UConn sports

Bad news on the injury front for Jerome Dyson.

The UConn junior guard is out indefinitely with a torn lateral meniscus in his right knee. He injured it Wednesday night against Syracuse.

He had an MRI Thursday afternoon in Windham that revealed the tear. UConn officials said he would have surgery within a week.

“We are obviously all very disappointed for Jerome, who has been such a big part of why we are 23-1 and in first place in the Big East,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said in a statement. “I know that he will work hard in the offseason and be back next year as a major contributor to our future success. As for our team going forward this season, it is another challenge we will have to face. We have very good players who I know will rise to the occasion and fill the void left by Jerome’s absence.”

- Neill

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

UConn 63, Syracuse 49

TURNING POINT _ Paul Harris and/or Jim Calhoun mouths off…crowd goes crazy…Huskies respond with back-breaking run.

Only the second two parts of that statement are the God’s-honest truth but story will sound better if you include fisticuffs.

Harris dunked early in the second half to tie the score at 35 and knocked the ball around a bit after it went through the hoop. Referee Jim Burr blew the whistle to warn Harris about a delay-of-game and get the ball back, at which point Calhoun took the opportunity to complain to Burr (probably that Harris should have called for traveling or the like.)

Harris thought the coach was talking to him and fired back with something. Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim thought it was “I’m getting going.”

“He and I were joking during the game. He said something, I said something back,” Calhoun said. “Then Jimmy Burr came into the situation.”

None of the sides appear to harbor any hurt feelings, though the situation did help to jump-start the UConn offense. A.J. Price nailed a three and was fouled (he missed the freebie), starting the Huskies on a game-winning spurt.

UNSUNG HERO _ There was a Stanley Robinson sighting Wednesday night.

OK, we kid a little. Sticks has been doing some good things. He’s been good on defense, has had his usual assortment of outstanding dunks and seemingly always gives his best effort.

But the part of Robinson’s game that hasn’t been seen in these parts for some time _ probably since his return in December _ showed its face: a jump shot.

Just two-and-a-half minutes into the game Robinson found himself alone along the baseline some 15 feet from the basket. In the past he may have tossed the ball back to the top of the key or made an attempt to drive into traffic. Instead, Robinson hoisted a jumper that went straight into the basket.

A few minutes later he found himself alone at the top of the key. One dribble and another 15-footer was down.

Robinson finished with just those two field goals and six total points, but he may have turned a corner.

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ Hasheem Thabeet wasn’t exactly a decoy but he did do more than score against the Orange. UConn fed the ball into its 7-foot-3 center and asked him to look to the opposite corner as the defense closed in on him.

It worked a number of times, including three times in the deciding run for 3-pointers (two by Craig Austrie and one by Price).

“We basically used him as a wheel,” Calhoun said.

Thabeet tied his career high (albeit a modest career high) with three assists.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ Arinze Onuaku did not disappoint. The Syracuse center had hit just one of his last 19 free throws and was already drawing jeers and laughs from the crowd at Gampel Pavilion before stepping to the line with 3:23 left in the first half Wednesday.

The student section at Gampel came up with dozens of chants for the Orange, many of them a little too racy or stupid to print here, but they were overjoyed with the chance to chant a few ‘air-balls’ at the Cuse.

Onuaku came through for the home crowd, missing everything with his first attempt. He drew some iron with his second effort but made it 1-for-21 over the last eight games.

LOOKING AHEAD _ Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez says his team won’t be UConn’s ‘doormat’ forever. Is Saturday the day the Huskies’ domination of the Pirates ends?

Probably not. But SHU (The Hall not the Heart) is playing well and should give the Huskies something of a run for their money.

“We’re not an elite team and they are,” Gonzalez said Thursday. “A lot of things would have to go our way for us to be in the game and to give them a game.

“They have all the pieces you need, I believe, to win a national championship: an inside game, an outside game, enough depth, enough experience, a Hall of Fame coach,” Gonzalez said.

BY THE NUMBERS

5 _ The number of opponents over the last five games that have scored a season-low in points against the Huskies.

3 _ Seasons in which Hasheem Thabeet has blocked at least 100 shots (he has 101 now this season).

3 _ Seasons in which Emeka Okafor blocked at least 100 shots.

8 _ Total seasons a UConn player has blocked at least 100 (Donyell Marshall and Hilton Armstrong).

- Neill

Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez, whose team hosts top-ranked Connecticut Saturday afternoon, is giving his team some extra motivation. Gonzalez is reminding his team regularly that Seton Hall _ in 105 years of basketball _ has never beaten a No. 1 team.

“To me, that’s pretty significant,” Gonzalez said Thursday.

Although he says he’s not telling his team much about the Pirates’ poor recent efforts against UConn (8 straight losses, losses in 14 of last 15 and 21 of last 23), it’s obviously on Gonzalez’ mind. He repeated what he said after the Hall lost 76-61 on Jan. 18 in Hartford.

“We’re not going to constantly be a floormat and lose to Connecticut every year,” Gonzalez said.

Fine speech.

But Gonzalez wasn’t actually trying to pick a fight with the Huskies (we think). He knows how good UConn is now.

“Eventually we’re going to beat them,” Gonzalez said. “Now is this the team we’re going to beat? I don’t know.”

The coach had plenty of praise for the Huskies.

“They’re a Final Four type of team. It wouldn’t surprise me if they win the national championship,” Gonzalez said.

Seton Hall (14-9, 5-6) has won five straight games after starting the league with six straight losses.

“People may say we’re doing it in the weaker part of the schedule, weaker part of the conference,” Gonzalez said. “I do understand that but to go from 0-6 to 5-6 and win five in a row in any conference, especially in this league, we don’t really care who we’re playing against.”

That’s it for now. We’ll have an update on Jerome Dyson’s knee soon, hopefully.

- Neill

It’s 12 in a row for the UConn men after Wednesday night’s 63-49 win over the Cuse.

A few mentionables (as opposed to unmentionables):

– UConn G Jerome Dyson hurt his right knee pretty badly. It’s not REAL bad, though, it seems.

Dyson banged into Syracuse’s Kristof Ongenaet some five minutes after tipoff while trying to fight through a screen. He had to be helped off the court and did not return to the game.

Dyson was on crutches after the game according to teammates.

“There’s no concern over any type of ACL, MCL, anything like that,” UConn assistant director of athletics (spokesman) Kyle Muncy said. “Just a severe bruise to his right knee.”

Dyson will undergo an MRI and/or X-rays Thursday just to make sure everything is OK.

No immediate word on his status for Saturday’s game at Seton Hall.

If I had to guess, I’d say he’ll sit on Saturday to rest for Monday’s game against Pittsburgh. Just a theory.

– The whole Jim Calhoun vs. Paul Harris royal rumble won’t be coming to an arena near you.

The Syracuse forward and UConn coach did exchange a few words after Harris’ fastbreak dunk.

“He and I were joking during the game. He said something, I said something back,” Calhoun said. “Then (referee) Jimmy Burr came into the situation.”

Calhoun says he’s known Harris since his freshman year in high school and doesn’t have any ill will toward the junior.

“I have great respect for Paul. He’s a terrific competitor,” Calhoun said. “He brings a great deal to their team.”

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim and Calhoun appeared to share a laugh over the moment after the game.

“(Harris) said he said ‘I’m getting going’ or something,” Boeheim said. “To me it was nothing.”

– A fun stat from our friend Ed Daigneault in Waterbury. (I would have figured it out but he was the first to tell me, so….):

UConn’s has held each of its last five opponents to a season-low in points. Wow, that’s a pretty good one.

Providence has since scored less than the 61 it put up against UConn, but still.

– How impressive is UConn’s current 12-game win streak? Not as impressive as last year’s run, Calhoun says.

“Last year’s 10-game win streak was the best we ever had, including the national championship team. We beat six ranked teams during that stretch,” Calhoun said. “Now if you see me in a week-and-a-half and we’re still on some kind of streak, then we can talk.”

– Jeff Adrien was honored before the game for joining the 1,000-1,000 club at UConn. He has more 1,000 points and rebounds in his career, and was presented with a basketball to mark the event by Calhoun before tipoff.

Immediately after receiving the ball Adrien held it up to the student section at Gampel Pavilion and yelled ‘Let’s Go!’ to the rabid fans.

(It was kind of Bill Murray, a.k.a. Ernie McCracken, in King Pin only a little cooler).

After the game Adrien had the ball in his lap and didn’t look like he wanted to let go. A reporter asked him if he was going to sleep with it tonight.

“If it was a national championship ball I might sleep with it,” Adrien said.

– Calhoun earned win No. 797 Wednesday night. It was also his 549th win at UConn.

- Neill

UConn G Jerome Dyson banged knees with Syracuse’s Kristof Ongenaet early in the first half of Wednesday’s game and had to be helped off the court.

But a UConn spokesman said Dyson has only a “bad bruise” and no structural damage to his right knee.

No word on whether or not Dyson will return for the second half.

8:12 p.m. update: Dyson will not return. We’ll see after the game if he’s around to talk.

- Neill

UConn and Syracuse are ready to do battle for the 83rd time. Here’s the skinny as the game looms:

– In case you missed it, it’s rivalry week. It’s an ESPN-invented thing but it’s still kind of important.

“Syracuse has been THE rivalry that we have,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said Tuesday. “I know it’s rivalry week and that Duke and North Carolina follow us.”

Calhoun’s positioning of the Orange as still UConn’s No. 1 rival may irk some in the Steel City.

“Pittsburgh is a rival but not quite as high as Syracuse,” Calhoun said.

– UConn SF Stanley Robinson wasn’t feeling well earlier this week. Some Chinese food he ate Saturday night apparently didn’t agree with his stomach and he was feeling ill for a few days.

Robinson missed one day of practice but says he’s ready to go for Wednesday’s game against Syracuse.

– Robinson will be matched up, at least to start the game, with Syracuse’s Paul Harris.

The beefy Harris has been something of a Husky-killer in his Orange career. Robinson knows his game well, however.

“I know Paul. Me and Paul have been playing basketball since my 10th-grade year in high school, at the USA camps,” Robinson said. “I know he don’t have a jump shot and I’m 6-9. I’m going to sag back and let him shoot.”

– UConn G Jerome Dyson says there are no lingering affects from the accidental stomp he took from teammate Hasheem Thabeet Saturday in the Michigan game. Thabeet’s foot came down on Dyson’s chest after the former blocked a shot against the Wolverines.

“I don’t have any pain right now,” Dyson said.

Dyson says he wore a chest pad in practice Monday but probably won’t wear it again. And he says he has no giant shoe print across his chest.

“270 pounds came down on me. You’d think I would but I don’t,” Dyson said.

– Calhoun kind of goes back-and-forth on the whole No. 1 thing. He says he’s not 100 percent sure his Huskies are the best in the land.

“I don’t even know who the best team in the country is,” Calhoun said.

It’s just that Calhoun doesn’t like to hear it when someone (say, Digger Phelps) says the Huskies definitely AREN’T the best in the land.

“Being No. 1 for a second week is nice,” Calhoun said.

– This is just Syracuse’s fourth game at Gampel Pavilion. Calhoun is pretty sure his friend/rival Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim would prefer to play in Hartford (as the two did regularly for years).

“He loves coming to Gampel,” Calhoun said with a chuckle.

– Calhoun had an interesting point, saying “Syracuse in a pure rat game is the best team in the league.”

He might be right, but the Syracuse-Providence game was kind of “rat game” wasn’t it? Oh well, we’ll see…

– Syracuse has played the nation’s No. 1 team nine times in its history. The last three of those have come against UConn.

The Orange beat UConn in two of those three (Feb. 1, 1999 in Hartford when Rip Hamilton and Jake Voskuhl were out….and March 9, 2006 in the Big East Tournament.)

– Remember when Chris Dudley was the worst free throw shooter you had ever seen? The former Knick and Yalie has nothing on Syracuse center Arinze Onuaku.

The Orange big man is shooting a painful 33.3 percent (30-of-90) from the line this season. In league play he’s even worse. Onuaku has made only seven of his 40 attempts, a 17.5 clip.

He’s 1-for-19 (that’s not a typo) in his last seven games.

Of course, when he’s not on the line Onuaku can’t seem to miss. He leads the Big East in field goal percentage, making 70 percent of his shots.

- Neill

A look back at Saturday’s UConn-Michigan game:

UConn 69, Michigan 61

TURNING POINT _ There was no real moment to point to, but the Huskies’ effort to survive a game playing a team whose style causes plenty of fits was the key.

Michigan’s perimeter oriented attack isn’t fun for a team like UConn that likes to pound it inside. And the switching defenses the Wolverines play _ the 2-3 zone was actually more effective than the vaunted 1-3-1 surprisingly _ made it difficult for the Huskies to identify.

“They run their offense machine-like and grind you down,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.

The Huskies actually changed their approach in the second half. Calhoun told his team they would run only a few different plays, regardless of which defense Michigan was playing at the time. It worked, for the most part, as UConn shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half after hitting only 36.7 percent in the first half.

“They’re a scrappy team. They did a lot of grabbing that the refs can’t see,” UConn forward Jeff Adrien said. “We have to play through it and find a way to grind it out. That’s what we did.”

UNSUNG HERO _ Craig Austrie. Every time you count Craig out, he comes roaring back. That’s kind of the theme of his career.

He did miss a late free throw (drawing a trademark loud stomp of the foot from Calhoun) but Austrie provided one of the true daggers in the game. His 3-pointer with 56.4 seconds left in the game, which came after A.J. Price ran the shot clock down and drove to the basket, put UConn up eight and essentially sealed the game.

The Huskies don’t take a lot of three’s so they count on Austrie and company to connect when they do shoot. And the Huskies are actually quite accurate (36.6 percent) on three’s this season.

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ Actually, it probably goes to Michigan coach John Beilein in a losing effort. His four- and five-out offense is probably the only way you can beat UConn. It pulls Hasheem Thabeet away from the basket and makes “big” players like Adrien and/or Stanley Robinson play defense on the perimeter.

Of course, you have to make a few more (maybe just one or two in this case) three’s for it to be completely successful. And you have to completely avoid Thabeet’s swatting arms. The Wolverines didn’t do that, though they tried.

“We ran some pretty good things that usually work that Thabeet blew up,” Beilein said.

The lob play after a timeout in the second half with one second on the shot clock was a good idea. Thabeet had other ideas, though.

“How about the lob play with one second to go? I thought that was a pretty good play,” Beilein said of in-bound pass that found a cutting Zack Gibson. “I said ‘Wow, this is going to look good.’ Then all of a sudden with one second to go, it’s not even a factor. Where did he come from?”

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ Anyone who is anyone in UConn basketball history seemed to be there. Chris Smith and Cliff Robinson sat next to each other. Murray Williams came down from Torrington and Lyman DePriest was back in town.

(As an aside, I got the chance to play a few pick-up games with Lyman at UConn after his playing days were over. Think a man who spent some time checking Shaquille O’Neal isn’t strong? Think again.)

Even Norman Bailey made an appearance at Gampel.

The biggest cheers, of course, were for Ray Allen. The poster boy for UConn basketball was on hand next to former teammate Donny Marshall Saturday.

Perhaps the only thing that drew more oohs and aahs than Ray was the gigantic rock of a ring he was sporting. The Celtics’ NBA Championship ring is a thing of gaudy-yet-give-me-one-dammit classy jewelry.

LOOKING AHEAD _ Syracuse isn’t playing well. Center Arinze Onuaku is a little banged up and the Orange laid a major egg at Villanova Saturday.

Paul Harris isn’t playing particularly well, either. But Harris has been a major UConn-killer in his career so far and expect him to have a big game.

Jonny Flynn will play well, too, probably. I’ve got a hunch Eric Devendorf will have a Gerry McNamara-style effort against the Huskies, though. (The 10 games he struggled in against UConn, not the one where he single-handedly beat the Huskies in the Big East tournament).

BY THE NUMBERS

1,000 _ Career rebounds for Jeff Adrien.

1,436 _ Career points for Jeff Adrien.

5 _ The number of players in UConn history who have more rebounds than Adrien.

14 _ The number of players in UConn history who have more points than Adrien.

- Neill

UConn’s streak is in tact, but it was hardly a cakewalk at Gampel Pavilion Saturday. The No. 1 Huskies beat Michigan 69-61, and there were plenty of highlights:

– UConn PF Jeff Adrien got his 1,000th rebound on the game’s final play.

“I still remember when we were at West Virginia and he was a freshman,” Michigan coach John Beilein said. “We couldn’t stop him then. Now he’s dieseled all up even more.”

Adrien joined an exclusive club with the board, becoming just the fifth Husky to reach 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.

“It’s a great honor. It’s great to be mentioned with names like Emeka Okafor,” Adrien said.

– Hasheem Thabeet might owe teammate Jerome Dyson a dinner. Or maybe a nice watch. Or maybe (a year from now) a nice car.

Thabeet, you see, stepped on Dyson’s chest late in Saturday’s game.

The 7-foot-3, 263-pound Thabeet had jumped to block the shot of Manny Harris on a drive to the hoop. Dyson was playing tough defense, too, and had taken a charge from Harris before the shot even went up.

The problem was Thabeet came down with his right foot across Dyson’s chest. Dyson laid on the ground for a few minutes before slowly making his way to the UConn bench.

“It was painful,” Dyson said. “There’s a lot of weight over there.”

Dyson returned to the game just over a minute later, however.

“I kind of felt bad about that,” Thabeet said. “It didn’t feel really good when I stepped on him so I was kind of worried about him. But Jerome is one of the toughest guys on the team and he got up and walked through it.”

Thabeet was truly worried for his teammate’s health _ that is until seeing that he would be OK.

“He said ‘You almost killed me,’ ” Thabeet said. “I said ‘You look like you died and came back to life.’ ”

– Who is Stu Douglass? The Huskies aren’t sure yet, either.

In case you missed it he’s a 6-foot-3 freshman guard from Carmel, Ind., who made six 3-pointers and scored a career-high 20 points Saturday against the Huskies.

UConn played plenty of defensive attention to Michigan guard Manny Harris, the team’s leading scorer and best player, but Douglass was the one who found room to score (usually from at least 25 feet away).

“We had to give somebody something to keep Harris from destroying us,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “I thought he was capable of that.

“He was the fourth or fifth guy we worried about,” Calhoun said of Douglass. “And good players take advantage of that situation.”

– A.J. Price was honored before the game for scoring his 1,000th point. He was presented with a basketball noting the accomplishment by Calhoun.

Price almost didn’t make it to the court in time. He had trouble getting a contact lens in just prior to tip-off.

– Among the faces in the crowd tonight: Chris Smith, Cliff Robinson, Ray Allen, Donny Marshall, Norman Bailey, Lyman DePriest and Murray Williams.

UConn P.A. John Tuite made an announcement during an early break to honor most of the player, but somehow left Allen out. The crowd at UConn then began chanting “Ra-y All-en, Ra-y All-en.”

During the next timeout Allen’s name was somehow announced over the speakers and he received a standing ovation.

– Calhoun didn’t care too much for ESPN analyst Digger Phelps’ take on the nation’s top-ranked team. He took time out Saturday night to mention his displeasure.

It was kind of a stream-of-consciousness type thing:

“An analyst, I think his name is Digger Phelps, who I think coached at one time at Notre Dame. I don’t know how long his tenure was there. Someone asked him a simple question _ maybe he should give a simple answer _ does UConn deserve to be No. 1?” Calhoun said.

Everyone in the press conference could see where this was going. Calhoun was mad (though he was smiling through the whole thing) and wanted to needle Digger a bit.

“I don’t know if that’s true (Phelps’ claim that the Huskies aren’t the clear No. 1) but we are 22-1. We’ve done a couple things,” Calhoun said.

(As an aside, I caught Digger on SportsCenter when he was asked. The question was something like “Is UConn the obvious No. 1?” and he spent the next minute talking about Pittsburgh.)

Having taken his playful shot, Calhoun leaned back in his chair looking satisfied.

“I had to say that, for no particular reason. I feel better,” Calhoun said. “Don’t write it or write it, I don’t care what you do.”

I believe the coach. He didn’t really care if the word got out, he just wanted to get it off his chest.

“I feel so good now, so relieved. Because it pissed me off so much,” Calhoun said.

– FYI: the headline of the blog is line from the movie “Red Dawn” in case you didn’t know. And if you didn’t know, I hearby sentence you to an hour and 45 minutes of cinematic poetry starring Patrick Swayze, C. Thomas Howell, Charlie Sheen, Lea Thompson and company.

- Neill