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UConn basketball is one step closer to building a new practice facility, a long-anticipated project that interim AD Paul Pendergast hopes to have completed by late 2013 or early 2014.

The University received a $4.5 million gift from the Werth family of Woodbrige in late December, and the school announced on Friday that it had received two anonymous gifts totaling $1.05 million.

After the Werth donation, Pendergast said UConn was roughly halfway to the $30 million it needed to make the project a reality.

Here’s some info from the UConn athletic department:

The donors, who have asked to remain anonymous, have each pledged approximately $500,000 to the project. Both are UConn alumni and long-time supporters of the University and the Division of Athletics. The two donors cited the legacy of men’s basketball coach head coach Jim Calhoun, associate head coach George Blaney and the rest of the basketball staff, along with the goal of future NCAA championships­, as the primary motivation for the gifts.

“Our supporters continue to show their generosity and enthusiasm as we move closer to making this project a reality,” said Paul Pendergast, UConn’s Interim Director of Athletics. “These individuals are dedicated supporters of our programs and truly understand the value of providing top-notch facilities so that our student-athletes can perform to the best of their abilities in both academics and athletics.”

The Basketball Development Center will be a 70,000 square foot facility to be located on the current Memorial Stadium site, and is the first major construction project at UConn to be funded entirely through private donations. It will feature dedicated practice gyms for the men’s and women’s basketball programs, along with locker rooms, coaches’ offices and areas for academic support, video analysis, sports medicine and strength training.

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Shabazz Napier gets an A.

The rest of the team, collectively, probably doesn’t deserve anything better than a D. So, for the game, UConn gets a C-.

It wasn’t the Huskies’ worst game of the year (that has to be Rutgers), but it certainly wasn’t one of their better showings, either. It took a combination of Cincinnati choking at the free throw line and Shabazz Napier delivering a trio of clutch 3-pointers to even make this a game. But, minus the free throw shooting down the stretch, Cincinnati was the “mentally tougher” team, in Calhoun’s words.

The Bearcats deserved this one. UConn now has a difficult non-conference road game at Tennessee, which seems to be peaking at the right time.

Here’s a rundown of our coverage from the game last night:

* Napier can’t save UConn in loss to Cincy

* Chris Elsberry: It’s time for Lamb to turn into Kemba

* Notes/Quotes: “I couldn’t be more disappointed with some of the guys on the team.”

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Jim Calhoun’s press conferences often turn into long-winded rants.

Calhoun always has a lot to say, and I think two particular points in Wednesday’s post-game session were very important:  This isn’t last year’s team (something he’s said several times) and this isn’t a catastrophic, earth-shattering loss. The sky isn’t falling in Storrs.

Jim Calhoun (AP)

It’s another game in the Big East.

With that said, Cincinnati was a beatable opponent. And picking apart the flaws in this game isn’t exactly rocket science. The frontcourt of Andre Drummond and Alex Oriakhi was virtually non-existent.

“When you start a game with a 6-10, 280 pound guy and another guy 6-9, 245 pounds, they can’t rebound and they’re getting backed down into the post, you’ve got a problem,” Calhoun said. “That was our gameplan and that didn’t work out very well for us.”

Drummond, battling what seemed like a head cold on Tuesday, just looked very, very different. That 280-pound frame (he’s listed at 270, but we’ll go with what coach says) wasn’t really put to use. Drummond played with too much finesse — overpassing in the lane, flipping the ball up and uncharacteristically taking a number of jumpshots.

Oriakh(1-for-7 from the field) wasn’t much better.

Some other things that stood out on Wednesday:

* Every game matters, especially in the Big East. When you drop one at home, it’s even worse. Wednesday’s 70-67 defeat marked the first home loss for UConn this year. Cincinnati is now 5-1 on the road.

* The clock is ticking for the Huskies to fully put everything together.

“We have 12 games left,” Calhoun said. “If you can’t invest yourself fully into the game, and not worry about a little cough you have, you know what I’m saying — small things, we don’t have time for that. You have to invest yourself. If you invest yourself in anything in life, you’re going to be just fine.”

* As you’d expect, Cincinnati coach Mick Cronin was jubilant in his press conference. He got things rolling with a little joke.

“Obviously, the end of the game is just like I drew it up,” Cronin said. “I gave the hand signal to (Sean) Kilpatrick to take his time and make a 3 after Napier hit a 35-footer.”

In case you didn’t see, Cincinnati missed four free throws in the final 1:22 and Shabazz Napier made three 3-pointers in that span to tie the game at 67.

* Cronin wore a Cincinnati hoodie to the press conference. I found that to be kind of strange.

* Niels Giffey seized control of the small forward job. He played 34 minutes while DeAndre Daniels registered just six. As I write this from the Gampel Pavilion basement, Daniels is in the gym getting up some shots (sidenote: Michael Bradley is in there, too. He’s working on some post moves).

As for Giffey, he thought the last shot — a desperation halfcourt heave — had a chance to drop. It would have tied the game at the buzzer.

“It felt good,” he said.

Read the game story from Wednesday here and Chris Elsberry’s column on Jeremy Lamb here.

Catch you all soon.

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Big one at Gampel tonight.

UConn returns to its on-campus arena for the first time since Dec. 8. Expect a riled up crowd as the Huskies battle with Cincinnati for second place in the Big East.

The Bearcats have won nine of their last 10 games — including four of five in the Big East — ever since this incident took place.

Cincinnati at No. 13 UConn

WHEN: Tonight, 7

WHERE: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs

RECORDS: Cincinnati 14-4, 4-1 Big East; UConn 14-3, 4-2

LINE: UConn by 6 1/2

ON THE AIR: ESPN2 (Bob Wischusen, Doug Gottlieb); WTIC-AM 1080

UP NEXT: Saturday at Tennessee, 4 p.m., CBS

CINCINNATI

Cashmere Wright G 6-0 R-Jr.; 10.3 ppg, 4.8 apg

Dion Dixon G 6-3 Sr.: Big East player of week, 22 ppg last week

Sean Kilpatrick G 6-4 R-So.: 16.2 ppg, 4.7 rpg

JaQuon Parker G 6-3 Jr.: 9.3 ppg, 5 rpg

Yancy Gates F/C 6-9 Sr.: 12.3 ppg, 8.9 rpg

Justin Jackson F 6-8 So.: 5.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg

Cheikh Mbodj C 6-10 Jr.: 3.2 ppg, 3 rpg

Ge’Lawn Guyn G 6-1 Fr.: 3.2 ppg

Jeremiah Davis III G 6-3 Fr.: 3.8 ppg, 1.3 rpg

Alex Oriakhi's Tweet

UCONN

Shabazz Napier G 6-0 So.: 5-for-11 in all 40 mins vs. Notre Dame

Jeremy Lamb G 6-5 So.: Season-low 6 pts, career-high 7 asts vs. ND

DeAndre Daniels F 6-8 Fr.: 1-for-9 from 3-pt range in Big East play

Alex Oriakhi F 6-9 Jr.: 12 pts, 7 rebs vs. ND

Andre Drummond C 6-10 Fr.: 4 double-doubles in 6 Big East games

Roscoe Smith F 6-8 So.: 10 pts, 6 rebs vs. ND

Niels Giffey G/F 6-7 So.: 7 pts, 5 rebs vs. ND

Tyler Olander F 6-9 So.: Season-low 6 mins vs. ND (heel injury)

Brendan Allen G 6-3 Fr..: Has not played in a Big East game

STORY LINES

BACK FROM BREAK: Classes at UConn resumed on Tuesday, and today’s game is the first at Gampel since Dec. 8 against Harvard. “We got a home game, our fans will be out here and it will be great for us,” said freshman Andre Drummond.

DANIELS DOWN: DeAndre Daniels tweaked his right ankle in the latter stages of Tuesday’s practice. It doesn’t seem as though the minor injury will affect his status for today, though. Daniels and Niels Giffey are expected to share time at small forward, while Roscoe Smith will primarily be used as a power forward, Calhoun said. Tyler Olander (heel) is not 100 percent, according to Calhoun, but will give it a go today.

STATE OF THE BIG EAST: Right now, everyone is chasing Syracuse. Cincinnati, UConn, Georgetown, Seton Hall, Marquette and West Virginia are all in a logjam fighting for second place.

“We have a league that really makes no sense from 2 to 16,” Calhoun said. “There is no 2 or 16, actually. I’ve long-stated, there is a 1 (Syracuse) — far and away. But no real 2 as far as I see it.”

QUICK FACTS

Cincinnati has won nine of its last 10 games and eight of its last nine on the road…Bearcats guard Dion Dixon was named Big East Player of the Week after scoring 22 points in each of Cincinnati’s two wins (Villanova and Georgetown).

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I’m sure you’d all love to read about UConn’s midseason MVP (Jeremy Lamb), its top midseason moment (the win over West Virginia a few weeks ago) and the biggest midseason story (Ryan Boatright’s eligibility saga, which took a strange turn last week).

But guess what?

There’s more to UConn basketball than that.

I’ve been on the beat for about three months now. Here are some observations that haven’t made the paper:

Kelsey Kaplan — Following UConn’s win over St. John’s, associate head coach George Blaney actually started his post-game press conference by mentioning Kaplan’s performance in the national anthem. Kaplan, a student at nearby Tolland High, has performed the anthem a handful of times. I’m not normally one for the arts, but she can really, really sing. Check out the video.

Pregame food breakdown – At UConn, I find a pretty obvious trend: The bigger the game, the better the food. I’m expecting steak at Cincy; not meatball grinders, which are just the worst.

Away from home, Seton Hall had the best spread for the media: chicken marsala, ziti, onions and peppers, bread, cookies, coffee, soda, water, ice, sugar for your coffee…the Prudential Center had it all.

A bit farther south, Rutgers took the liberty of calling the nearest Papa John’s (or some equivalent) and buying 30 pizzas and some wings. That worked, too.

Then, of course, there was Atlantis. Great resort; not so great on your wallet. In Danbury, a sweet and sour chicken combo costs $7.80. In the Bahamas, it was $33.95. No lie. Some people starve themselves on vacation so they look good on the beach (I’m not advocating that; I’m just saying it happens).

I starved myself during the Battle 4 Atlantis because I had no other choice.

Halftime performances — When I was a senior at UConn, I was fortunate enough to witness one of the the most dominant baton twirlers in the nation. Alyssa Kane was actually named College Miss Majorette of America in 2010, the year after I graduated.

Like everyone else at UConn, I considered myself blessed to have seen her perform. I’ll be honest — I never thought Kane could be topped. Didn’t believe it was possible.

But last weekend at Notre Dame, I had a front row seat to the video below. Obviously, Kane took a tumble down the rankings.

Clutch shooting:Two UConn students made halfcourt shots — and subsequently won awesome prizes — during TV timeouts this year. My records are a little sketchy, and I apologize to the first fella for not remembering his name.

But here’s the second one from Trumbull native Chris Jarvi, who took home a cool G (that’s $1,000) for beating the buzzer on New Year’s Eve.

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UConn returns to Gampel for the first time in over a month on Wednesday when it takes on Cincinnati, which currently owns sole possession of second place in the Big East.

A few highlights from Tuesday’s practice:

* Ex-Husky Tony Robertson practiced with the team. He still looks like he’s in college — and still possesses  a deadly stroke from outside. Robertson picked apart UConn’s 1-3-1 zone, a new look that the Huskies may have to use against guard-heavy Cincy.

* Tyler Olander (heel) isn’t 100 percent healed (see what I did there?), but is expected to play tomorrow.

* Jim Calhoun on the state of the Big East: “We have a league that really makes no sense from 2 to 16. There is no 2 or 16, actually. I’ve long-stated, there is a 1 — far and away. But no real 2 as far as I see it.”

* Niels Giffey and DeAndre Daniels will continue to rotate at small forward while Roscoe Smith will play mostly as a power forward, Calhoun said. Both Smith and Giffey turned in solid performances in Ryan Boatright’s absence.

* No comment from Calhoun on Boatright situation. He simply said “I’m not frustrated about anything except trying to get ready for Cincinnati. It’s the only thing we can control.”

* Jeremy Lamb is one of 25 players on the John Wooden watch list. Lamb is averaging 17.9 points per game and is shooting 50.2 percent from the field.

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After posting solid wins against West Virginia and Notre Dame, UConn made major leaps in each poll, jumping six spots to No. 11 in the coaches poll and four spots to No. 13 in the AP.

The Huskies, now 4-2 in the Big East, take on 4-1 Cincinnati on Wednesday at Gampel Pavilion. They haven’t played on-campus since Dec. 8.

Coaches Poll

AP Poll

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The Big East announced Monday that UConn freshman Andre Drummond had been named as the league’s Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season.

Drummond turned in two double-doubles, including a 20-point, 11-rebound performance against West Virginia that coach Jim Calhoun coined as “special.”

Drummond averaged 15 points and 12 boards as the Huskies went 2-0 in the week.

After a slow start, he’s bumped his per game averages to 10.2 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.