UConn vs Texas Post Game Thread...

[Boost'ED]

One of the few negatives I saw was that in the limited time Mahaney played, our offense really stagnated.

He doesn't seem to handle ball pressure, and there were a couple of possessions where it looked like he had a cutter open for a basket but didn't initiate the pass.

Be it unfamiliarity with our offense or hesitation for concern of a turnover, his learning curve will be long.

 

[Bazz2014]

The improvement game to game since last week is remarkable. We’re not where we need to be but the defense showed what it CAN be in that first half and it was really solid.

Offense was poetry in motion. Looks like things are clicking now on that end.

This was a really solid win that has all the signs of aging well. And great to win one away from home early in the season.

Still waiting for a game where both Alex and Liam are firing on all cylinders at the same time. Throw Solo’s shooting and the Reed/Johnson combo in there and that will be a truly high octane offense. Too much to ask that they do it against the Zags this weekend??

 

[Palatine]

Their Johnson shot 9-17.
Our Johnson shot 6-7.

 

[Ricker]

Liked alot. Perfect earlier post that the offense flowed. Diarra 11 assists, vs 2 turnovers. Johnson finished well but still just 1 rebound seems impossible to continue game after game vs the tough rebounds Reed secures. Texas didn't have the downhill driver that has been killing us, but, it was a preview of the big guard bully ball we will see from Kadary Richmond and we dealt with it. Stewart hitting a 3 I thought was a big shot at the time and he nailed it. Mahaney & Ross just need to play in case it happens to be their game. Very pleased Singare is getting his chance and looks like he can hold the fort enough. I expect more Singare minutes this year because Reed and Johnson will each have 2 fouls often. Ball nailed the tying 3 in Maui, but Diarra most often at the end of games and halves has taken a desperation shot. We have 3 guys shooting 40% from 3 and have to figure out how to get better shots than Diarra prayers even though he has clutch history with Tx A&M

 

[Hey Adrien!]

Out with family for the entire game, but grateful for a nearby tv with the game on! Nice string of wins this week!

 

[AntG168]

Win on Saturday and we go into conference play with wins over Baylor, Texas and Gonzaga. I think we all would’ve signed up for that at the beginning of the season.

 

[Horatio]

Singare: He had no statistical production to mention, but he enabled the two bigs to sit for nine minutes in the first half without picking up a third foul, and also allowed Karaban to stay at the four and not have to move to the five. His contribution was enormous.

My UConn mind wants me to believe that Calhoun told Hurley how he used to use his third big when the first two were in foul trouble. They met in the locker room, alone, after the Baylor game.

 

[cp176]

Ball's defense was very solid They worked hard and gutted out a win. I like seeing Johnson 3/4 his man or trying to front his man in the post. If he continues to play behind his man, he is a foul waiting to happen. Diarra's defense on Johnson was outstanding in the first half. He also had some nice looks inside on the slips screens and cuts to the basket. Dannys got his work cut out for him though, some of those turnovers were so very very sad.

 

[TheShot1990]

They thought they could win. They could not.

 

[Kenny11]

Great game for their mental well being

And mine.

 

[UCLJ0211]

Balls defense?

A cup usually works well

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

WE WON AN AWAY GAME

Danny's highest-ranked true road game win against a P4/5 opponent ever! Previous was Florida which did not get votes in that week's poll. Texas was 28th in AP votes this week. Disappointing close-game fail against Huggins in Morgantown 3 (unless 4) years ago. Last year at Allen Field House would have been great, but nope.

 

[WhereistheDove?]

Diarra threaded the needle with some absolute dimes today. By far his most consistent performance running the offense. Great game from him.

 

[Leebo]

Kenpom ranking went from 26 to 14.

 

[NutmegDog]

It's been commented on already, but I'll add my vote to Singare's first-half minutes -- foul plagued though they were -- were a revelation. Now we can sit Samson Johnson and Reed when they pick up their (seemingly inevitable) second fouls and not have to go small -- at least not for too long. If Sinare can come along just a little more, it takes a ton of pressure off the bigs' rotation.

 

[willie99]

We're good people, enjoy the ride

And yes, even should we lose again, just smile

WE'RE UCONN

 

[freshler40]

They thought they could win. They could not.

Seith G. said Texas has won 21 Stright at home. This was a serious good win. KS lost again to a second unranked team. WOW.

 

[Fatroony5]

Really happy with the win, great execution first half and just straight up awful offense by Texas. Big confidence booster going into Storrs South next week against the Zags, absolutely a winnable game. I know they want to get the lion’s share of minutes to Karaban/McNeeley, but still feels like Stewart is getting the serious short end of the stick with his minutes. Only logged 8. Would like to get a bit of an increase there, little surprised they didn’t go small at all in that first half.

 

[YearoftheHusky]

Their Johnson shot 9-17.
Our Johnson shot 6-7.

Is this a big Johnson contest?

 

[REB1094]

On the road, Quad 1 game, and never really in doubt. Great win!

The good (one for each starter) -

• Welcome back Karaban! Don't want you to play 40 minutes every game, but a monster game from AK today
• I'm really liking this new focus on getting the ball to the bigs towards the hoop. It puts pressure on the entire defense to rotate, which opens up everything. It was really fun watching Samson go nuts early in the second half
• Diarra's scoring wasn't there tonight but his impact sure was. 11 assists and great defense even though Texas made some really tough shots over him
• Solo has gotten a lot of heat on this site, including from me. But he is LIGHTING IT UP from three. If he can mix in some cuts and drives like he did today, his defensive deficiencies become less noticeable
• Liam wasn't going to have a scoring outburst today so he hit the boards hard. He's my favorite player on this team, he's tough

The bad -

• My goodness the first half fouls..13 fouls in 20 minutes. I don't think I've ever seen C1, C2, and C3 all in foul trouble in 1 half before
• Regression game from Mahaney today. Didn't really provide anything, I still think him figuring it out is a major key to late season success

Tre Johnson is a HOOPER. He's going to make a lot of money playing basketball. But at the end of the day, Huskies win!

 

[UCTitleTown]

What network was the game on? My DVR didn't record it. Any replay?

 

[uconnfan68]

Solo drove the ball to the rack with a bit of success tonight and I think it opened up more space for him to get looks at the 3 point line.

He should have headfaked for the last 2, then drive closer.

 

[drayenob]

What network was the game on? My DVR didn't record it. Any replay?

It was on ESPN but unfortunately they had it listed generically as "College Basketball" (at least on youtube tv) so if your DVR was set to record "UConn" it wouldn't have picked it up.

 

[nelsonmuntz]

Tre Johnson has "Bad/Mediocre Team Superstar" written all over him. He is ferociously selfish, and he thinks nothing of running down a shot clock on breakdown attempts and then dumping the ball to a teammate to attempt a stat-killing contested shot-clock beater that Johnson caused by burning the shot clock on selfish play. He might get better, but right now he is the kind of player that makes all his teammates worse.

Kaluma has more self-control than I would in that situation where Tre Johnson got in his face.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Huge road win in a building where Texas hasn’t lost out of conference before today.
Diarra distributing instead of hoisting 3s made the offense much better.
Alex was great all around then ran out of gas a bit. Stewart needs to play more. Defense was just so much better until Johnson went off, but they weathered that storm.

Much needed and if we can knock off a really good Gonzaga team we are back where we wanted to be.