UConn Hoops: Huskies eke by Red Storm for first conference win
Not every win needs to be pretty. But in the Big East standings, every win counts the same. In a long, arduous Saturday night affair, the UConn men’s basketball team managed to pull away from St. John’s with a 69-65 victory.
It was a rare close win for Dan Hurley, often known to have difficulties winning the tight ones. UConn didn’t look like a top five team playing against an unranked conference foe, with pretty much all the numbers between the squads looking comparable. The defensive energy was off the charts, with the contest taking well over two hours to complete and 42 fouls being called.
The Huskies were missing star C Donovan Clingan, who is set to miss at least the next 3-4 weeks with a foot injury, not a good recipe against a St. John’s team that excels at offensive rebounding. Connecticut showed resilience nonetheless. They beat the Red Storm on the glass, both offensively and defensively. They only managed one blocked shot with their star gone, but they did well to keep their visitors to 65 points.
A large part of the reason why UConn managed so well was because of Samson Johnson’s excellent play. The backup center has long since been more bark than bite, being touted as a future lottery pick by Hurley before he even recorded a minute in Storrs. His career has been far from that, even though he’s been generally promising in his backup role this year.
With Clingan gone, the junior thrived, scoring 16 points on 7-10 shooting, to go along with four boards. He didn’t just dunk either. The Togo-native hit a few push shots and made the most of the opportunity, showing everyone what Hurley had promised of Johnson all these years. The center will be critical for the team’s success in the next month, as the clearest positional option until Clingan is healthy.
Tristen Newton made some key plays down the stretch, but didn’t have his finest shooting game. He scored 15 points on 14 shots, but impacted the game in other ways with nine rebounds and six assists with one turnover. Though he may not have been at his best, he was a winning player and that’s what made a difference. He hit the shots that counted down the stretch, including a key three and layup, doing his duties as a super-senior.
Another fifth-year who helped the team was Cam Spencer, who made an impact in the first half and early in the second. His 15 points and five boards were big as the Huskies struggled to stay afloat on the offensive end, providing a key spark when needed.
The Huskies grabbed an eight point advantage early, holding the Johnnies to a mere three points in the first 6:37. Connecticut’s defense didn’t get much worse, but it was their offense that found trouble. Long first half lulls gave way to opportunities for the Red Storm, which resulted in a six point deficit going into the break.
The Huskies had a different energy coming out of the locker room, scoring 10 straight points to retake the lead. Whether it was an inspiring speech coach Dan Hurley gave or a tussle a moment into the final half, the home team was fired up. Newton thrived and Stephon Castle recovered from a rough start to the day to help the team stay in the race to the finish.
Tied at 63 with three and a half minutes left, Newton and Castle added layups to put the Huskies up for good. Even with contributions from raw center Youssouf Singare, it was a true team effort from both the newcomers and returners.
The team gets a nice holiday break here to rest and recover, next facing DePaul on January 2, 2024.
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