MBB: Sweet Cole Chicago; Huskies steal slugfest from DePaul
CHICAGO - No matter what his beloved Cincinnati Bengals do in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday afternoon, University of Connecticut men’s basketball head coach Dan Hurley emerges from this weekend a winner.
It certainly wasn’t easy, but the Huskies extended their winning streak to five games, tying their season-best originally set at the onset of the campaign, with a 57-50 triumph over DePaul at Wintrust Arena. Often stifled from the field by a desperate opponent, No. 20 Connecticut (15-4, 6-2 Big East) was mostly sustained by 25 points from R.J. Cole, whose 25 points were one short of his season-best obtained in their Battle 4 Atlantis finale against VCU on Nov. 26.
Cole’s strong output, complemented by a 9-of-17 ledger from the field, came through big as the Huskies struggled to break away from their hosts. DePaul (10-10, 1-9 Big East) was tasked with not only ending a three-game losing streak against conference competition (which would’ve been at nine if not for an upset win over Seton Hall on Jan. 13) but doing so without the services of top scorer Javon Freeman-Liberty (groin) for the fourth straight game. The Blue Demons forced non-Cole shooters into shooting 31 percent (13-of-42) and also held the Huskies as a whole to only a couple of successful three-pointers on 15 attempts (13 percent).
UConn’s struggles from the field allowed DePaul to erase their early 7-0 lead, jumping out to a 23-13 advantage with just under eight minutes remaining in the opening frame. But Cole’s successful and-one that followed the David Johnson triple that gave DePaul that double-digit lead ignited a 15-6 run over the final 7:48 of the first act. It was a stretch that ended in style and could possibly make the quarterback surplus on the football team even more interesting.
Granted one last opportunity to eat away at DePaul’s evaporated lead with just over a second remaining, Andre Jackson launched the inbounds pass the length of the floor to Adama Sanogo, who got by two defenders for the opportunity to put in a quick, easy jumper that shriveled the lead down to one going into the halftime break. That long bomb magic kickstarted a run of eight straight tallies for Sanogo, which helped permanently shift the lead to the Huskies’ side. UConn led for all but 47 seconds of the second half, their own advantage reaching as high as 11 with DePaul able to linger because of their shooting struggles.
In addition to his quarterbacking antics, Jackson fell one rebound short of his season-high with 13 rebounds. Sanogo was the only other Husky in double figures with 10, coming two boards short of another double-double. Concern did somewhat mar the latter stages of the game, as Isaiah Whaley was observed by the UConn medical staff after he was involved in a hard foul during one of DePaul’s final possessions.
In the absence of Freeman-Liberty, junior Javan Johnson set a new season-high for the second straight game with a team-best 18. Countering DePaul’s defensive effort, the Huskies allowed the opponent’s second-leading scorer, David Jones, to sink only 2-of-13 from the field. The teams will meet again in Storrs on Mar. 5, which will serve as the season finale for both teams.
The Huskies hope that Saturday’s win serves as momentum fuel for a vital stretch against elite conference competition. Starting on Tuesday in Hartford against Creighton (6:30 p.m. ET, FS1), the Huskies will face four consecutive teams that appear in the latest projected NCAA Tournament bracket released by Joe Lunardi of ESPN. UConn will be seeking revenge against the Bluejays (12-7, 4-4 Big East), who took both meetings of the first Big East series between the pair last season, as well as their third matchup in the semifinals of the Big East Men’s Basketball Tournament. Creighton, one of the last four teams getting a bye in Lunardi’s bracket, is coming off a brutal home loss to No. 21 Xavier during Saturday’s early action, losing a 17-point halftime lead to fall 74-64.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
