Notes & Quotes: UConn Men's Basketball Makes it Past BU, 51-49
HARTFORD – Freshman Christian Vital scored a career-high 13 points and UConn gutted out a 51-49 victory over Boston University on Wednesday night in front of 8,183 fans at the XL Center. It was Kevin Ollie’s 100th win as head coach at UConn.
It was just the second win over a NCAA Division I school for the Huskies (3-4), who also beat D-II Chaminade at the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Kentan Facey added eight points and seven rebounds for UConn, while Amida Brimah had nine points and three blocks. BU's Eric Fanning led all scorers with 21 points.
WHAT WORKED
Hey man, it's a win: At this point, UConn can’t worry about getting impressive, stylish wins– the Huskies just need Ws. This one they had to grind until the finish, making just 2 of 4 foul shots in the final nine seconds while clinging to a 50-45 lead. To UConn’s credit, the defense held BU to a 3-for-19 performance on 3-pointers – the Terriers came in making 9.3 per game and UConn had struggled with perimeter D earlier in the season.
Ollie’s take: “Happy with the win. I thought our defense really improved from what we had been doing a couple games in Maui. Just was real pleased with that.”
Growing Up: Vital made some huge plays in the second half, where he scored 10 of his team-high 13 points. With the Huskies down to a three-guard rotation, Vital is in line for a key contributor role this season. He made 2 of his three 3-pointers in the second half to give UConn a little cushion with its lead. He also bounced back after a turnover in the final 27 seconds at the other end with a rebound and then made 1 of 2 free throws to give UConn a 47-43 lead with 19 seconds left.
Vital’s take: “As soon as we got back from that long road trip I put an emphasis on getting shots up after study hall and after practice and it helped me out tonight.”
Box Out! The Huskies lost the battle of the boards 44-42, but did a much better job in the second half. At the break, BU held a 26-16 edge and had eight offensive rebounds – the Terriers finished with 10. Facey and Rodney Purvis (six rebounds) were key in keeping the Terriers to one-shot possessions in the second half.
Facey’s take: “We just made a better effort to crash the glass, box out and get clean rebounds, so we can run in transition.”
WHAT NEEDS WORK
Under Construction: With the number of bricks each team put up in the opening half, you might think expansion at the XL Center was already under way. UConn shot 26.9 percent (7-for-26) with Jalen Adams 1-for-8 and Purvis 1-for-6. BU hit 25 percent (7-for-28). Somehow, the Huskies closed the half on an 8-4 run in the final 7:13 to lead 21-17. For the game, UConn shot 32.1 percent (17-for-53) and BU was 31.0 (18-for-58).
BU coach Joe Jones’s take: “Tough night shooting the ball.”
Ollie’s take: “Rodney and Jalen goes 5-for-25, it’s pretty bad, but we still played defense and stayed in the game.”
Backcourt Blues: While Vital had a career night, Purvis and Adams were a combined 5-for-25 shooting for 13 points. Adams scored 86 points in three games in Hawaii, but 3 of 15 from the field with seven points. Purvis was 2-for-10. It might work against a mid-major, but the Huskies’ veteran guards are clearly better than this, and need to show it. Their struggles led to UConn scoring just two fast-break points despite 16 BU turnovers.
Ollie’s take: “I want to get out and run still. We got 16 turnovers and we didn’t convert those and Jalen is the leader of that. Jalen has to get the ball and push the ball. We have to run over lanes and I want to still be a fast-breaking team.”
Where's the Meat? The Huskies closed the gap on rebounds in the second half, but got owned in the paint overall, including a 24-11 advantage in scoring. With Brimah, Facey, and Enoch inside, teams shouldn’t have such an easy go around the basket.
Ollie’s take: “We can’t just jack up shots, you’ve seen our shooting percentage. It has to be inside-out and that’s kind of how I want to play.”
NOTES: Omotayo Aiyegbusi, a 6-4 freshman guard from Philadelphia, was added to the roster as a walk-on before the game. …Freshman Christian Vital and sophomore Steven Enoch made their first career starts for UConn. … UConn was just 12-for-23 at the foul line overall and are shooting just 61.9 percent there for the season.
UP NEXT
Monday, vs. Syracuse at Madison Square Garden, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)