UConn sports

OK, UConn coach Jim Calhoun says today’s tilt against Providence is a big game. That carries some weight.

A more significant sign that it’s big? There were two or three hundred students lined up outside Gampel Pavilion some two-and-a-half hours before tipoff.

It’s the Huskies’ first game in Storrs since Jan. 3, some 28 days ago, perhaps increasing the demand for front-row seats.

- Neill

UConn sophomore center Charles Okwandu has been declared academically ineligible and will not play for the rest of the season.

Okwandu can practice with the team but will not travel with the Huskies or suit up for games.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to continue to be a part of the team while I re-focus on my academics,” Okwandu said in a statement. “I know with hard work and the support of my coaches and teammates that I will be successful in the classroom and be able to rejoin the team next season.”

“I know that this year has been a challenge for Charles, as it is for many college students,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “We are 100 percent supportive of Charles as he focuses on his primary goal of attaining a UConn education.”

- Neill

A few notes from Friday’s practice at Gampel Pavilion:

– PG Kemba Walker wasn’t 100 percent at practice but he should be ready to go Saturday against Providence. His sprained left ankle didn’t seem to be bothering the freshman too much.

“He’s just fine,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “He likes the tape.”

Calhoun joked that the injury is all an act by Walker.

“I think he’s trying to get some sympathy from some co-eds,” Calhoun said.

– PG A.J. Price thinks UConn-Providence is a rivalry.

“It is. It’s not talked about much in that sense but I think this is one of the better rivalries,” Price said. “They always play us tough. It’s always a tough game.”

PF Jeff Adrien, who is very familiar with the PC roster, seems to agree.

“I think it makes it more intense,” Adrien said of the familiarity between the teams. “There’s more bragging rights since you see these guys so often.”

“I played with a couple guys on that team. Jonathan Kale, I played AAU basketball with him. Weyinmi (Efejuku), I played prep school basketball with him,” Adrien said. “I’ve seen Jeff Xavier, just being from New England and seeing him play.”

– Last year Price pretty much guaranteed a UConn victory over Providence in the second meeting. (the first was a painful blowout by the Friars that clearly ticked the Huskies off)

This year he wasn’t as brash.

“I can’t foresee anything this year,” Price said.

Adrien says he’s over that throttling UConn suffered at the XL Center last year. Sort of…

He took some playful shots at the Friars’ lack of a postseason.

“They got it. They won. They enjoyed it,” Adrien said. “They didn’t do too much after that. It matters what you do after that. … You have to build from that. I don’t think they really did that last year.”

– Calhoun often talks in riddles and circles but this one threw me for a loop. Talking about how his team hasn’t been playing awesome (though pretty good) at home recently, the coach said:

“We’ve had a lot more less looseness,” Calhoun said.

Uhhh….right.

– The starting five will be the same but Calhoun said backup guard Donnell Beverly might see some action Saturday.

“Donnell Beverly has a chance to play,” Calhoun said. “We may go three guards against three guards the whole game. That may or may not happen.”

– Why are the Friars winning so much? Because they’re winning, of course.

“The winning thing is what’s made them better. Winning breeds winning,” Calhoun said.

OK, that really is a good point. Still sounds funny, though.

– This one….not sure how believable it is.

When explaining his team’s only defeat of the season (that 74-63 loss to Georgetown) Calhoun claimed that center Hasheem Thabeet at first had some big plans for Hoya freshman Greg Monroe.

“I remember Hasheem, who I love to death, said ‘I’ll take care of that rookie,’ ” Calhoun said. “Well, that rookie somewhat took care of us.”

Did Hasheem really say that? Didn’t get a chance to ask him Friday. We’ll have to bring it up later.

- Neill

UConn freshman Kemba Walker sat out Thursday’s practice to rest his sprained ankle and knee. The backup point guard limped off the court after Wednesday’s win over DePaul.

School officials said it was merely a precaution and that Walker is expected to practice Friday.

- Neill

A note or two from Thursday’s Big East coaches’ conference call with reporters:

– Providence is nearly as hot as its opponent Saturday (UConn). The Friars are off to their best start in league play, at 6-2, since they started 7-2 in 2000-01.

PC knocked off No. 15 Syracuse Wednesday night and now they face the Huskies with the No. 1 ranking on the line for the home team.

“UConn is similar to a lot of teams we have to face in the Big East,” first-year PC coach Keno Davis said. “You could make a case for seven or eight teams that talent-wise alone could be No. 1 in the country. UConn is fighting for that battle.

“We’re looking forward to going on the road and trying to hang with them.”

Try to hang with them?

Davis knows, though he hasn’t yet experienced, that the Friars have done more than hang with the Huskies recently. PC has won five of the last seven meetings between the teams (both last season) and has won four straight games in the state of Connecticut (three in Hartford, one in Storrs).

The PC players are probably pretty confident they can win in Storrs.

“There might be a little sense of that,” Davis said. “Sometimes you feel you play better against certain teams.

“But our guys have a lot of confidence every time they go on the court, whether we’re the better team or not. That’s what you have to have.”

Keno apparently isn’t counting his winnings (OK, enough with the gambling puns) just yet.

“I would say we’re a confident group going in but we’re not over-confident,” Davis said. “You don’t look at UConn’s team and think that you deserve to go in there and win.”

– Villanova coach Jay Wright (who always gives informed, clear, interesting answers when asked questions by idiots like me) had some kind words for UConn forward Jeff Adrien when asked Thursday.

“He’s just a beast physically,” Wright said. “He looks like a linebacker.”

Wright recruited Adrien out of high school and continues to follow his career closely.

“I really like him as a kid. I’m really happy for him, to see him stay for four years and really grow,” Wright said.

– Georgetown has kind of hit the skids, losing four straight. The Hoyas lost to Seton Hall (the Pirates’ first league win) and just lost to Cincinnati Wednesday night.

“We’re struggling right now,” coach John Thompson III said. “We just have to figure out, with our backs against the wall, how to claw our way out of the situation.”

– St. John’s might get point guard Malik Boothe back soon. The sophomore will see a doctor Friday about his injured thumb.

“I’m praying we’ll get him back,” coach Norm Roberts said.

– Syracuse put up 94 points at Providence but still lost. The Orange lost mainly because guard Andy Rautins was out with an injury and center Arinze Onuaku was limited by one.

“We need, obviously, to get those guys back. The other guys played very well last night,” coach Jim Boeheim said. “We’re not deep enough or good enough to win without two starters…in this league.”

Boeheim says both “will be fine” and are likely to play in the Orange’s next game Wednesday.

- Neill

A quick note from the folks at UConn:

The 2009 International Bowl played between the University of Connecticut football team and Buffalo was the second most-watched bowl game in the history of ESPN2.

The game was viewed in 2.067 million households – the second-highest ever for ESPN2’s 41 previous bowl telecasts in its history, topped only by the 2007 PapaJohns.com Bowl between Southern Mississippi and Cincinnati that drew 2.167 households.

The 2.12 rating for the 2009 International Bowl was the highest in the three-year history of the game as was the number of households that watched.

The Huskies defeated Buffalo 38-20.

The UConn men’s basketball team is back where it startedt the season _ ranked second in the nation.

The Huskies moved to No. 2 in both major polls Monday. UConn received six first-place votes and 1,694 total points in the Associated Press rankings. Duke, somewhat as expected, is No. 1.

The Blue Devils are No. 1 in the coaches poll, too, getting all but one of the first-place votes.

- Neill

A look back at Wednesday’s UConn-Villanova game:

UConn 89, Villanova 83

TURNING POINT _ The Huskies were trailing by three with the second half about five minutes old, perhaps signaling what would be a difficult final stretch of back-and-forth baskets.

But Jerome Dyson’s steal, breakaway dunk and intentional foul shots ignited a 10-0 run (or a 19-5 run, if you prefer) and gave the Huskies some separation. (The end was still something of a back-and-forth battle but still…)

Kemba Walker completed the run with a free throw that made it 75-64 Huskies with 7:42 to play in the game. The margin was too large for Villanova to overcome, despite getting within three a couple times down the stretch.

UNSUNG HERO _ Stanley Robinson. He doesn’t seem to want to shoot. Sticks attempted just three shots (making one) all night. He played 28 minutes and only grabbed two rebounds _ not a stellar job by a 6-9 guy who can jump out of the gym. He also had three turnovers, at least one in the category of WHAT!

But despite those stats, he got what few UConn players receive on his way out of the game: a high-five from coach Jim Calhoun.

“Stanley Robinson…was magnificent,” Calhoun said.

Robinson even played some power forward and even a little center as the Huskies went small Wednesday. It was three guards along with Stanley and Jeff Adrien for long stretches of the game.

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ Letting A.J. Price go.

When a player is hot, the rules sometimes go out the window. And when you are the best player on Jim Calhoun’s UConn team, those rules are very flexible.

With so many really good players (but perhaps not a superstar scorer as some Husky teams have had in the past) the “chosen one” title is easily transferable on this team. Dyson has it sometimes, Hasheem Thabeet gets it every once in a while, Adrien can be that guy, and even freshman Walker had it for a night. But the honor is seemingly Price’s when he wants it _ and when he produces.

Price was shooting from deep (which he’s getting very good at), pulling up in the lane (he’s been good at that) and driving to the hoop (he’s just re-started doing that) against Villanova. He also changed the offensive rules a few times, calling the old “thumbs down” clear-out play that Calhoun calls for himself in certain situations. Price was scoring points in bunches, so he was allowed to diagram a few plays of his own on the fly.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ There were plenty of quasi-celebs in attendance. Donyell Marshall, Kevin Ollie, Scott Burrell, (not to mention one of their other former teammates, Jeff Calhoun), Tom Moore and John Rowland.

But the biggest onlooker was a man who finally learned he can do more than just look. Ater Majok was cleared to enroll at UConn just before the game Wednesday. He then took what has become his usual spot in the front row of the XL Center to watch his Huskies.

Majok knows he’ll be able to play next season, though, and that thrilled the rest of his new teammates.

“He’s an absolutely wonderful kid,” Calhoun said. “I couldn’t be happier.”

And the 6-foot-10 Majok promised to be one of the best practice players in the nation for the next few months.

“Don’t worry. Ain’t nobody going to get a shot off that easy,” Majok said. “It’s going to be a fight every practice. I’m going to make them a better team. I have to contribute somehow.”

LOOKING AHEAD _ The next in what will probably be a long line of “Games of the Century” for the Huskies this season, a battle Saturday with the Fighting Irish. Notre Dame’s 45-game home win streak is on the line, Thabeet and Luke Harangody seemingly have a grudge match in store, and UConn will probably be playing for first place in the league (Well, maybe…Marquette isn’t going to lose Saturday to DePaul but Louisville has a tough one at the Dome Sunday…Pitt might have some fun in the basketball Backyard Brawl, too). Plus there’s an ESPN audience and all the College GameDay festivities that go along with the network’s traveling show.

If you’re any kind of UConn fan you can’t miss this one (obviously).

BY THE NUMBERS

791 _ Career wins by UConn coach Jim Calhoun.

971 _ Points by A.J. Price in his UConn career.

970 _ Points by Jerome Dyson in his UConn career.

1,371 _ Points by Jeff Adrien in his UConn career, the exact same amount that Phil Gamble finished his career with.

- Neill