The Huskies’ 28-game home win streak was snapped at the hands of the Bluejays.
UConn men’s basketball saw its 28-game home win streak snapped against Creighton, who held on against the Huskies to win 68-63 and pull off the upset. With the loss, UConn falls to 5-2 in the Big East and 13-5 on the season. Here are some takeaways from the Huskies’ loss to the Bluejays.
Fouls are too lopsided
Zach Carter: UConn shot five free throws all game against Creighton, none of which came in the first half. They then committed 17 fouls, leading the Blue Jays to shoot 14 of 15 from the charity stripe. Against Georgetown on Jan. 11, the Huskies shot 10 free throws. Georgetown shot 23. In the loss to Villanova on Jan. 8, UConn shot four free throws the entire game. Villanova shot 11. Starting to see a pattern?
Whether its the Huskies’ inability to draw fouls or a referee jinx holding UConn back, something has to change. UConn’s inability to draw fouls and capitalize on easy points is apparent. On defense, they’re simply fouling too much. Too many times has Dan Hurley had to rest a starter for five or 10 minutes in the first half because someone took two or three fouls fouls early in the game.
Especially against Creighton, who boasts Ryan Kalkbrenner’s impressive size, ability and production around the rim, attacking the paint and forcing him to commit fouls could have forced him out of the game and weakened the Blue Jays game plan. Instead, he had 16 points and 10 rebounds in 39 minutes. UConn is third this season in the Big East with 316 free throws attempted, shooting at a team-wide clip of 78.8% — the fourth-best in the conference. The numbers say they had no trouble getting and making free throws in the early season, but they need to get back to that rate quickly.
A defensive rollercoaster
Dan Madigan: UConn’s defense has been up and down all season, but maybe looked at its best in the second half against Georgetown, where the Huskies held the Hoyas to just 29 points and pulled away for a comfortable road win. Against Creighton, UConn did a solid job containing Bluejays stars Ryan Kalkbrenner and Steven Ashworth, who combined for 28 points but never took over the game. Instead, Jamiya Neal’s career day (24 points, four rebounds) was the difference, as a the senior scored 17 first half and kept Creighton ahead with some tough buckets. Neal hit his fair of tough shots, but Solo Ball’s defensive performance on Neal early on led to a lot of open looks.
It’s not fair to pin it just on Ball, as UConn’s defense as a whole allowed 1.17 points per possession. Even though the Huskies competed well on the boards and had less turnovers, the defensive lapses were too much to overcome. UConn has the talent and size to be better defensively, but needs to improve quickly in order to seriously have a chance at another deep tournament run.
Another Hassan Diarra masterclass
Madigan: Hassan Diarra was once again marvelous against Creighton, scoring 15 points and adding six rebounds and seven assists without any turnovers. The senior point guard is in total control of the Huskies’ offense right now, and has found success as of late getting by his defender and beating them to the rim instead of always looking to pass. His tenacity on both ends sets the tone for this team, and he has continued to be incredibly effective with the ball almost always in his hands. Diarra currently leads the Huskies in offensive usage rate and minutes played and is 11th nationally in assist rate. He is not shooting as well from deep (26.9 percent) as last year, but no one on the Huskies’ roster has had to force more threes late in the clock than Diarra, so that number is at least a little bit skewed.
Diarra has kept this UConn team in countless games already this season with his clutch baskets and his defense, where he continues to guard the opposing team’s best guard. His growth over the course of this season has kept the Huskies relatively on track after Maui, and his performance Saturday against Creighton shows why he has been this team’s most valuable player so far this season.