LESSONS UNRAVELED
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THURSDAY- Wow....That's the first thought after watching UConn unravel in the second half of their 81-66 loss at Providence. Even though the first 30:25 were hardly clinical, the Huskies had rallied from seven down to 58-55 in front with 9:35 left. Then,it all came unglued. UConn missed its next 10 field goal attempts,three free throws, turned the ball over once and gave up four offensive rebounds in a spiraling 14-0 run that gave PC a double digit lead it would not lose.
To dwell on UConn's negatives would detract from an inspired performance by the Friars. Stung by a horrific Saturday night meltdown at home against South Florida, Providence played with an emotion and fire all night long. Jamine Peterson and Bilal Dixon dominated the paint (24 offensive rebounds, 44 points in the paint, 21 second chance points. And Sharaud Curry, invisible in the first half, took charge in the second, scoring 18 points . It was Curry's ability to penetrate with ease that forced the big men to help defensively, freeing Petersen and Dixon for dunk after dunk (five of PC's final 10 field goals were dunks, the other five were layups)
The offense, which ran so smoothly in the second half of the Texas win, came unglued. Too many quick shots, especially from the perimeter, layups that became air balls, etc. It was in stark contrast to the effort on Saturday, Players who stood out on Saturday struggled on Wednesday. Only Gavin Edwards and Kemba Walker performed up to their capabilities.
It's not coincidence that this took place on the road. As Bill Parcells said (to paraphrase) "You are what your record says you are". And UConn is winless on the road. And the next three away from Gampel are Louisville, Syracuse and Villanova. So it doesn't get any easier.
Up next, a Marquette team that gets roughly 41% of its offense from three pointers. Pre game from the XL is 11:30 AM on Saturday.
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