The Double Bonus

Huge would be a good way to describe it after UConn hooked No. 1 Texas.

With no NCAA Tournament worthy wins on their resume, the Huskies came into Saturday’s showdown with top-ranked Texas knowing fully well the opportunity that lay in front of them.

And they capitalized big time with an 88-74 victory in Gampel Pavilion that should squash any talk of the Huskies being a bubble team for the time being. Check out Neill Ostrout’s coverage from Storrs here.

Forward Gavin Edwards dunks during UConn's 88-74 win over No. 1 Texas. (AP)

While it was a struggle in the first half, when the Huskies turned the ball over an astounding 16 times, things came together in the second half rather quickly and brilliantly for a considerable stretch. All of the sudden the Huskies played up to their potential; defending, rebounding and running their fast break offense with precision. 

And it was led by the embattled backcourt. Jerome Dyson had himself a career gameand Kemba Walker played polar opposite halves. The first 20 minutes were a struggle for the sophomore PG and the second half was his 2010 coming out party.

It’s been a tough season for Walker after he played the role of A.J. Price’s backup last year during UConn’s Final Four run. He hasn’t stepped up like many had expected he would this year. His offense has been inconsistent, his decision puzzling at times. But that wasn’t the case Saturday. At least not in the second half.

And just as importantly as the Huskies’ backcourt play, the team as a whole showed plenty of heart and perseverance playing their second game without coach Jim Calhoun and coming up big in a big spot.  Texas’ inability to take full advantage of the Huskies many first half turnovers was a help, but UConn got what nearly amounted to a must-win. 

That being said, I have a feeling there’s going to be a tendency for UConn fans to overreact after the game. Sure it’s a great win for the Huskies and certainly will mask many of their flaws, but they’re still a team that doesn’t take care of the ball enough and still is basically inept in the half court set. They’re lack of a pure, knock down shooter wasn’t needed in this one – Dyson finally hit some outside shots – but that defincency will be exposed plenty the rest of the way out.  Saturday’s second half played out perfectly for the Huskies: They defended and ran right to the basket for easy points. We haven’t seen that from UConn – against a quality opponent – since the first half of that devastating loss to Georgetown.

As for Texas, the Longhorns are smarting after two straight losses. Clearly they have issues with teams that don’t mind banging with them and can get out in transition. The Longhorns are going to drop in the polls – possibly as far down as 7th or 8th. But they’ve got too much talent not to continue to be among the nation’s best. Don’t dismiss the Longhorns. That would be a big mistake.

 * Michigan State had no business beating Minnesota Saturday at The Barn. Down double digits for what seemed most of the game, the Spartans, underdogs to an undermanned Minnesota team they had beat just a few weeks earlier, road the coattails of Kalin Lucas as he closed out the Gophers, 65-64. Thanks to Lucas’ 22 points – none bigger than his go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:27 left – Michigan State escaped with a perfect 7-0 in the Big Ten, having won eight straight – 10 of its last 11 on the road - off to their best start since the days of Magic Johnson.

They’re definitely not the most athletic or the most explosive and they usually don’t shoot lights out. But the Spartans showed a ton fo savvy Saturday. They crashed the boards hard, stuck it to the Gophers defensively and Lucas showed you how important it is to have a veteran point guard running the show. When the Spartans easily could have folded, Lucas took the team on his back.

“It was the best Lucas has been all year,” Michigan State coach Tim Izzo said after the it was over.

* Minnesota wasn’t the only Big Ten team to suffer a painful loss Saturday. No. 21 Ohio State met No. 11 West Virginiain Morgantown and promptly looked like a Top 5 team in the first half, taking a 12 point lead into halftime. It was all downhill after that.

Evan Turner could only do so much for the Buckeyes who failed to get their revenge after last year’s beatdown at the hands of West Virginia. He may be Player of the Year material, but the Mountaineers didn’t let Turner go crazy, “limiting” him to 18 points. West Virginia’s slow start was nothing but a distant memory in the game’s final seconds as they held Ohio State to just one field goal over the final eight minutes. The Mountaineers dominated the boards in the second half and held Turner to just five points after halftime.

It was an important win for the Mountaineers who had been struggling with unimpressive wins against lesser opponents and high profile losses to the likes of Purdue and Syracuse. Maybe this will get West Virignia back on track, but more importantly for the Mountaineers is going to be a way to figure out their inconsistent guard play.

* It’s easy analysis, but it’s amazing how good some teams look when they play a little defense and take care of the ball. That was the case with No. 4 Villanova against St. John’sat in the Garden. Villanova opened up an early lead only to watch St. John’s jump out to a double digit lead before the Storm entered halftime up a point. The second half wasn’t much of a fight as the Wildcats began to bear down, force turnovers and not throw away the ball. Scottie Reynolds had himself another stellar game. He’s Big East and National Player of the Year material. But I worry against better opponents if Villanova is going to rely too heavily on Reynolds. There are times when it seems like Reynolds just dribbles until he get himself enough room to fire off a shot. I was very impressed by what I saw out of Maalik Wayns. Only a freshman, he’s going to be a player for Nova.

* Poor Arkansas. They walked into a buzzsaw in Rupp Arena. The Razorbacks limped into the locker room at halftime with a 30 point deficit staring them in the face. Ladies and gentlemen, you’re new No. 1: Kentucky.

* Tennessee hit the road to visit Georgia, but the true dogs Saturday were the Vols. They were absolutely dominated by Georgia on their way to an embarrassing 15 point loss. Talk about not showing up. Georgia now has wins against the Vols, Georgia Tech and Ilinois. They’ve got more impressive wins than a number of ranked teams.

* The good vibes from Monday’s upset of No. 1 Texas didn’t last very long for No. 10 Kansas State who fell to Oklahoma State at home. Talk about a letdown. Coach Frank Martin was the toast of the college world for a few days earlier this week. Now he and the Wildcats look like a bunch of chumps.

* Kansas did not waste much time dismissing Iowa Stateon the road. Cole Aldrich had himself a big game with 19 and 11. That should quiet some of his critics who had been dogging Aldrich for some less then stellar performances over the Jayhawks past few games.

* Who has the nation’s third longest winning streak at 11? How about Northeastern. The Huskies took down VCU at home Saturday and sit atop the CAA standings right now. You’re going to hear a lot more from Northeastern over the next month.