When the unstoppable force goes up against the movable object, there’s not a lot of doubt about the outcome. On Tuesday, the No. 5 UConn men’s basketball team hosted Mississippi Valley State University in a game nobody expected to be competitive. There was good reason for that. The Delta Devils entered the contest as the worst team in the country on KenPom and Vegas had them as 44.5 point underdogs.
Regardless, they put up a fight. Though MVSU never grabbed a lead or truly threatened the reigning champions, they pushed as hard as they could and forced a few frustrating moments for UConn. With freshman phenom Stephon Castle out with a minor injury, the Huskies only outrebounded their visitors by 11, but passed the ball well en route to a 20-7 assist advantage. The Devils didn’t manage a three until there were five minutes left in the matchup, a needle in the haystack of reasons for their 87-53 loss.
Donovan Clingan, Alex Karaban and Cam Spencer got things going with layups, putting the Huskies ahead 6-0 early. Spencer beat the zone with a pair from downtown and things seemed to be trending in the direction of another snoozefest. MVSU had other thoughts. Karaban and Tristen Newton each earned two fouls early and the Delta Devils slowly reduced the deficit to four against the frazzled Huskies.
Spencer had one of the better games of his five year career, nailing seven of his 11 tries from deep on his career night. The 25 points and four assists are an encouraging combination for the Rutgers transfer, who has shown a bit of everything through three games. When he’s not scoring, he can help in the passing department and when he is scoring, oh boy. Spencer’s shot last year to down No. 1 Purdue proves that no moment is too big for him, a valuable asset on a team that has little experience winning close games.
He tacked on another trey and Solomon Ball threw down a poster dunk, but MVSU stayed in things. It wasn’t until Ball, who was making his first career start, hit a three that Connecticut ballooned their lead into double digits.
Ball played the best game of his young career on Tuesday, notching 10 points and three boards. He looked a lot more comfortable on the floor than he had in the first two games, likely playing with a longer leash than if Castle had been available. Look for Ball to continue to find himself over the next few weeks, as he has the capability to be a key player down the stretch with his athleticism and shooting.
UConn really started rolling at that point, absolutely locking down the Delta Devils. They went scoreless for the next four minutes, as the home squad poured it on. Spencer hit three after three, finishing the half with 19. Karaban and Clingan contributed too, resulting in a 17-point advantage entering the locker room.
Clingan also had a solid outing, staying on the floor for 23 minutes. In that time he scored 17 points to go with five boards on 7-8 shooting. The efficiency is much better than what he produced in the Stonehill win and is closer to what he should be doing against the overmatched opposition. He’ll have his first true test against legitimate competition when the Huskies play 7-footer Kel’el Ware and Indiana.
Spencer continued his hot outing with a career-tying sixth three early in the second half. Samson Johnson added a pair of slams, one via a great lob from Spencer. Rayquan Brown contributed to four straight MVSU points, which caused coach Dan Hurley to call a timeout.
The timeout did wonders for UConn’s defense, with the Devils going without a field goal for the next four minutes and the Huskies tallying 10 straight. Spencer reached a new career high during the run, but departed soon after. Also notable was the early appearance of Greek sophomore Apostolos Roumoglou, a normal benchwarmer. He picked up a few fouls while the other rotation players were in, but he didn’t play poorly.
Otherwise, there wasn’t much doing for the rest of the game. The Huskies played well enough to finish with a 34 point win. They’ll suit up next against Indiana this Sunday in the Empire Classic, their first against a team in the top half of the country.
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