UConn sports

Today’s number is….22.

Yes, the final score was Louisville 78, UConn 76.

But the win snapped the Huskies’ 22-game win streak in Gampel Pavilion. Oh, and there was that other 22.

– 22 turnovers Sunday. 40 in two games this season against Louisville.

Wow.

Jerome Dyson had six of them and Stanley Robinson five.

“Between me and Jerome Dyson I think we turned the ball over the most. There’s no excuse for that. We just ended up turning the ball over,” Robinson said. “Just blame us.”

UConn coach Jim Calhoun hinted that both would have been yanked if he had any other options.

“It’s tough when you look down our bench and under normal circumstances those guys on some of the plays they make, they should be pulled out,” Calhoun said. “You can’t keep throwing the ball to the other team. It’s just a bad thing to do.”

– Actually Dyson said he thought he was playing pretty well before he was yanked early in the second half and forced to sit on the bench for a spell.

– Despite the loss Kemba Walker is still scoring in bunches. He had 28 Sunday, giving him 94 over the last four games.

Walker is 41-of-46 from the free throw line in those four games.

– Sunday’s game was the first UConn lost this season when scoring at least 70 points (15-1).

– Sunday was UConn’s first loss in Gampel Pavilion since Feb. 28, 2007, a 78-74 Senior Day defeat to Villanova.

The Huskies had won 22 straight here since then.

– Edgar Sosa’s driving layup with 8.2 seconds left was the difference on the scoreboard.

“It was a double screen high and Edgar decides what he wants to do,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said of the play call. “He did the right thing.”

– After the hoop Calhoun decided not to call timeout.

“No. I really felt that with eight seconds left on the clock I wanted him (Walker) to go to the rim,” Calhoun said. “He didn’t get there.”

– Dyson on the 22nd and perhaps most crucial turnover, his drive to the basket in the final minute:

“He (Alex Oriakhi) was wide open under the basket. I passed it and the dude (Kyle Kuric) stepped right in front of him and grabbed the ball,” Dyson said.

– PF/C Ater Majok started and played the game’s first two minutes, then didn’t see the court again.

– C Charles Okwandu had a career-high eight rebounds, all of which came in the first half.

– PF Gavin Edwards played a career-high 38 minutes, tied his career high with 17 points and set a new career high with four assists.

– UConn’s “big four” scored 72 of the team’s 76 points. Alex Oriakhi had two and Donnell Beverly two.

– Calhoun was asked to assess the landscape of the Big East after the game.

“I don’t assess the landscape in the Big East,” Calhoun said. “I assess getting ready for Notre Dame. I’m sorry I cut you off. I could give a (crud) about the landscape of the Big East.”

- Neill

By Neill Ostrout

STAFF WRITER

STORRS _ Edgar Sosa’s driving layup with 8.2 seconds left gave Louisville a stunning 78-76 win over UConn Sunday afternoon on Senior Day at Gampel Pavilion.

Kemba Walker, who has scored in bunches during UConn’s recent win streak, led the Huskies with 28 points. But Walker was blocked by Louisville’s Samardo Samuels in the final seconds in his attempt to tie the game.

Gavin Edwards had 17 points and 13 rebounds for the Huskies (17-12, 7-9), who saw their three-game win streak end and their NCAA Tournament hopes take something of a blow.

UConn lost despite holding a 50-22 advantage in rebounds. That’s because it also committed a season-high 22 turnovers.

Samuels led Louisville (19-10, 10-6) with 14 points.

Walker’s 3-pointer with 1:40 to play gave his team a 76-75 lead.

Louisville tied the game with 1:04 to go as Samuels was fouled and hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

On UConn’s ensuing possession Jerome Dyson drove to the basket and tried to force a pass to Alex Oriakhi, resulting only in his sixth turnover of the game.

Louisville coach Rick Pitino called timeout with 29.3 seconds to design a play. Coming out of the stoppage, Sosa drove hard to his right with Walker following closely and flipped the ball into the basket for the game-winner.

UConn led by 13 points late in the first half but found itself trailing by seven with just over seven minutes to play in the game.

A 10-0 run put the home team ensued, however, and UConn took a 71-68 lead on a pair of Edwards free throws with 4:06 to play.

UConn 45, Louisville 40 at the half here in Gampel.

It could have been worse for the visitors. A 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer by Kyle Kuric made a five-point game.

UConn opened the game with an 11-2 run and led by as many as 13 points.

Kemba Walker has 14 points, Stanley Robinson 11, Jerome Dyson 9 and Gavin Edwards 9.

Actually, only four players had scored for the Huskies until Donnell Beverly hit a jumper with 1:58 left in the first half.

Both C Samardo Samuels and G Edgar Sosa were in early foul trouble for the Cardinals. Samuels is just 1-of-6 from the floor, too.

Charles Okwandu (yes, him) is playing his best game since Notre Dame. He had 8 rebounds.

The Huskies are dominating the boards, 28-11.

- Neill

Greetings from Gampel as we wait for UConn and Louisville to tip off.

In recruiting news, guard Josh Selby is not visiting UConn this weekend. A last-minute change of plans saw the Baltimore native stay home.

Selby wasn’t at Gampel Pavilion but another point guard prospect did make the trip to Storrs.

Shabazz Napier, a 5-foot-10 guard at Lawrence Academy in Groton, Mass., made an unofficial visit. Napier is the 9th-best point guard in the Class of 2011 according to scout.com.

Waiting for Senior Day. We’ll talk to you soon.

- Neill

The Huskies are getting ready for Senior Day Sunday afternoon in Storrs and an all-important matchup with Louisville.

– It’s the final game at Gampel Pavilion this year. Well, that is unless a first-round NIT game somehow gets thrown into the mix.

“It’s most likely the last time we’ll play here this year,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said after practice Saturday. “I hope it’s the last time we play here this year, actually, even though I love it here.”

– It’s the last home game (again, probably) for Stanley Robinson, Jerome Dyson, Gavin Edwards, et al.

“It’s been very interesting. I’ve been working and all that extra stuff,” Robinson said. “It’s been fun. I’m happy I came, I’m happy I committed to UConn. It’s been a great journey for me.”

Said Calhoun, in what was like a Dorothy-to-the-Scarecrow moment: “I’ll miss Stanley a great deal.”

As a freshman, Robinson kissed the Husky logo at center court in Gampel Pavilion during Midnight Madness. We may see a repeat of that performance.

“I think I’m going to have to kiss the Husky when I leave, too,” Robinson said.

– Dyson may have spent more time in the training room than anyone in UConn history (Scott Burrell perhaps the lone exception) but he needed most of that treatment.

“With me, he’s on the all-tough team,” Calhoun said. “He’s Lyman DePriest, he’s Taliek Brown, he’s Kevin Freeman.”

Dyson could be one of UConn’s top 10 scorers of all time, but he does other things too.

“One of the better defenders I’ve ever had,” Calhoun said.

Like Robinson, it seems Dyson is pleased he chose the Huskies.

“What sticks out in my mind the most is our fans,” Dyson said. “When you get here, they’re always outside. Rain, snow, cold, whatever, they’re always out there. It’s nice to know how much they support us whether we’re winning or losing.”

Despite a 30-day suspension and a near career-ending injury, Dyson said he was confident he’d make it to this day.

“Coach has always stuck by me good or bad,” Dyson said. “That’s something I’m grateful for. He didn’t have to. There were points where he stuck his neck out for me.”

– Calhoun on Edwards:

“If I had one regret, I’d redshirt and have him again,” Calhoun said. “Because it took him a long time to develop. Others may feel differently, that he should have played over Jeff Adrien or should have played over Hasheem Thabeet. I don’t necessarily share that belief.

“But I do believe he’s got a great basketball future ahead of him,” Calhoun said.

For his part, Edwards has no regrets.

“A little frustrated but I’m kind of glad that I’ve gone through everything I’ve gone through, all the trials and tribulations,” Edwards said. “I think it’s made me better as a person and a player.

“I wish could have maybe got some more playing time or been more successful, but in the end I’m glad everything turned out the way it did,” Edwards said.

Edwards had a number of friends and family members in attendance for Saturday’s practice, including his mother, father and a number of his mother’s relatives from Manitoba, Canada.

– Center Jon Mandeldove won’t be part of the Senior Day festivities. He will apparently try and return for a fifth year.

“I’ve invited him back for his fifth year. He hasn’t played this year, he’s redshirting,” Calhoun said. “If he can get things squared away academically with me and the school, but me first, then we’d (take him back).”

– Walk-ons Alex Hornat and Kenny Borton will also be honored before Sunday’s game.

“A lot of people don’t realize some of the kids over the years who have helped us, from Jason (Baisch) to all the other guys who really helped us every day in practice, and Alex is one of those guys,” Calhoun said.

– Oh, and there’s a game to be played here, too. Louisville trounced UConn earlier this season at Freedom Hall.

“We’ve got to make sure that we make good decisions offensively and stop them from scoring so easily,” Calhoun said.

“We have to take care of the ball,” Dyson said. “They’ll pressure us a lot. We’re going to have to take care of the ball, rebound and run good offense.”

- Neill

A few words from the Big East’s coaches from the weekly conference call Thursday morning:

– Louisville (18-10, 9-6) finishes the season with games against Georgetown (a loss on Tuesday), at UConn (Sunday), at Marquette (next Tuesday) and home against Syracuse (next Saturday).

“I’ve been coaching 30 some odd years. I don’t remember ever having four more difficult games that we had to play over the final four games of the season with as much at stake,” Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. “That’s the nature of this conference and the nature of our schedule. We look forward to the challenge but it’s going to be a heck of a challenge.”

– Notre Dame star Luke Harangody missed his third straight game Wednesday night with a knee injury (though the Irish upset Pitt anyway) and it doesn’t look like he’ll play Saturday against Georgetown.

“We’re testing a little bit today and tomorrow,” ND coach Mike Brey said. “I’m doubtful that he will play Saturday. Stranger things have happened.”

Harangody, the nation’s third-leading scorer (24.1) this season, was on pace to become the Big East’s all-time leader in scoring during league games. That doesn’t appear likely now, and it’s certainly not the Irish’s primary concern.

We’ll see about Notre Dame’s game next Wednesday against UConn at the Joyce Center.

“We’ll keep taking a look at it, keep evaluating it,” Brey said. “If we can’t get him ready for Saturday, we’ll re-evaluate it again after a couple days.”

– Marquette forward Jimmy Butler has this buzzer-beating thing down, it seems.

Less than a month after he burned UConn with a shot in the final seconds, Butler beat St. John’s at the end of overtime Wednesday night with another fadeaway jumper near the baseline.

Marquette (18-9, 9-6) beat St. John’s 63-61 for its seventh win in the last eight games.

“It was a similar play to what we ran against UConn at the end there,” Marquette coach Buzz Williams said.

“We did want Jimmy with the ball in his hands,” Williams continued. “There’s a lot of different things that go into the action of the play, but he has confidence and our team has confidence in him.”

– Almost every coach agrees that many college basketball officials work too many games. But there doesn’t seem to be many good fixes for the problem.

“They’re independent contractors so I don’t know what anybody’s supposed to do,” West Virginia coach Bob Huggins said. “Everybody has a right to work.”

Even if a league’s officiating coordinator (like the Big East’s Art Hyland) limits the number of conference games an official can work in a week, those officials can still work games for another league. Nearly all of the top officials work for multiple conferences.

And even if they’re over-worked a bit, some coaches would rather see a familiar, experienced face at their games.

“The truth be known, there are guys you’ve seen 50, 60 times in your career. Do you want a guy you’ve never seen before?” Huggins said.

– Get out your tie-breaking calculators.

There are 11 teams tied for their respective places in the league standings right now. There’s a two-way tie for third, a three-way tie for fifth, a four-way tie for eighth and a two-way tie for 14th.

– Get ready for a zoo.

Some 34,616 tickets have been sold for Syracuse-Villanova at the Dome Saturday night. (The Orange capped the ticket sales at that number. The next ticket sold in the football-style stadium probably would have only been able to see 20 percent of the court.)

It’s an ESPN Gameday event and maybe the Big East game of the year.

“Obviously it’s an exciting game. We’re looking forward to playing it,” Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.

Boeheim on the Wildcats’ guards, including Scottie Reynolds and Corey Fisher: “They have the best backcourt in the country, by far.”

– Can we call it doing it the UConn way?

Cincinnati, in a five-point win over DePaul Wednesday, managed to score 74 points despite missing 18 free throws (14-of-32) and failing to make a single 3-pointer (0-for-9). The Bearcats also turned the ball over 14 times.

- Neill

A look back at Monday’s UConn-West Virginia game:

UConn 73, No. 8 West Virginia 62

TURNING POINT _ The Huskies appear to be treating every game as if it’s their last. It’s a good attitude to have when wins are just about a necessity.

“I have no misgivings about what we didn’t do. All I care about is what we’re doing right now,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. “There’s no look-backs in life, there’s no mulligans.”

The Huskies weren’t playing very well when Calhoun began his medical leave and, after beating Texas, saw many of their struggles continue.

“It was breaking my heart that we weren’t winning those close games,” Calhoun said.

Now that Calhoun has returned, whether that fact is the only catalyst or not, the Huskies are starting to roll.

UNSUNG HERO _ If you asked West Virginia coach Bob Huggins in a quiet moment, he’d probably say the officials. But even after being thrown out of the game in the final minute, the veteran coach wasn’t about to question the performance of the officials publicly following the game.

“You watched it. You saw,” Huggins told reporters. “You’re allowed to report on it. I’m not. You have tremendous advantage.”

West Virginia was called for 26 fouls and UConn 20. The Huskies attempted 42 free throws.

BEST ‘X’ AND/OR ‘O’ _ It may have been letting Jerome Dyson take on West Virginia’s Da’Sean Butler 1-on-1.

Dyson has been playing some tough defense lately, and helped stifle Villanova’s Scottie Reynolds in the second half of their game a week ago. Monday, he helped hold Butler to just nine points _ a total that tied Butler’s season low.

As upset as he was with the officials, Huggins pointed to Butler’s struggles as one of the reasons the Mountaineers lost.

“Our best player is 2-for-10, 0-for-4, 5-for-8,” said Huggins, referring to Butler’s total field goal shooting, 3-point numbers and free throw performance.

Dyson said he just wanted to make Butler work for every point he scored.

“Just try to make it tough for him. Coach (Andre) LaFleur just told me ‘Make him shoot tough shots. Don’t try to overdo it,’ ” Dyson said.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS _ UConn’s student fans are fond of mocking opposing players after they foul out. It’s a practice the students adopted from other school’s fans, and it’s one most players are now familiar with.

West Virginia forward Wellington Smith certainly knew of the “Left, right, left, right…” calls that the fans chanted even before he fouled out with 2:55 to play in Monday’s game.

And Smith pulled a rather ingenious reverse-prank on the Huskies. Knowing that the students would erupt with a scream of “Sit down!” as soon as he stopped walking and took his seat on the West Virginia bench, Smith timed his descent into a chair to coincide with the free throw attempt of UConn’s Jamal Coombs-McDaniel.

So as soon as Coombs-McDaniel released his shot, there was a surprising and sudden exclamation from the student section and he missed.

LOOKING AHEAD _ Calhoun doesn’t want to look too far ahead, for instance, at the NCAA Tournament. The coach doesn’t even want the experts looking ahead, it seems.

Calhoun joked that ESPN’s “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi shouldn’t be handicapping the Huskies.

“I don’t care what Lombardi or whatever the guy’s name is says,” Calhoun said. “He happens to be Italian so I’m a little bit prejudice towards him.”

Calhoun was kidding, but not about the Huskies’ NCAA chances. He feels their difficult schedule should give them a big leg up when it comes to selection Sunday.

“In all sincerity, you can’t ask us to play better people than we’ve played this year,” Calhoun said.

BY THE NUMBERS

4 _ UConn field goals in the final 13 minutes of Monday’s game. (The Huskies did attempt 23 free throws, making 16 over that span).

3 _ UConn field goals scored by Stanley Robinson in the final 13 minutes.

- Neill

When reporters on the sideline are getting decked, it’s a tough game! (FYI, the shot my esteemed colleague from Waterbury absorbed Monday night was nothing like the one yours truly took a few years ago in Atlanta, but I digress).

OK, maybe the game wasn’t that dirty or physical.

But by the number of fouls called and the reactions of the coaches, you’d think it was Rocky Balboa against Ivan Drago.

Coach Jim Calhoun, whose team knocked off No. 8 West Virginia 73-62, didn’t seem to mind the nature of the game or the outcome.

“You have to get your nose dirty. You have to get in there,” Calhoun said. “And those who know me a little bit know I don’t mind my teams getting their noses dirty.”

– West Virginia coach Bob Huggins didn’t exactly agree. He didn’t appear to think the Mountaineers got a very fair whistle, and seemed to be relaying that to official Mike Stuart in the final minute.

The conversation seemed cordial until Stuart suddenly signaled a “T”. That REALLY set the coach off and he quickly received a second one.

So what did Huggins think of the officiating?

“You watched it. You saw,” Huggins said. “You’re allowed to report on it. I’m not. You have tremendous advantage.”

When asked why his team “couldn’t get over the hump” Huggins paused.

“I don’t know if I can answer that without getting in trouble,” Huggins said.

He later offered a few words on the free throw totals.

“They shoot 42, we shoot 23. You can’t win,” he said.

– Huggins, who hasn’t won 660 games in his career by being stupid, knows there were reasons other than the officials why his team lost.

“Our best player is 2-for-10, 0-for-4, 5-for-8,” Huggins said.

That would be the line _ FGs, 3-pt FG’s and FT’s _ of WVU’s Da’Sean Butler. Butler tied his season-low with nine points, mostly thanks to Jerome Dyson’s defense.

“Just try to make it tough for him. Coach (Andre) LaFleur just told me ‘Make him shoot tough shots. Don’t try to overdo it,’ ” Dyson said.

– Dyson left the game with 6:31 to play after spraining his left ankle.

“I went up for the layup and kind of landed sideways, on the front of my left foot and rolled my ankle,” Dyson said. “But I came back. I wasn’t really going to let that keep me out of the game.”

By my count Dyson now has 342 injuries. I’ll double check that total, of course.

Oh, and there’s little doubt he’ll play some 36 minutes next Sunday against Louisville (barring the usual foul trouble).

– Two straight Big Monday’s. Two straight wins over top 10 teams.

The Huskies seem to be on a little bit of a mission.

“Ever since our last loss we just have the mentality that if we lose one, we’re probably out,” forward Gavin Edwards said of the NCAA Tournament. “So we might as well go out without any bullets left in the chamber and give it all.”

-Neill