UConn Men's Basketball By the Numbers - 2/25
The last two weeks have not been pretty for UConn men’s basketball. In the absence of Jalen Adams and with Alterique Gilbert not yet back at full strength, the Huskies are now on a five game losing skid. They have lost those five games by an average margin of 11 points.
On a positive side, UConn was able to hold their own against No. 9 ranked Houston and Cincinnati at home, losing by single-digits in both games. The Huskies had impressive games on the defensive end of the floor to keep both close. However, their performances on the offensive end left something to be desired, highlighted by cold starts to the second half. Christian Vital led all scorers in both with, 15 points on just 40 percent shooting and 14 points on 44 percent from the floor, respectively.
Both games were down shooting nights for Vital, who has despite being inconsistent in his first two seasons emerged as one of UConn’s most efficient options on the offensive end. On the season, his true shooting percentage is a team high 60.5 percent. As shown below, that represents a large improvement over the last two seasons, and also ranks him among the top 200 in the nation according to KenPom.
Vital’s improved efficiency can be attributed to a few factors. First, his three point percentage has improved by nearly 10 percent from last season, at 41.2 percent. While he still takes some deep and contested shots, under Coach Hurley his shot selection has improved dramatically. Vital is just five three-pointers shy of tying his makes from last season, on 61 fewer attempts.
Vital has scored 50 percent of his points from beyond the arc this season, but he is also great at drawing fouls inside. He heads to the line on over 30 percent of his field goal attempts. The combination of his increased accuracy from three-point range and frequent trips to the line help Vital to average 1.21 points per scoring (or a true shooting percentage of 60.5), compared to a field goal percentage of 45.6 percent on the season.
Additional Key Stats
- UConn continues to at least partially counteract poor shooting nights with a strong presence on the offensive glass. The Huskies have collected 34 percent of their own misses on the season, which ranks in the top 40 per KenPom. UConn’s offensive rebounding effort was especially impressive against Memphis where they collected nearly 46 percent of their own misses.
- Tyler Polley has shined on the offensive end, leading the Huskies in scoring in two of their last four games. Polley tallied 20 points against Memphis and 19 against SMU, and has shot an impressive 54 percent from beyond the arc in UConn’s last four contests.
- Against Cincinnati, the Huskies high pressure defense proved effective. UConn was able to turn the Bearcats over on more than a quarter of their possessions, and scored 9 points of those 16 turnovers. However, the UConn defense fell apart in the lane and the Huskies allowed Cincinnati to score 30 points in the paint.
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