It’s not like UConn and DePaul set the game of basketball back 20 years or anything.
No, it was only about 20 days.
Acting UConn coach George Blaney called it a “dentist game.” That sounds about right.
UConn over DePaul 64-57. The Huskies snap their three-game losing streak and head to Syracuse on a high (sort of).
“After the three losses I felt sick and I felt bad,” Blaney said. “Tonight I still feel a little sick but I feel good, because W’s are better than L’s. It’s a Big East win, it’s a win that we needed to get ourselves off the deck. … We had to fight for it, and I like the fight.”
The Huskies know it wasn’t their best game of the season.
“We still have a lot of work to do,” UConn’s Kemba Walker said. “But it’s a Big East win. We can’t complain about a win. We just take it and build from here.”
– Jerome Dyson led the Huskies with 20 points, and had a big jumper with 2:23 to play that put the Huskies up six.
Of course, he only made that jumper after an Ater Majok offensive rebound.
Majok had six points, four rebounds and five blocked shots in 32 minutes. And he did all of that playing against his cousin, DePaul’s Mac Koshwal.
“It was kind of a family battle,” Majok said.
– Dyson moved past Kevin Freeman and into 15th place on UConn’s all-time scoring list.
He’s now got 1,482 points.
– Dyson was feeling so bad he nearly missed the second half.
“He almost didn’t come out at halftime,” Blaney said.
Dyson said he had a pain on his left side.
“I don’t know what happened. I must have gotten hit,” Dyson said. “I just couldn’t think when I got hit.”
UConn trainer James Doran worked overtime Saturday. Stanley Robinson was cramping all night, mostly in his arm and back. Kemba Walker also has sore legs, it seems.
– DePaul’s Will Walker nearly orchestrated an upset by hitting 6-of-9 from 3-point range.
“He was moving well without the basketball,” interim DePaul coach Tracy Webster said. “Also his teammates were doing a good job of setting screens for him to get open. He was taking shots in rhythm and we were able to knock some shots down.”
– Stamford native Devin Hill’s bucket with 5:49 put DePaul up 52-51 but it was the Blue Demons’ only lead of the second half. UConn ended the game on a 13-5 run.
– A ho-hum effort against a ho-hum opponent? Sounds about right.
“It appears sometimes we play to the competition,” Blaney said. “That’s what it’s starting to look like. So hopefully we’ll be jacked up and ready to play against Syracuse.”
- Neill
