then you’d have to say rhe New Mexico State loss was better. Didn’t lose a tourney game for 2 years after that lol and made Hurley focus on getting better offensively.

Obviously kidding, that loss was gross…

 

[IndyLives]

This Tourney loss basically epitomized the season. We let games slip left & right the entire season because we never learned how to close a game, which is atypical of a talented UConn team. This one does hurt a lot because it feels like we should have won the game, and we let another Title run slip away.

I found this stat amazing. Prior to today's loss, UConn had won 26 straight Tourney games when they had a lead at any point in the 2nd half. Wow.

 

[BigErnMcCracken]

That team was more than offset by 2014

Also that team was on borrowed time from the second the tournament started. Of all the tough tourney losses '06 has never stuck with me as particularly hard to get over.

 

[ConnHuskBask]

Played their hearts out and came up short against a better team. It's deflating because we were right there, but you can't win them all.

Something felt slightly off all year with our roster construction or how all the pieces fit together, but in spite of that, we made the tourney, won a game, and gave the best team about all they can handle.

On to the offseason.

 

[IndyLives]

I dunno if he’d be killed. Great heady play to jump the passing lane - just didn’t hold on (to this day, i still don’t think that ball went out of bounds until it bounced a couple times and went out at midcourt - but could be an optical illusion). We’d maybe be killed more for leaving the inbounds passer unguarded.

We needed a clutch Smitty 3 and Abdelnaaby blowing a layup off the inbounds at the buzzer to be in that spot too.

The biggest mistake on that play was not guarding the in-bounder, especially when he's Laettner. Sure enough, he had an easy mid-range jumper for the win.

Pitino made the same mistake a few years later!

 

[lateralous]

This Tourney loss basically epitomized the season. We let games slip left & right the entire season because we never learned how to close a game, which is atypical of a talented UConn team. This one does hurt a lot because it feels like we should have won the game, and we let another Title run slip away.

Exactly. I'll add that this team never had the attention to detail needed to be a serious contender and that's ultimately what helped do them in down the stretch of todays game

In the end, I don't think I'll look back at this loss as overly painful in time. It was a good effort. I kind of expected a game where they might finally put it all together for a night and knock off a top seed but with the way this whole season has gone, you can't convince me they wouldn't have turned around and pissed away the next one.

I actually thoroughly enjoyed most of this roller coaster ride this season and I kind of held out hope that they could flip a switch way too long (I finally saw the light during the seton hall, come out flat vs Nova, get crushed by St Johns streak) but this was never THAT team.

Looking forward to next year with Reed Jr and Ball leading the way

 

[FfldCntyFan]

Of all the tough tourney losses '06 has never stuck with me as particularly hard to get over.

Same here. They were basically asking for someone to knock them off from the minute the tournament started. There were a cfew times that year where I was sure they would give JC a stroke with the way the veins on his neck would bulge when he was yelling at one of them. They just never really wanted it badly enough.

 

[NYC_HUSKY22]

Be careful what you wish for, the 23 and 24 titles would likely vanish with it.

Karaban might come back next year because of NIL.

you're not wrong

 

[JohnFSilver]

i've seen all the wins or losses since 90. This wasn't a poor loss, as they say. Worst NCAA loss in program history is to George Mason, then awful losses to Mississippi State, Florida (Donyell Miss FT) and NC State .

New Mexico and Maryland are worse losses in the hurley era.

This had some Texas in Sweet 16 vibes. It wasn't crushing, but it was a shoulda, woulda coulda.

Had a chance, that hurts, but unlike Mason, which gets worse with age, this is a good showing against a terrific team.

 

[AdamaNation]

Agreed. I still think of that George Mason loss. I’ll forget about this one rather quickly.

That was the worst loss ever!!!!!!!

 

[nelsonmuntz]

I came to grips with that game a long time ago given everything that has happened since, especially since I think it was probably better to go down in an all-timer of a game like that than be fed to the UNLV woodchipper but...

Tate George had that game in his hands with like two seconds left when he basically had the steal but lost it out of bounds. Not knowing how the future would turn out for UConn, it kind of felt at the time like their one chance at making the Final Four had just slipped through his hands. I was so crushed after that one.

UConn lost to a Duke team whose point guard had a bad case of the runs and had to race back to the bathroom several times during the game. That is what I remember about the game.

 

[alphasigko]

1) There is no such thing as a "good" loss, and,

2) This one really stings because we did, or did not do, things that let the win slip thru our fingers in the last 2 minutes.

IMO this is #3 in disappointment behind #1-Laettner and #2-GMU.

 

[Gurleyman]

Also that team was on borrowed time from the second the tournament started. Of all the tough tourney losses '06 has never stuck with me as particularly hard to get over.

I was over it in about 10 minutes. We had a title in 04, AJ and Rashad had their health problems in 05, then the laptop suspensions, and by the time we hit the postseason, that team looked like they had mentally checked out. They played like they wanted to lose the 1-16 game to Albany. Right after losing the 1-8 game to Syracuse. A silly double tech that sent Brandon Roy to the bench when we were down double digits saved us against Washington before Rashad saved us a second time. That team had about a dozen “wake-up calls” late in the year and in the postseason, but they always had one hand on the snooze button. They didn’t have a title in them.

Duke, Florida (94) and Mississippi State were the hardest for various reasons, mostly stemming from the angst of trying to enter new territory. To me, New Mexico State was probably the only really hard one to take this century, just since we were trying to get back to a high level again after a long absence and it felt like we were ready to take a step forward. The others were either good efforts against 1 seeds (Florida 25, Texas 03, Maryland 02, Michigan State 09), our teams not being good enough (Iowa State 12, Maryland 22, Kansas 16), or some injury woes derailing our potential (San Diego 08, NC State 05, Tennessee 00).

 

[boog204]

I came to grips with that game a long time ago given everything that has happened since, especially since I think it was probably better to go down in an all-timer of a game like that than be fed to the UNLV woodchipper but...

Tate George had that game in his hands with like two seconds left when he basically had the steal but lost it out of bounds. Not knowing how the future would turn out for UConn, it kind of felt at the time like their one chance at making the Final Four had just slipped through his hands. I was so crushed after that one.

Maybe it was because I was pretty young and didn't know any better, but that loss didn't kill me like some others. I figured we would be back in that spot fairly quickly and we were in the bare minimum in the Sweet 16 six more times in the decade so it lessened the "pain" of Tate letting the ball slip away. And, as you mentioned, I think we would have gotten run out of the gym by UNLV and I would rather have lost to Duke in the fashion that we did rather than getting embarrassed by UNLV.

 

[boog204]

I was over it in about 10 minutes. We had a title in 04, AJ and Rashad had their health problems in 05, then the laptop suspensions, and by the time we hit the postseason, that team looked like they had mentally checked out. They played like they wanted to lose the 1-16 game to Albany. Right after losing the 1-8 game to Syracuse. A silly double tech that sent Brandon Roy to the bench when we were down double digits saved us against Washington before Rashad saved us a second time. That team had about a dozen “wake-up calls” late in the year and in the postseason, but they always had one hand on the snooze button. They didn’t have a title in them.

Duke, Florida (94) and Mississippi State were the hardest for various reasons, mostly stemming from the angst of trying to enter new territory. To me, New Mexico State was probably the only really hard one to take this century, just since we were trying to get back to a high level again after a long absence and it felt like we were ready to take a step forward. The others were either good efforts against 1 seeds (Florida 25, Texas 03, Maryland 02, Michigan State 09), our teams not being good enough (Iowa State 12, Maryland 22, Kansas 16), or some injury woes derailing our potential (San Diego 08, NC State 05, Tennessee 00).

For me, the Florida and Miss St. losses were the absolute worst. We had arguably the best player in the country on both teams, and they choked in their own way. The NM State game was horrible because we looked so soft and it was such a letdown when we thought things were moving in the right direction. I also thought the Iowa State loss was awful because we just got our butts kicked. Royce White dunking on Drummond on the first play of the game was a harbinger of a total ass-kicking.

I know we were a 2 in 05 with Charlie V, Boone, etc., but I have no memory of that game other than Hodge beating us.

I remember we got beat handily by Duke and Ohio State during Smitty's Junior and Senior year and that sucked at the time. Pretty sure we were up against Ohio State and Jimmy Jackson at the half and then they just steamrolled us and Smitty ended the game sitting on the bench after shooting like 2-15 or something.

I agree with you on George Mason as the 06 team was broken the entire year. We were lucky that Marcus Williams carried us out of a hole against Albany, we played like garbage against Kentucky and Washington and were fortunate to win the Washington game. I wasn't surprised we lost to George Mason. You could just see it coming.

 

[FfldCntyFan]

First I've heard of this.

If you can watch a replay of the game check it out. K ended up about five feet from Tate, with one foot in bounds.

 

[blkknight1]

Any loss that was a springboard for the team.

98 Carolina-young team playing in hostile territory were total underdogs and hung in but in the end lost. Used that experience and we know what happens in 99.

03 Texas-similar to 98. Talented but young going into hostile territory played well but just didn’t have it used it for 04.

22 New Mexico-I know some are saying that this was a bad loss but I disagree. This loss was the loss that showed the staff while it’s great tough minded and great defensively you gotta have offense to win as well.

Disappointing but over quickly
95 UCLA-we were the second best team in that tournament the problem was we ran into the best team in that tournament playing a home game.

02 Maryland-Maryland was on a mission that year after what happened the year before played them well but in the end we
Didn’t have enough.

25 Florida-it was right there for the taking but this was a highly flawed team that never seemed quite right all year long. We had to lose at some point but went out like the champions they had been.

Had to win the Natty to get over
90 Duke-I still hate Christian laettner though

94 Florida-felt like it was supposed to be our year to make the FF. BC had taken out UNC and if we won we had to play BC who we owned that year. Those missed FT by our best player. What could have been?

96 Mississippi state-won the BET for the first time since 90 on Rays miracle shot, were a 1 seed for the first time since 90. The FF was in the meadowland the scene of the crime from 90. We seemed to be on course to play UMass the game so many in the region wanted. Had perhaps our best team ever up to that point. It was all lined up and then gone.

09 Michigan st-we were the best team in the country that year even with the Dyson injury we were 2 best. Had to play in Detroit with an emotionally charged MSU team and crowd. If Dyson doesn’t go down we probably beat UNC.

Got over pretty damn quick

05 NCSt-like another poster said couldn’t tell you anything about that game outside of Hodges last shot.

00 Tennessee-KEAs injury sunk us

08 San Deigo-when AJ went down so did our chances

Still mad about
06 school from Fairfax-yeah I know basically the entire roster outside of like 2 guys had one foot out the door all season. But still we are UConn losing to that school come on.

 

[UConnSwag11]

There is no such thing as a good loss, This one however was not as bas as some have been.

Agreed. The way the game went had us feeling like we were the favorites to win. Loved the effort. Great game, terrible ending

 

[NCHusky91]

I’m more chapped by the good games lost to good teams, like yesterday, UCLA ‘95, MD ‘02, Duke’90, UNC ‘98 (esp since they got screwed in seeding that year). Florida ‘94, Miss St ‘96, GMU ‘06 they played like crap and deserved to lose.

 

[Matrim55]

Any loss that was a springboard for the team.

98 Carolina-young team playing in hostile territory were total underdogs and hung in but in the end lost. Used that experience and we know what happens in 99.

03 Texas-similar to 98. Talented but young going into hostile territory played well but just didn’t have it used it for 04.

22 New Mexico-I know some are saying that this was a bad loss but I disagree. This loss was the loss that showed the staff while it’s great tough minded and great defensively you gotta have offense to win as well.

Disappointing but over quickly
95 UCLA-we were the second best team in that tournament the problem was we ran into the best team in that tournament playing a home game.

02 Maryland-Maryland was on a mission that year after what happened the year before played them well but in the end we
Didn’t have enough.

25 Florida-it was right there for the taking but this was a highly flawed team that never seemed quite right all year long. We had to lose at some point but went out like the champions they had been.

Had to win the Natty to get over
90 Duke-I still hate Christian laettner though

94 Florida-felt like it was supposed to be our year to make the FF. BC had taken out UNC and if we won we had to play BC who we owned that year. Those missed FT by our best player. What could have been?

96 Mississippi state-won the BET for the first time since 90 on Rays miracle shot, were a 1 seed for the first time since 90. The FF was in the meadowland the scene of the crime from 90. We seemed to be on course to play UMass the game so many in the region wanted. Had perhaps our best team ever up to that point. It was all lined up and then gone.

09 Michigan st-we were the best team in the country that year even with the Dyson injury we were 2 best. Had to play in Detroit with an emotionally charged MSU team and crowd. If Dyson doesn’t go down we probably beat UNC.

Got over pretty damn quick

05 NCSt-like another poster said couldn’t tell you anything about that game outside of Hodges last shot.

00 Tennessee-KEAs injury sunk us

08 San Deigo-when AJ went down so did our chances

Still mad about
06 school from Fairfax-yeah I know basically the entire roster outside of like 2 guys had one foot out the door all season. But still we are UConn losing to that school come on.

This is a really great list. Only disagreements are that I don't care about George Mason (and didn't at the time), and I was totally fine with the 09 loss. That was a great MSU team.

Both of these might be hindsight – 4 titles since then eases a lot of pain. But I just never felt that bad about those two even though they were historic.

 

[Inyatkin]

I am still waiting for the day we get matched up with Mississippi State in the tournament. We owe them a 30-point beatdown

 

[bobbygt]

I can look back now objectively and rate the losses. At the time, though, I feel like these losses and whether they were good or bad correlated to my mindset and what I was doing in life. The mid-90s losses (I remember Miss St more than Florida) blew, but I was in college so there were so many distractions to take my mind off of it.

The losses that were the worst at the time were the ones in the mid-2000s, mainly George Mason and Mich State (and the NC State game to a lesser degree), since I was aimless. getting over a bad relationship, and didn't have much going on.

Now being in my late 40s, the loss really stunk yesterday for about 10 minutes, and then I realized I had to pay my credit card, take the kids to a party, and clean the house, so I soon forgot about it.

And similarly with the wins. The 99 championship game is 1 or 2 on my all time happiest sports moments. And while the 11, 14, 23, and 24 titles were beyond awesome, the 2004 Duke game is so tattooed in my brain because it fell in the mid-2000s. I was beyond maniacal watching that game.