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UConn coach Geno Auriemma was encouraged recently by the report he had received from the medical staff regarding freshman Morgan Tuck and her problematic right knee. She was making steady progress. And she produced seven points and five rebounds in 23 minutes at St. John’s Feb. 2. Her playing time matched her second-highest total of the season.

It appeared that Tuck had finally turned the corner. That was until she slipped on some ice last Sunday on campus and re-aggravated the bone bruise in her knee. The incident forced her not only miss practice Sunday and Monday, but it also kept her out of Tuesday’s win over Marquette.

The time off apparently served Tuck well as she returned to practice Thursday night.

“Everybody practiced yesterday expect Brianna Banks, obviously,’’ Auriemma said. “And we expect everybody to be ready to go tomorrow and we expect everybody to be able to play on Sunday (against DePaul). Now I say that with the understanding that Morgan’s situation is every day. The latest report that we got is that she was doing so much better and then the little mishap on the ice kind of set her back a little bit. But, hopefully, that was just a temporary thing and then we’ll be able to go for here.’’

Tuck, who is averaging 5.7 points and 3.4 rebounds in 14.8 minutes, has missed four games this season. Auriemma is optimistic that at some point Tuck will overcome her injury woes and become a regular contributor for the Huskies.

“If Morgan was a junior I think she’d know how to handle this a little bit better,’’ Auriemma said. “She would handle it like Caroline (Doty). She would just come in and play when she could and contribute and then move on. But because she’s a freshman she has no reference point. So it’s hard for her to one day be at practice and the next day not practice, then practice for three days and play in a game like St John’s and not practice for two days. That’s not natural and she has no experience in that. So I’m hoping that little by little if we can get a two-week stretch where she practices every day and plays in a bunch of games that all of a sudden we start to see more of what Morgan can do. That’s our goal, anyway.’’

Rich

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Winter Storm Nemo has forced the Huskies to slightly alter their plans in preparation for Sunday’s game against DePaul at Gampel Pavilion.

Instead of taking Wednesday and Thursday off with four days between games, UConn practiced last night in anticipation that the university would be closed today due to the storm, which indeed was the case. The Huskies will not practice today and hope to practice tomorrow.

“Our original plan, which is pretty much standard whenever we have a Tuesday and Sunday game is play Tuesday, have a lift on Wednesday and then off on Thursday and then practice Friday, Saturday and play Sunday,’’ UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. “But we pretty much knew that today everything was going to be closed up at school so we rounded everybody up and practiced last night. And take today off and then practice tomorrow and then play Sunday. The only problem with that is if we can’t get our staff and support people up to school tomorrow then, obviously, we won’t be able to practice tomorrow either. But I don’t foresee that happening. So right now it’s just been a little bit of an inconvenience, but nothing like some other people are going to be going through, that’s for sure.’’

Rich

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Sophomore guard Brianna Banks has already begun the road back to full strength. UConn coach Geno Auriemma said today that she began the rehabilitation process last Sunday, the day after she suffered a torn ACL in her right knee at St. John’s.

A date for surgery has not yet been set, according to Auriemma.

“All her time now is spent making sure that the leg is strong enough and that she’s in the best shape possible for when surgery does occur,’’ Auriemma said. “So rehab started the very next day. And it’ll continue leading up the surgery and then, obviously, for a long, long time after that. But this is a good way for her to get kind of a preview of what it’s going to be like. No matter how much you explain it to somebody until they go through it’s hard to prepare somebody for it.’’

Banks was on the floor for just 1:22 before sustaining the injury with 10:02 left in the first half last Saturday at Carnesecca Arena. She was called for an offensive foul on the play, colliding with St. John’s junior Briana Brown.

Results of an MRI administered last Sunday confirmed the extent of Banks’ injury. She averaged 7.3 points, 1.7 rebounds and 17.1 minutes in 21 games this season.

“She’s had a really good attitude about everything so far,’’ UConn senior Kelly Faris said. “Obviously, I’ve never been through something like that so I don’t know how I’d handle it. But she’s surprised me with her attitude and how positive she’s staying. You can tell that she just wants to get it over with and get it behind her and move on.’’

Rich