UConn sports

Sorry for the delay with the nuts and bolts UConn football news of the day.

It’s been a long trip and I wanted to take in the civil rights institute with the Huskies this afternoon.

Anyway, here are a few items from the Huskies as they prepare for Saturday’s Papajohns.com Bowl:

– QB Casey Turner has transferred. He’s headed to Western Carolina.

– OG Scott Schultz and OT Zac Zielinski have also left the team.

– WR Mike Lang and WR Brian Parker are both not with the team. They’re back in Storrs for academic reasons.

Parker, obviously, isn’t a surprise. He’s been out all season for the same reason.

Lang’s loss might not impact the game much (though it could a tad…he was looking good on kick returns), but it’s not a good sign that he’s not eligible after one semester of school.

– WR Dwayne Difton probably won’t play in the game, either.

Difton is with the team but has an infection on his arm.

UConn coach Randy Edsall said (he swears this is true) Difton hurt his arm while texting. His brother apparently opened a door into his elbow while Difton was texting.

Difton didn’t get the injury looked at right away, and returned to campus after the Christmas break with an infection on his arm.

That sounds too far fetched not to be true, right?

– Looks like no chance of QB Cody Endres making some kind of miraculous return.

“He’s really not cleared to play,” Edsall said. “He practiced when we were back on campus but then as we started to prep for South Carolina, the doctors told me he wouldn’t be cleared to play in the game. So Johnny (McEntee) has been taking all the second team reps.”

– CB Dwayne Gratz limped off the practice field Thursday with appeared to be a left knee injury.

He seemed fine later, however.

– OK, I’m out to find a cold beer in a warm New Year’s locale here in Birmingham. Everyone out there in blog land have a safe and happy New Year!!!

- Neill

Was able to walk through the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute with the Huskies this afternoon. It was quite an experience.

Here are a few shots of the day:

- Neill

A shot from this morning’s practice at Hoover High, the UConn football team’s final practice of the season. We’ll have more info soon.

Note Andre Dixon’s No. 2 jersey and Lindsey Witten’s No. 9 struggling to fit on the likes of Dan Ryan and Mike Hicks.

- Neill

A look back at Sunday’s UConn-Iona game:

UConn 93, Iona 74

TURNING POINT _ Maybe when coach Jim Calhoun sent his players onto the floor Sunday afternoon at the start of the game he told them it was the second half. Maybe he told them they had already played 20 minutes against Iona and weren’t very good.

For whatever reason the Huskies came out of the gates hot, something they haven’t done very often this year even when playing opponents over which they seemingly have big advantages.

“We got off to a good start, we really got some energy there in the first half,” Jerome Dyson said.

UConn took a 14-point lead at the half and although the game didn’t turn into a major blowout, the Huskies were never in any danger.

“We got a 17- or 18-point lead and then played scoreboard,” Calhoun explained.

UNSUNG HERO _ Iona coach Kevin Willard is among Gavin Edwards’ fans. The former Louisville assistant coached against Edwards when he was a freshman with the Huskies and has seen the 6-foot-10 forward improve by leaps and bounds.

Edwards had a pretty good game Sunday _ 10 points, nine rebounds, two blocks, two assists and two steals _ and Willard thinks he might be the key to a big season for the Huskies.

“He’s tough. He does all the little things,” Willard said.

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ As good as UConn’s offense was, its defense wasn’t quite as sharp.

Iona guards Rashon Dwight and Scott Machado both were effective in using a high pick-and-roll, sometimes getting free and often finding an open teammate after the screen.

Though it had little impact on the outcome of Sunday’s game, Calhoun recognized the need for a tweak in the team’s defensive approach as the season goes forward.

“We’re going to have to play tighter defense. … I thought we played pretty hard the whole game, we just didn’t handle the pick-and-roll very well up top,” Calhoun said.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ There were plenty of whistles heard Sunday, most of them fouls by the Gaels.

Iona was called for 23 fouls and UConn attempted 35 free throws. That’s obviously not a formula for success if you’re Willard.

“We got to the free throw line against Providence (Iona’s win over the Friars). We weren’t able to get to the free throw line against UConn. They did a good job of containing our penetration early,” Willard said. “We could never get to the bonus. It’s tough when a team shoots 35 free throws and you shoot 10. You have no chance. Road, home, neutral, Mars, you’ve got no chance.”

LOOKING AHEAD _ UConn opens Big East play and plays its first true road game of the season with a contest at Cincinnati Wednesday.

Many of the Huskies expect to play well for the rest of the season, seeing as they often play to the level of their competition.

“The bigger the game, the better we play,” freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel said. “And there’s no more mid-majors left.”

BY THE NUMBERS

10 _ UConn’s ranking in this week’s Associated Press poll,

12 _ Where Kansas State and former UConn forward Curtis Kelly (the team’s fourth-leading scorer and top rebounder) are ranked this week.

- Neill

A pretty good effort by the Huskies in their final pre-conference game of the season. (Yes, the Huskies have two more non-conference games but this was their last “pre-” Big East game. Wait, why am I arguing with myself for my grammar while I type. Oh well, back to reality).

UConn 93, Iona 74 Sunday afternoon at the old mall.

Stanley Robinson (29 points) was great. Everybody else in a UConn uniform was good, too, at least on offense.

“We’re going to have to play tighter defense. We can’t allow penetration down the lane,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “But when you’re scoring, quite frankly, as quickly and easily as we did…”

In other words, after his team scored a season-high 93 points and shot 59 percent from the floor, Calhoun wasn’t about to quibble over some average D.

UConn actually started hot, too, something it hasn’t done very often.

“We got off to a good start, we really got some energy there in the first half,” Jerome Dyson said.

Iona pressed and UConn prospered. The Husky transition game did most of the damage.

“I thought Dyson, (Kemba) Walker, Robinson were terrific,” Iona coach Kevin Willard said. “If they play like that every game, they’re going to be tough to beat.”

– Playing in front of daughters Kamilah and Kelsi helped Robinson, it seems.

“I think I like playing better when my family’s here,” Robinson

Four-year-old Kamilah attended one of her dad’s UConn games once before (a 2006-07 game at Georgia Tech) but this was 2-year-old Kelsi’s first time seeing Stanley in a Husky uniform.

– Calhoun said he was relatively pleased with where the Huskies are at this point (heading into league play).

“Record-wise probably yes,” Calhoun said. “I think 9-2 is acceptable for this team. I would like to see us growing.”

– Freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel scored a career-high 13 points, hitting all four of his shots.

“I got up a lot of shots before (the game),” Coombs-McDaniel said. “And when I had an open shot, I took it.”

– UConn’s 35 free throw attempts (and 23 makes) obviously made a difference in the game.

Iona shot just 10 free throws (and made nine). It did a better job of getting to the line (or got a better whistle) in beating Providence at the Dunk earlier this season.

“We got to the free throw line against Providence. We weren’t able to get to the free throw line against UConn. They did a good job of containing our penetration early,” Iona coach Kevin Willard said. “We could never get to the bonus. It’s tough when a team shoots 35 free throws and you shoot 10. You have no chance. Road, home, neutral, Mars, you’ve got no chance.”

OK, that’s it. Back to football.

- Neill

Huskies are up 14 and playing pretty well.

Jerome Dyson already has 13 and Stanley Robinson 10.

- Neill

Greetings from the XL Center as we wait for UConn-Iona.

Hope everyone out there in blog land had a happy holiday season and that Santa or Hanukkah Harry or whoever delivers the toys in your house was generous.

One lineup note: UConn guard Darius Smith, who was a little tardy returning home from Chicago because of travel delays, is back in town and ready to go.

Talk to you at halftime.

- Neill

A look back at Tuesday’s UConn-Maine game:

UConn 71, Maine 54

TURNING POINT _ Remember MTV’s annual basketball all-star game, the Rock ‘N’ Jock? What was essentially a glorified Hollywood pickup game featured extremely tall baskets at each end of the floor in which made field goals counted for 10 and sometimes 25 points.

Well, perhaps the UConn basketball team believes it can score such basketball coups, too.

In their last two games the Huskies have come out rather flat, and have been over-anxious to come back and seize control. It has led to what coach Jim Calhoun says is like trying to make “a 10-point shot.”

“We said ‘Don’t let it all happen at once’ and that’s exactly what we tried to do,” Calhoun said of Tuesday’s effort against Maine.

Eventually the Huskies did come back and more or less dominated the second half. But they probably could have pulled away sooner if they hadn’t been shooting at imaginary targets.

“Don’t try to make a 10-point shot,” Calhoun said was his message to the players during the game. “We’re suffering from the 10-point shot lately.”

UNSUNG HERO _ Freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel is a really good shooter. Well, that’s what the coaches and players who practice with him every day say.

UConn fans who simply attend games weren’t so sure but Coombs heated up just a little Tuesday night, nailing a 3-pointer and scoring eight points in the Huskies’ win.

Coombs earned his 17 minutes of playing time, according to Calhoun, with some impressive performances in recent practices.

“He definitely can shoot the ball,” teammate Jerome Dyson said. “He shows that every day in practice.”

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ Somewhat lost in the Huskies’ offensive woes is the fact that UConn is playing excellent defense.

UConn did it again Tuesday night to Maine, holding the Bears to an 18-for-63 shooting night (28.6 percent).

“When you start holding teams in college basketball in the 20’s,” Calhoun said of his team’s field goal percentage defense, “I’m upset but a normal human being would not be upset by that.”

It was thought that the Huskies’ style of playing defense _ feeding opponents’ drives to the basket to its shot-blockers _ might have to change with the departure of Hasheem Thabeet. But they continue to lead the nation in blocked shots, with Gavin Edwards making the biggest strides in that area.

UConn’s opponents are shooting just 35.8 percent from the field this year. The Huskies have already blocked 104 shots in 10 games.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ Heading into the half on a 6-0 run and tied with the 11th-ranked team in college basketball, the players from Maine had to be feeling pretty good about themselves.

But a lot of the fans at the XL Center weren’t feeling too good about their Huskies’ performance over the first 20 minutes and booed the home team as it exited the floor.

Calhoun, as he has in the past, said he doesn’t like it any time college athletes are booed.

That being said…

“The way we played, I was probably doing a little bit of that under my breath myself.”

LOOKING AHEAD _ Iona has already beaten the likes of Providence and Creighton.

The Gaels also played Florida State and Baylor very tough on neutral courts before losing.

Sophomore point guard Scott Machado, the MAAC Rookie of the Year last season, leads Iona in scoring (11.1), assists (4.3), and steals (2.1).

BY THE NUMBERS

27 _ Jerome Dyson’s career high in points for a single game.

4 _ The number of times Dyson has scored 27 in a game.

- Neill