UConn men score their third straight blowout victory

Nov. 13—HARTFORD — UConn coach Dan Hurley wore a blank expression while standing with his arms crossed staring out on the court in the first half on Wednesday.

Hurley’s mood reflected his team’s play.

Up until that point, the Huskies gave Hurley nothing to get excited about on the offensive end.

They were stuck in first gear and led Le Moyne by only three points about seven minutes before halftime. They missed their first nine 3-point attempts.

Finally, they began to show some life, and so did the XL Center crowd.

Sophomore Jayden Ross converted a rebound, redshirt junior Alex Karaban buried a 3-pointer and freshman Liam McNeely hit a 3, helping the Huskies end the half with a 19-3 spurt to take a 19-point advantage.

No. 3 UConn went on to post its third straight blowout victory to open the regular season, this time by a 90-49 margin.

Hurley’s mood had improved significantly by the postgame press conference.

“I felt better tonight,” Hurley said. “I thought we looked just a little bit more like ourselves. Obviously, we left some points on the table and got off to a slow start shooting it from 3. But I really liked the 3s that we were getting.

“… I thought we took some steps forward.”

A solid defense kept the Huskies (3-0) afloat until they found some offensive rhythm. Le Moyne shot 27.6% (8-for-29) in the first half and 35% overall. The Dolphins (1-3) finished well under their scoring average of 88 points.

The Huskies recovered nicely from an early funk, sinking 55.6% from the field. They went 12-for-33 from beyond the arc.

McNeeley’s UConn career is off to a terrific start. He scored in double figures for the third straight game, finishing with 15. And for the third straight game, Karaban (17) led the team in scoring. Transfer Tarris Reed Jr. added 12 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Graduate guard Hassan Diarra came off the bench and jump-started the team, contributing 10 points and a team-best six assists.

“I just want to bring a spark, some energy, whatever the team needs…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/uconn-men-score-third-straight-045900150.html

Author : The Day, New London, Conn.

Publish date : 2024-11-14 04:59:00

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