In snowy Cincinnati, the UConn men’s basketball team took two steps forward and ultimately one step backward in a 72-74 overtime loss against the Bearcats. Alterique Gilbert and Christian Vital led the scoring with 18 and 16 apiece, with Vital logging 10 defensive rebounds for his second double-double of the year.
The Huskies overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half, tying the game up at the buzzer on a Gilbert floater. It could be classified as a moral victory by some, but not to head coach Dan Hurley.
“We’re going to kick ourselves when we look at the video," he said. "There were missed opportunities. There’s no moral victories at UConn. This season should be for us excruciating losses like this, and then some good wins if we show up like this. Turnovers were low, we battled on the backboard.”
Later he added: “I believe now they have the confidence they can go on the road and beat a good team. They can walk around feeling good about themselves. If we show up this way for the rest of the year, we can have a season to be proud of. How will that end up in wins and losses? It depends on how our young players develop and how we play around Alterique and Jalen.
GAME REVIEW
First Half
UConn jumped out to a 11-5 lead at the first timeout, with the Huskies knocking down their first two threes, then getting trigger happy. Cincinnati showed a match-up zone early, and UConn responded by putting Adams in the high flash. The Husky guards were active on the boards early, but sloppy in transition. Cincinnati switched back to man, and buckets were harder to come by, except for a pretty lob to Tarrin Smith from Jalen Adams
Cincinnati was able to get back into the game as UConn’s offense sputtered and the Huskies went away completely from the high post flash and instead opted to screen the top two on the zone. There was no penetration after the first few minutes, with UConn’s first free throws of the game coming with 7:14 to play.
To close out the half, UConn went small, with Isaiah Whaley at center and a nice little 3⁄4 press and a match-up zone, which at least for one play caused confusion. Despite the uneven play characteristic of a Cincinnati “rock fight,” UConn headed into the half happy to be down one. It was an overall solid effort, warts and all.
Second Half
Cincinnati started out in man, and the result was three straight UConn turnovers. Adams picked up his third foul with 16:14 left, and UConn continued to struggle with Mick Cronin’s match-up zone. Some poor post defense stretched Cincinnati’s lead to as much as 11, and it looked like Vegas’ line of 10.5 was going to hit the over. The Bearcats had just too many easy buckets coupled with sloppy UConn turnovers that fed an amped crowd of 11,375.
However, the Huskies fought back. UConn’s run was triggered also by going to zone with around 11 left. Some timely threes and an ooh-inducing block from who else but Sid Wilson helped UConn cut the lead to one with 7:44 left.
Then, with the taller Adams on Cumberland, Cinci’s offense stagnated. Christian Vital was flagged for an, erm, questionable flagrant foul with 6:32 left that sent the lead back to seven, but two back-to-back threes form Adams and Vital with 5:07 left cut the lead to two.
Jalen Adams took a big charge (more on that later) with four fouls, and a Vital three gave UConn the lead 57-56 with 4:30 left. Neither teams were able to get much going towards the end. Jalen Adams picked up his fifth foul with 2:26 left. Gilbert was able to quiet the crowd with a Luca Doncic-type step back, but a Tarrin Smith layup rimmed out that would have given UConn the lead. A scrum on the floor gave UConn the ball with 25.8 seconds left to win, but a Sid Wilson was whistled for a moving screen with 11 seconds to go.
Former Sacred Heart standout and Connecticut native Cane Broome missed the back-end of a two-shot bonus, giving UConn another shot. Cinci opted to foul, trimming the time down to four. With 4.5 seconds left though, Alterique took the ball from the top of the key, faked a three, drove to the lane, and nailed a floater as time expired.
Overtime
UConn got into the bonus on the first play of OT. With Cinci in man and Adams out, it was the Alterique Gilbert and Christian Vital show. UConn’s threes and even layups started to rattle in and out, and a Justin Jenifer trey put Cinci up five with 1:14 to play. Nearly every UConn chance, layup or shot in overtime just danced on the rim it seemed.
Cane Broome of Cinci was able to sink his free throws this time, but Gilbert kept it a game with a clutch and-one. Justin Jenifer missed both free throws with 10 seconds left, giving UConn the chance to go the length and get the W. But Christian Vital bobbled his dribble at half court, and the amid the recovery was promptly called for an offensive foul. A UConn steal gave the Huskies a chance for a miracle, but the clock expired ending as Wilson’s shot flew. A valiant and tough road effort ultimately fell short.
Hurley: “Christian is beyond despondent, but he had 10 rebounds. Against that front line, its impressive. All you can do is hug him and be proud of how he showed up.”
Carlton: “He plays so hard. He always brings it. It’s just good to have someone like that on our team.”
Adams: No one is blaming him. It never comes down to one play or missed shot. It’s stuff that happens all throughout the game.
WHAT WENT WELL
Pace of Play: Most of UConn’s offense once again came on transition buckets. Pushing the pace led to easy looks, and the team just looked more comfortable on the break than with scripted offensive “sets.”
The rebounding: UConn out-rebounded Cinci 38-30, led by the guards continuing their run of gang rebounding. In addition to Vital’s double-double, Gilbert had six rebounds and Adams posted five. Carlton held his own too; one rebound shy of a double-double.
Zone Defense: There could be more of it as league play picks up. It stalled Cincinnati’s run at the end of the game last night. Said Hurley, “We’re a small team, so zone is tricky. Anytime you see a team with two or three non-shooters, it's an option. It also gives us a rest, we can save our legs for offense.”
Locking Down Jarron Cumberland: Yes, Cumberland ended with a game-high 22. But 11 of those came on free throws, and Cumberland shot 5-14 from the field. Vital started on him, while Tarrin Smith and Jalen Adams took turns on the burly 6-5 scorer.
Emergence of Alterique Gilbert: Rique’ has averaged 18 points in his last three games as he continues to shake the rust off. Said Hurley, “Al was slicing up the match up zone. He got into the paint and showed touch but also did a good job of not over-penetrating. You can see him really starting to put it together.”
Competitive Drive: It was fun to watch UConn claw back from a 11-point deficit in the second half. You could see the team’s confidence building as it slowly crept back into the game. It’s what everyone talked about after, including Hurley: “The guys showed the type of grit you want to see in Year 1. This is the best team in the league; the bully in the conference. The ball just spun out on us, but I’ll take that. We fought our heart out.”
WHAT NEEDS WORK
Shot Selection: Too much of the offense still came on bailout buckets and jacked up threes. The team is deadly in transition, but still needs to work on its half-court offense.
Low Post Defense: Nysier Brooks abused Carlton down low a few times, but it wasn’t just him. Position was given up too easily, putting Cinci’s bigs in good spots.
Fouls around the rim: On penetration, UConn defends with their hands too much, and its bigs are always going for the block and fall for pump fakes easily. While that works, it also leads to a lot of swipes that get calls, especially on the road.
Hurley on fouls, which went 38 to 16 in favor of Cincinnati: “The refs have a hard job. What can you do? We committed a lot of fouls, and the more physical team didn’t.
REACTIONS
Josh Carlton: “It’s always tough to lose like this, but we can learn from it, use it to get better.”
Christian Vital: “This one hurt. Everyone fought. I have to make a better play at the end. It hurts. No comment on the call. It happened. I have to go back to the film. If I’m in that position again, I promise it won’t happen. But we took a huge step forward today. It was a hostile environment out there. It shows how much this team has come together and how much we’re buying in.”
Alterique Gilbert: “It’s a big step, even though we lost. We’re growing as a team and coming together. It’s early; we’re going to continue to work and get better.”
: “That (charge) was the play of the night for me. As long as I got a charge, I don’t care if I scored zero points. Coach has been getting on me about taking charges. Once I got that charge, I ran over to the bench to celebrate with him.”
NEXT UP
The Huskies have a road tilt against Tulsa on Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 7 p.m. ET on ESPNews.
