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
