Notes & Quotes: UConn Over Temple
Storrs, Conn. - The UConn Huskies (7-9, 2-3 American Athletic Conference) won their second straight game with a balanced attack, which allowed them to take an early lead and never let it go in a 73-59 victory over Temple Wednesday night.
Kentan Facey scored a career-high 23 points with 10 rebounds to lead the Huskies to victory. Amida Brimah finished with 13 points to go with six blocks and Vance Jackson chipped in with 10 points as well. Jalen Adams added 12 assists and 11 points for his third double-double of the season.
"I think the guys did a good job of setting the tone early," UConn coach Kevin Ollie said.
Shizz Alston Jr. led Temple (10-8, 1-4) with 13 points, while Daniel Dingle and Mark Williams each added 10. The Huskies trailed just once, 3-2 on Alston's 3-pointer 31 seconds into the game. Tied at 8, UConn used a 14-1 run to take a 22-9 edge and never looked back.
"They are just getting better and that's what you would expect this team to do," Temple head coach Fran Dunphy said.
WHAT WENT RIGHT
1. Fast Starts -One thing that hurt the Huskies early in the season was always having to play catch-up in games. For the second straight time, UConn found it's easier to grab a lead and maintain it instead of chasing one. A 14-1 run in the first half put UConn in the driver's seat and allow it to withstand a few runs from the Owls. The Huskies led 39-28 at the break and Temple never got closer than seven points in the second half.
Rodney Purvis: "Oh man, it's truly different. Coming into the second halves and having to play catch up, I think that played a huge role in my conditioning. Now I feel like I am in tip-top shape out there and we are just playing smarter. We are getting used to play with a lead.
2. SENIOR MOMENTS -Brimah and Facey have become a tremdous 1-2 punch for the Huskies at both ends of the floor. Brimah set the tone on defense with all six of his blocks coming in the first half as he disrupted Temple's offense - especially Obi Enechionyia (3-for-17, seven points).
On the other end, Facey started hot under the basket with 11 first-half points on the way to a career night on 9 of 11 shooting. Both seniors played a huge role in UConn outscoring Temple 42-20 in the paint and winning the rebounding battle 40-31.
Ollie: "(Facey's) effort has been incredible. ... He is focused offensively and defensively, and plays to help the team."
Dunphy: "I thought Facey was really good tonight. His efficiency was terrific, so he was very, very good for them. ... Brimah obviously put his mark on the game in the first half and we kept trying to go at him."
Ollie: "The whole team feeds off of (Brimah)."
3. FOLLOW THE LEADER -Instead of putting up bad shots and forcing the offense, Adams had the Huskies humming around the basket. He fed the big men, got everyone else involved, and still was able to produce himself with 11 points.
Adams looked confident and comfortable running the offense, especially in the first half where he had eight assists and just one turnover. He also seems to make better shot selections. Even though he was just 4-for-11 from the field, Adams didn't spend the night jacking up 3-pointers.
Dunphy:"Adams is a force in there because he can make plays."
Facey: "Whenever he can go out there and get us all involved like he did tonight that is going to help us play better."
4. FREE POINTS -The Huskies got to the line and made their shots, going 13-for-17 at the free-throw line. Facey led the way with a 5-for-7 game. UConn came in shooting just 63.2 percent there, but hit 76.5 against Temple.
Ollie: "It's probably our best free-throw line performance of the whole year."
WHAT NEEDS WORK
1. PLAYING WITH A LEAD -After chasing from behind most of the season, the Huskies have not been used to playing with a lead. It showed in the second half. UConn pushed its lead to 45-28 in the opening minute=plus, but then watched Temple slice it down to seven, 51-44, over the next seven minutes.
Adams: "It's way easier getting up to an early lead and being able to play with that. We are still learning, we have a lot to learn and we have to learn how to play with the lead."
2. GUARDING THE BORDER -The Owls didn't have a huge night on the perimeter, but shot 10-for-34 there and got too many open looks there, particularly in the second half during their run. The Huskies had a large enough lead to withstand giving up the 3-ball, but teams know they can get off shots against them on the outside.
NOTES
For the second straight game, UConn went with the starting lineup of Purvis, Adams, Jackson, Facey and Brimah. ... Assistant coach Dwayne Killings went against his old school for the first time. Killings joined Ollie's staff from Temple after Karl Hobbs left for the Rutgers associate head coach job. ... With the students on Winter break, the Huskies drew their smallest crowd of the season with 6,582 fans at Gampel Pavilion. ... The teams meet again Feb. 19 in Philadelphia. UConn holds a 5-3 edge in AAC play and 8-7 all-time in the series.
UP NEXT
UConn travels to Georgetown to play the Hoyas at noon on Saturday.