SUPER BOWL 2012

UConn freshman forward DeAndre Daniels can be forgiven if his mind hasn’t totally been on basketball in recent days.

Daniels’ sister, Keirstyn Schumpert, had surgery on Sunday to remove a brain tumor. Doctors were able to remove the tumor and Schumpert is still resting in the hospital but could go home as soon as Thursday, according to Daniels.

He and his family were at the hospital for about seven hours on Sunday.

“It was real tough, just waiting until the doctor came out to tell us what’s going on,” he said.

Daniels added that right now, the right side of his sister’s face is numb, but she is cancer-free.

Schumpert is a standout guard at Manchester High. Daniels wasn’t sure what the surgery could mean for her basketball future.

*** Royce White is a matchup nightmare, but it's starting to feel like people are making him out to be the next Magic Johnson. No doubt, however, he's a big concern for UConn.

"I think the thing he does is he makes you -- you don't want to get polarized on him and get beat," said Jim Calhoun. "He can help facilitate that, so it becomes very difficult. But he's a heck of a basketball player. I was talking to a pro scout today who's seen him four or five times and just said he's got some (Kevin) McHale stuff inside. Right now, I wouldn't consider him a great shooter outside, but he just does things to help his team win."

Andre Drummond, Roscoe Smith and Alex Oriakhi could all see time guarding White.

"Just to give you an idea," Calhoun noted, "this morning at practice, we played four different guys on him -- small, big. We tried different sets trying to figure out which way he'd try to go after us.

Said Drummond: “He’s a big man that dribbles the ball, passes to his open teammate. A lot of focus is on him, because you’re not used to see a 6-8 big bring the ball up the court and run their offense. But we know what we’ve got to do to win this game.”

That means utilize the Huskies’ significant size advantage by rebounding and defending inside.

“If anything, it creates a matchup problem for them,” Drummond added. “(White is) shorter, you’ve got me and Alex down on the post.”
For what it's worth, UConn came off very confident today. Not cocky, but definitely confident.

*** And, of course, there's ISU's prowess on 3-pointers -- a bugaboo for UConn defensively most of the season.

“In some of the regular season games, I think we didn’t work as hard to defend the 3 as we could,” said Jeremy Lamb. “We let people get open shots, and they were able to hit a couple, and it gave them confidence to hit more. I think we’ve just really got to be ready to close out, no easy buckets.

In short, the Cyclones can be a matchup problem for UConn.

“They’re attacking two things that, during the year, have reared its ugly head for us,” Calhoun admitted. “We block shots down low very well, but we haven’t taken away the kind of penetration I’d like to see. And, at a particular point in seven or eight games, we were just God-awful (defending the) 3. We’ve worked hard and gotten better at it, but we’re going to be put to the ultimate test.”

*** Win and the Huskies should get the Saturday night date that everybody seems to want: a rematch with Kentucky, the No. 1 overall seed.

"You definitely hear it from the fans, they definitely want to see the UConn-Kentucky matchup," said Oriakhi. "Coach tells us to take it one game at a time. We're just trying to beat Iowa State and then play Saturday. If we win on Saturday, we want to play again."

There were about 8,000 UK fans at the Wildcats' open practice on Wednesday. There were about eight UConn fans.

*** Although UConn and Iowa State have never played each other, the Cyclones have two players who have played against the Huskies.

Chris Allen was a sophomore on the Michigan State team in 2009 that beat UConn in the Final Four. He scored two points in nine minutes off the bench in the Spartans’ 82-73 victory in Detroit. Allen also played on MSU’s Final Four team the following year before transferring to Iowa State. He has played in 14 NCAA tournament games, most by any player in this year’s field.

Also, senior guard Scott Christopherson was a freshman at Marquette in 2008 when the Golden Eagles lost at UConn, 89-73. He transferred to ISU the following season.

In fact, Iowa State has seven transfers on its roster, including ex-Michigan State standout Korie Lucious, who’s red-shirting this season.

“Did I plan on bringing six of them in my first year?” Hoiberg said. “No, it just happened to be a year where a lot of guys were leaving their schools.”

*** Brigham Young arrived in town on Wednesday after rallying from 25 points down to beat Iona the night before. The Cougars will face Marquette on Thursday.

BYU has a UConn tie: first-year BYU assistant coach Mark Pope is the brother-in-law of former UConn director of basketball operations Beau Archibald. Pope, a team captain on the 1996 national-champion Kentucky team, is married to Archibald’s sister, LeeAnne. The couple married in 1999 and has four daughters.

*** Some interesting stuff from John Calipari on how to alleviate the one-and-done situation (something he says he doesn't like) and Calhoun on whether Calipari might move on to the NBA, particularly if he finally wins a national title.

Said Calipari: "Here's what I would say. It starts with you get the NCAA in the room, and you say you give these kids the stipend they deserve. That's one.

Two, the insurance that they have to pay for themselves, which can be upwards of $15,000 per year, $20,000 per year that they have to pay for themselves. They're loaned the money, and then they have to repay it when they come out. The NCAA should pay that to encourage them to stay.

The third thing is families, the NBA, and the NCAA should get together and have a loan program for those families‑‑ we're only talking 30 kids. We're not talking 500 players. We're talking 30 kids that would be eligible for that insurance. They should be able to have a loan. To what level, I don't know.

The last two things are the NBA. And Billy Hunter and I have talked about these. One, if a young man stays more than two years, his contract, his rookie contract should be shorter. And if a young man graduates, his pay scale should be higher when he comes in. Now we encourage these young people. It's about them. You should stay because of the integrity of our school. Unless you're Bill Gates or Steve Jobs, you guys leave and go change the world. But you guys, you stay in school because it's the integrity. It doesn't make sense to me.

My thing is these kids are chasing their dreams just like tennis players and golfers and geniuses and computer geeks and all the others. They're chasing their dreams the same way. And what we've got to do is come together and say, how do we do right by these young people? How do we make sure?

If the NBA says, no, we don't want to shorten their contract, well, then, it's on them. It's not on Billy Hunter, and it's not on the NCAA. If the NCAA says, no, we're not going to pay for this insurance. Those kids should pay for it themselves, disability insurance. Then that's on the NCAA.

But I think there's some things we can do, and hopefully people will come together and say these are simple things that would encourage young people to stay in school.

Let me say this. It's like last year. Brandon Knight. Brandon Knight was a 4.0 student and had 60 college credits after one year. He transferred in 23 honors courses, and he graduated with 60 college credits. That's two years of work in one year. But he was the seventh pick of the draft. How could you tell him to stay?

And Detroit, the Pistons, they love him. They want him to be what their whole organization is about. So it's not academic, and it isn't. It's what is right for these young people."

Say what you want about Calipari, but he makes some very solid points. Too bad it's unlikely the NBA Players Association would ever accept.

And here's what Calhoun had to say about Calipari:

"John at present rate, based upon numbers, is going in the Hall of Fame, assuming he stays in college basketball. And if he keeps‑‑ in 1990, we got beat by Christian Laettner's shot. For the next nine years, we were tortured that we weren't good because we couldn't win a National Championship, and we were good. Ray Allen, Donyell‑‑ we all know there's a lot of good players at UConn. We average 26 wins a year, the whole thing. A lot of final eights, just couldn't get there.


If you stick with it and you smell it enough, you'll get it. So I don't think it's a case of John winning or not winning a National Championship. Can I imagine John going in the NBA or anything else? Yes. Or anything else? Yes. I think John very simply marches‑‑ always has, even when he was a young guy. When he was at Pitt, marches to his own drummer, and I think that John has taken that and obviously done a very good job coaching‑wise and otherwise.

Let's put it this way. Maybe in your own set of mind, would you think it's some sort of standard, because I heard a lot of years until I won a few‑‑ you know, he's on the landscape now. You really don't have to look, find, and come up with a much better coach, quite frankly. I know he has a lot of very good talent. He does a lot with that very good talent.

My point being simply, if he feels that way, what you're talking, that's the difference. I've never had a chance to ask him, nor would I really. It's going to be his choice. He certainly can handle the players, that's one thing. And I've always said that some of our best teams are much more difficult to handle because of talent, and he's done a remarkable job doing that.

I don't think he has to prove anything more in college basketball if he got a very good NBA job, if that's what he'd want to do. I personally don't think he has to prove anything."

Enjoy.

All the New York City pickpockets working their craft a few blocks away in Times Square were upstaged by a kid from Boston on Wednesday afternoon.

Shabazz Napier stole the show – quite literally – in UConn’s latest how-did-that-happen, Big East tournament win at Madison Square Garden. The sophomore point guard went on a personal 9-0 run – paced by a pair of crafty steals – over an 87-second span late in regulation to tie the game, and his teammates survived without him after he fouled out in overtime.

Jeremy Lamb’s 3-pointer with a little over a minute left in the extra period put the Huskies ahead for good in a 71-67 victory that ousted West Virginia from its final Big East tourney appearance and set up UConn’s third matchup with Syracuse in the past month.

It also essentially clinched a return trip to the NCAA tournament for the defending champions, who are now 20-12 overall.

With less than four minutes left in regulation on Wednesday, however, it appeared the Huskies might not have that chance. The Mountaineers led by nine (63-54) after a Darryl “Truck” Bryant inside bucket with three minutes, 57 seconds left. Napier, however, wasn’t dismayed, and assured his teammates as much at the time.

“I knew we were going to win,” he said. “It’s weird, you just have that instinct, that feeling … I told Alex (Oriakhi), ‘We’re going to win this game.’ I just felt that. When you feel something, you’ve got to go with it.”

Did he ever. Napier canned a 3-pointer, Bryant missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Napier hit a pair of free throws. Then, he swiped a Dominique Rutledge pass near midcourt and cruised in for a finger roll. After a West Virginia timeout, he picked Gary Browne’s pocket off an inbounds pass and again sailed in for a layup, tying the score with 2:10 left.

“One of them, I kind of gambled on,” said Napier. “I just felt like Rutledge was going to be lazy on the pass to Browne, and I just went for it and stole it. And one time, Browne thought I was going to stay with Bryant, and I just came from behind and stole it. Sometimes, you’ve got to take those risks and hope for the best.”

Browne countered with a lane jumper, but UConn got the ball up the floor quickly and Drummond ank a short baseline jumper. Browne turned the tables on Napier by stealing the ball form him near midcourt with 42.2 seconds left, but Andre Drummond blocked a Rutledge shot, Napier missed an 18-footer at the buzzer, and it was on to overtime.

Napier scored the first points of the extra period with a pair of free throws, but wound up picking his fourth and fifth fouls in the span of 24 seconds. Bryant hit a pair of freebies to tie it, but Lamb canned his wing trey to put the Huskies ahead for good.

“I knew we needed a score,” Lamb said, “and in the game (Tuesday), Coach told me to shoot and I didn’t take a shot. Coach was just saying, “I want you shooting the ball.’ So today, they ran a play for me, set great screens, and I was able to get wide open. I had a little time to set my feet and I just shot it with confidence, and thank God it went in.”

It wasn’t over yet, as Ryan Boatright missed three straight free throws within the final 33 seconds. But he finally hit the fourth with 19.2 seconds left, and West Virginia couldn’t score again.

"Boat is always there for us," said Napier. "Go back to the first game he came and knocked down three free throws we needed (to beat) Florida State. That's what he gives you, he gives you a lot of heart no matter what."

The Mountaineers missed all 11 of their field goal attempts in overtime.

“I couldn’t be prouder of our kids,” said coach Jim Calhoun. “I think for a team that obviously has had its ups and downs – no coach, no Boatright, all the various things that have happened to us – those are things that happen and they happen to other teams. But I can only judge my family, my guys, and my guys have come back, won three in a row, and I truly believe that a coach couldn’t be prouder.”

Napier scored 22 of his 26 points in the second half and overtime. Lamb added 22 – 12 in the first 12 minutes of play – and Boatright had 10 off the bench. Napier also had six assists, four turnovers and three blocks (!).

*** UConn-Syracuse. Madison Square Garden. Big East tournament. Doesn’t get much better than that, does it?

Not in recent years, anyway.

The last four times these two powerhouse rivals have met in the Big East tournament, three have been decided in overtime. Among those, of course, was the classic six-overtime battle in 2009 eventually won in the wee hours of the morning by the Orange, 127-117.

More recently, Syracuse has beaten the Huskies twice over the last month, pulling away in the final minutes at the Carrier Dome for an 85-67 win on Feb. 11, then eking out a 71-69 triumph two weeks later in Storrs. Calhoun was on medical leave and not on the sidelines for either game, but he’ll be there for Thursday’s noon quarterfinal-round battle.

“We’re playing, in my opinion – along with Kentucky – the best team in the country (Thursday),” he said after UConn’s 71-67, second-round win over West Virginia.

The old adage says it’s hard for a good team to beat another good team three times in a row. Throw in the fact that the second-ranked Orange are a sure-shot No. 1 NCAA tourney seed with nothing to play for, while the Huskies have momentum, and it’s understandable why Drummond promised: “It’s going to be hard for (Syracuse), I can tell you that now. We’re going to come out with fire.”

Added Lamb: “We’ve just got to come out strong. When we played them at home, we didn’t start off (well). We’ve got to come out as hard as we can.”

*** Despite the victory, UConn had to be concerned about its rebounding – or lack thereof – on Wednesday. The Huskies were outrebounded, 47-31. Worse, they allowed a whopping 26 offensive boards to the Mountaineers.

Strangely, Calhoun wasn’t overly concerned.

“You also remember that six or seven of (the offensive boards) are blocked shots,” he pointed out. “They seemed to get every blocked shot that we had. Not that it’s misleading, but we played defense a little bit different than maybe some other teams, and down the stretch it did help since we blocked two of their layups.”

Calhoun was particularly happy with the defensive play late in the game of Drummond, who blocked Dominique Rutledge’s potential game-winner in the final seconds of regulation.

Drummond also locked down WVU star Kevin Jones late in the game. Jones dominated much of the game from both the inside and outside and finished with 25 points. However, following a pair of free throws with 6:17 left in regulation, he didn’t score again.


Said Huggins: “Well, it’s been a good run. We’ve enjoyed it, most of it anyway. I mean, there’s nothing like coming to the Garden to play in the tournament.”
West Virginia finishes 12-15 all-time in Big East tourney games, winning the title in 2010 and reaching the finals twice.

The Big East announced on Wednesday that Temple will officially be joining the conference, for football only in 2012 and all other sports in 2013.

“I always thought Temple would be a great addition, being in Philadelphia,” Calhoun said. “They’ve got a tremendous coach, it’s a great city for basketball.”

Calhoun couldn't resist a chance to needle longtime rival Rick Pitino, who has been publicly campaigning for the Owls to join the Big East for a while now.

"I can't get a word in edgewise with Rick praising Temple," Calhoun quipped. "That's not against Rick. I don't Twitter or Tweet or any of those things. You know what I'm talking about."

*** Lamb has hit double figures in all seven of his career Big East tourney games.

*** UConn has won 13 straight postseason games and seven straight in the Big East tourney, tying Georgetown for third-longest winning streak in the event's history.

“I can’t walk with a cane on the sidelines, because two officials might get hit,” he quipped after Tuesday’s 81-67 win over DePaul.


He opened up a little more about his surgery, how he feels right now and what he must do to keep feeling better.


“But without question, I will definitely try to get more rest than I normally do.”

*** Believe it or not, there was a time not long ago when UConn couldn’t win a Big East tournament game.

From their four-point loss to Syracuse in 2005 to an embarrassing beatdown at the hands of St. John’s in 2010 – and with a certain six-overtime loss in between – the Huskies lost six straight conference tournament games.

Then came last year’s unprecedented five-wins-in-five-days run. Suddenly, the Huskies can’t lose at Madison Square Garden in March.

UConn has now won six straight Big East tournament games, the fourth-best streak in the event’s history. Ir has also won 12 consecutive postseason games overall.

“When we get into tournaments, obviously it’s a new season,” said Jeremy Lamb, who popped in a game-high 25 points. “All year we’ve been finding ourselves and everybody on the team has been stepping up. We’ve been preparing all year for this time. Now that it’s here, we just want to give it all we’ve got and don’t look back.”

*** Drummond finished with 12 points, five rebounds and four blocks in his Madison Square Garden debut.

“It’s been great, a dream come true,” he said. “I’ve always wanted to play here.”

Drummond has also been displaying some improved low-post moves lately, including a few nifty spin moves for hoops on Tuesday.

“I’ve been working on that a lot, just trying to get myself better with my back to the basket, because I’m more of a face-up person,” he said. “Getting the basic spin move and trying to finish on somebody, I’ve been working a lot on that move.”

He even unveiled a nifty behind-the-back crossover in the lane, something not seen prior to Tuesday.

“I can’t show ‘em all, can’t show ‘em everything,” he quipped.

The lowlight: Drummond missed all six of his free throw attempts. He is now 4-for-26 from the charity stripe in his last seven games.

*** Less than five minutes into the game, Oriakhi was hit with a flagrant technical foul after shoving 5-foot-11 guard Worrell Clahar on the low post.

“I just got hit in my mouth and I reacted,” he said. “When anybody gets hit in the face, you just react. It was a dumb mistake on my part, but you’ve got to learn from it.”

Indeed, he did learn his lesson in the second half: “I got hit again (by Cleveland Melvin) but I just kept calm.”


“The first time we played them, I felt like I pressed a little too much and just missed a lot of easy shots and (had) a lot of careless turnovers,” he confessed. “Coach talked to me more, said I didn’t play very well the first time but said at practice, ‘You’re going to have a great game.’”

*** Lamb’s layup with seven seconds left in the opening half made him the 46th player in UConn history to go over the 1,000-point mark for his career. He has also scored in double figures in all six of his Big East tourney games.

*** Calhoun has now won 34 Big East tourney games, passing John Thompson for sole possession of second place on the all-time list.

*** The win may also have punched the Huskies’ ticket to the NCAA tournament.



*** Caron Butler was in the house, and paid a visit to the UConn locker room after the game.

In fact, the charge Smith picked up on Pitt’s J.R. Moore with 1 minute, 33 seconds left appears to be the first taken by any UConn player this season. Seriously.



Indeed, the Panthers – particularly Moore – had been driving to the hole incessantly throughout the second half, turning a 15-point deficit into, at one point, a one-point lead. UConn led 63-61 when Smith took the key charge on Moore.

“It felt good,” Smith said. “They normally hurt, but I didn’t feel any pain. Everybody was very happy. We were kind of competing to get the first one. It was right there for me, I just stepped right in there and took it.”

Napier hit a 3-pointer on UConn’s ensuing possession, and the Huskies never looked back en route to a 72-65 win.

“That’s what you have to do, if people are driving the ball that hard,” Blaney said of Smith’s charge. “They’ve got five or six guys that can put it on the deck and put it to the rim. That remains the most difficult thing to defend in the game, the dribble-drive. To be able to step in and take the charge is very important.”

Smith has now scored in double figures in three straight games as his playing time – and confidence – increases more and more.

“He got a lot of consistent minutes last year, but he was a freshman,” Blaney pointed out. “You expect more out of a sophomore. He still was making mistakes early in the year. He’s getting saner with the ball, not turning it over.”

Added Andre Drummond: “I’m proud of that kid, man. Seriously. He played really well today.”

*** The Huskies were energized by Jim Calhoun's return to the sidelines.

“To have him on the sideline,” Napier said, “words can’t explain what he means for this team.”

Said Jeremy Lamb: "He was fresh out of surgery and still he came to coach us and gave it his all. It meant a lot, so we wanted to play hard for him."

Added Blaney: “It’s why he’s in the Hall of Fame, it’s why he understands a team, how to motivate a team. They were practically crying in the locker room, because he told them he loved them, and that’s why he came back.”

Blaney handled postgame press conference responsibilities as Calhoun, just five days removed from lower back surgery, was simply too exhausted (and emotional) to do so.

While not as active on the sidelines as usual, Calhoun was certainly animated at times – yelling at officials several times, and his players at others. Drummond knew the 26th-year, Hall of Fame head man was truly back when he heard him scream his name after Drummond took an ill-advised baseline jumper midway through the latter half.

“Oh, there he is,” Drummond thought at the time.

Calhoun’s surgeon was at the game, and afterwards told him he was concerned “when you were running up and down the sidelines,” according to Blaney.

“He was clear-headed, emotional when he had to be,” Blaney said of Calhoun. “To me, the only thing he did different was we put a chair out for him to sit in during timeouts … He is exhausted right now. The game’s exhausting, anyway, but to be coming off of surgery, that really can get you.”

But Calhoun told his players on Friday that he’d do anything he could to be there for them, and he came through.

“Coach Calhoun brought a lot of motivation, a lot of energy,” said Smith. “We definitely could feel it out there. It was electrifying when he first walked into practice. He definitely gave us that extra push we needed.”

Added Drummond: “It was great seeing him on the sideline. It gave us that extra spark, knowing that he was out there. Just hearing his voice again, it makes you play that much harder.”
Drummond, of course, had predicted Calhoun's return the day before.

“Should’ve listened to me the first time," he quipped. "I never doubted it.”


*** As of right now, there's still a remote chance of UConn being the No. 9 seed for next week's Big East tourney and playing Tuesday at noon. DePaul would have to beat Seton Hall tonight at 6 for there to be any chance of that happening.

More likely, the Huskies will be the 10th seed and play Tuesday at 7. They can't finish as the eighth seed.

*** We'll have some video up around 6:30 p.m.

Alex Oriakhi and Jeremy Lamb predict the atmosphere for Saturday night's bout with Syracuse, while UConn students begin setting up tents Friday afternoon:

Nothing normal about Gampel Pavilion today.

The ESPN College GameDay crew is here setting up. Digger Phelps and Jay Bilas are conducting interviews with their media brethren. Students are getting ready to camp out outside the building.

Hard to think of a more eagerly-anticipated game in recent years at Gampel than Saturday night's bout between UConn and second-ranked Syracuse. Texas two years ago comes to mind, when the Longhorns were No. 1 in the nation (ironically, also a George Blaney-coached game). But the Longhorns proved to be a fraudlent No. 1 the rest of the way.

Plus, this is Syracuse -- arguably UConn's biggest rival, and one that's only exacerbated by the fact that the Orange are heading to the ACC soon and this could be the last time they ever play at Gampel.

Oh, and Syracuse is no fraud like Texas was.

“I’ve been saying all week, and I hope Jimmy (Boeheim) doesn’t get mad at me for saying this, but this possibly could be his best team," Blaney said. "He has four guys on his team that could average 20 points per game, so he has answers and depth. Now, it remains to be seen what they do in the tournament, but at this point, from what I’ve seen, it’s his best team.”

UConn trailed by just three points with about six minutes to go two weeks ago up in Syracuse, before the Orange pulled away for an eventual 18-point win.The Huskies are hoping the home crowd can put them over the top this time.

“It’s gonna be rockin’ and rollin’," said Blaney. "The kids know it, we know it."

“Gampel's gonna be like our sixth man out there," added Alex Oriakhi. "The students are out there already. You know it’s a big game when kids are camping out there. It’s gonna be crazy.”

Part of the Huskies' game preparation will consist of watching clips from other rowdy games at Gampel over the years, to show them "what it can be like here."

Ostensibely, that Texas game will be included in those clips ("I thought it carried us," Blaney said of the crowd that day). Jeremy Lamb said last year's win over Villanova (on Kemba Walker's game-winning shot) was "the loudest I've ever seen Gampel. But (Saturday), it's gonna be a white-out, it's gonna be packed and sold-out. It's gonna be loud out there."

Said Blaney: "Syracuse games here have been monstrous, a couple of North Carolina games ... Gampel brings out electricity. It’s one of the great venues I’ve ever been in, from a coaching standpoint. It’s a fabulous place to play."

*** Blaney said Shabazz Napier has been practicing all week and is "fine, ready to go." However, Napier likely won't be in the starting lineup Saturday.
*** Asked about Jim Calhoun, who'll undergo back surgery on Monday, Blaney said: “I continue to check the door every minute, because I’m waiting for him to come back, and I know the team is. I hope, more than anything, that he takes care of the pain. The pain has been tough for him – for anybody – but for him, because he doesn’t acknowledge pain."

*** Digger seems to think it's time for Calhoun to retire.

"Jim, you're 70 years old (in May), what more do you want to do?," Phelps said. "But, it's his call."
*** Lamb and Oriakhi will be participating in ESPN College Gameday's "Know Your Teammate" routine.

All in a couple days' work.

Here's what Napier had to say about his injury:

“(Trainer James Doran said on Monday morning) it was highly doubtful (I'd play). I told him, give me some pills, some Ibuprofen, and I think I’ll be alright. It was still hurting, but I was able to play with it. I didn’t play at 100-percent, but I played enough.”

"I told my teammates, 'If I can get out there, no excuses.'"

On his game-winner:

“I looked up, I saw Jeremy had his hands up in the air, but I was like, ‘I’ve gotta take this last shot.’

"I had a flashback. I used to do that a lot in high school, a lot of game-winners. Usually I hit them from real, real deep. I just shot it, and I was able to make the shot."

“In that situation, you don’t take the best shot, you take the most open shot. (Dominic) Cheek was playing me far back. If I got a little closer, he might have come up.”

And, of course, on how his teammates reacted to his postgame quotes:


His teammates didn't completely understand where Napier was coming from.


Asked if Napier's criticism was accurate, Lamb simply said: "Not sure, not sure.”

Said George Blaney: "Shabazz speaks a lot, all the time. (His teammates) knew, in most cases, he was probably right."

*** Lamb, obviously, steppe dup big time with a career-best 32 points, including 10 of UConn's 13 in overtime.

"I think No. 3 was just OK tonight," Blaney dead-panned.

“Jeremy played terrific,” Napier said. “I think he could play like that most of the time. Today, he had to go the extra step, because I wasn’t 100-percent. Once he saw that, I think he really went at it and had to be an offensive threat.”

Roscoe Smith finished with seven points and five rebounds but dozens of hustle plays, including a huge play with 25.8 seconds left in OT when he fought Pinkston for a rebound and knocked it off the Villanova forward out-of-bounds, keeping the ball in UConn’s possession after a Ryan Boatright missed free throw. Lamb followed by knocking down a pair of freebies to give the Huskies a 69-66 lead.

Andre Drummond added eight points and 11 boards for the Huskies.

It’s worth noting that Villanova (11-16, 4-11) was without the services of its leading scorer, Maalik Wayns, who’s out with a sprained MCL in his right knee. The short-handed Wildcats had squandered a 20-point lead to Notre Dame two days earlier, also losing in overtime by a 74-70 tally.

It’s also worth noting that the first 12 minutes of the game were unquestionably UConn’s worst 12 minutes of its season.

At one point midway through the opening half, UConn went 11 straight possessions without scoring – 10 missed shots and three turnovers. Villanova scored 12 points during that span, opening up a 26-8 advantage, and it appeared the Huskies had hit rock-bottom.


The 18-point deficit was the largest UConn has overcome to win a game this season, trumping a comeback from 13 points down to Coppin State back on Nov. 20.
His teammates let Andre know about it.


*** The Committee on Academic Performance met on Monday but didn't come to a conclusion on whether it will use APR scores from 2010-11 and 2011-12 (rather than 2009-10 and 2010-11) to determine whether teams can qualify for the 2013 tournament.
According to NCAA director of public and media relations Erik Christianson, the committee will continue the dialogue at future meetings. It next meets on April 23-25, and it may meet by conference call before April.

Alex Oriakhi is averaging just 6.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this year, both well down from last year's numbers (9.6, 8.7).

“All my hard work studying, keeping my grades up, it’s definitely an accomplishment," Oriakhi said. "I was happy to be recognized.”


Oriakhi, who is majoring in sociology but may switch to communications, said he learned a lot from one particular teammate the past two seasons.

“Just watching Kemba (Walker), he was definitely a role model, even off the court," Oriakhi noted. "Just to see the kind of student he was. It’s easy for kids not to care about their grades and just go to class, but Kemba definitely excelled in the classroom. He was definitely a role model for me, academically.”

(Beating Marquette may be signature win Huskies need).

With so much scrutiny -- fair or unfair -- on UConn's academics lately (APR, etc.), Oriakhi's good grades are a nice representation for the program right now.

"I definitely am going to work hard, and hopefully my teammates can follow suit and get their grades up," he said, adding that he's not even the lead dog, academically, for the Huskies right now.

"I think Boat (Ryan Boatright) has the highest GPA overall, so now I’ve got to catch up to him.”


Oriakhi is leading the team on the court, as well. His 14-point, 10-rebound effort against DePaul was his second double-double of the season (he had 11 last year), and his oncourt leadership has been noticealbe ever since he called a team meeting a couple of weeks ago.

“I just tell myself when I’m out on the court, ‘Just talk,'" Oriakhi said. "DeAndre said when he hit those two 3’s (vs. DePaul), he heard me cheering for him and it made all the difference for him. When I’m on the court, I’m going to be the loudest guy out there. Even if I’m on the bench, I’m going to be cheering for my teammates."






*** NCAA.org has team pages on every team in the country, focusing on their RPI, strength of schedule, etc., throughout the season. It's alphabetical, so scroll down a short ways to find UConn.

It was halftime of tonight's eventual 80-54 rout of awful DePaul, and the funniest thing happened: normally mild-mannered George Blaney decided to get all Jim Calhoun on the Huskies.

He had just watched UConn squander a 16-point lead down to 10 as it got sloppy and caught up in DePaul's ugly, frenetic style, and he wasn't happy.

"I really got on them pretty good at halftime," Blaney said. "It was all about just playing harder and harder and harder."

And make no mistake, Blaney's definition of "getting into them pretty good" wasn't too different from Calhoun's, according to all involved.

“He got into it,” Shabazz Napier reported. “You sit back and you’re like, ‘Wow, he’s yelling.’ Because Blaney doesn’t yell. I got guys in the hall and said, ‘Do y’all realize what just happened,’ because Blaney doesn’t usually yell at us, so we’ve got to play hard and give that extra effort. For him to be yelling, that means something must be going wrong. He really chewed us (out).”

Added Jeremy Lamb: "When we see him yell at us, we say we're definitely doing something wrong. So, we definitely tried to pick it up."

They did, outscoring DePaul 19-5 to start the latter half and never looking back. UConn's first 10 baskets of the second half were all either dunks or layups. Andre Drummond had five dunks alone in that span; the Huskies wound up with 10 overall for the game.

They actually had fun tonight, and it showed. When Drummond hit a rare free throw, the Gampel Pavilion crowd let out a mock cheer and Alex Oriakhi couldn’t contain the wide grin spread across his face.


Later, little-used 7-footer Enosch Wolf tipped in a missed shot for his first field goal of the season, again eliciting rowdy cheers from the student section.

Smiles, good times and alley-oops ruled the night.

“This is the way it should be,” Napier said after scoring 14 points and doling out a season-high 11 assists, several of them alley-oop hurls to Drummond. “Basketball is a sport where you can have fun. Win or lose, at the end of the day, you’re supposed to have fun playing it.”

“It was nice,” agreed Lamb. “Now, we’ve just got to focus on keeping it going.”

Lamb finished with a game-high 18 points, Drummond had 15 points and nine boards and Oriakhi notched just his second double-double of the season with 14 points and 10 rebounds. (He had 11 double-doubles last season).

Ryan Boatright dished out seven assists (UConn had 23 as a team on 33 baskets), and DeAndre Daniels, who didn’t play at all against Syracuse, knocked down a quick pair of 3-pointers and finished with eight points off the bench.

"I'm very pleased with his effort," Blaney said of Daniels. "He gives you that length, and the ability to rebound and block shots around the basket. He deserves more time based on his play today."

Blaney was effusive in his praise for Drummond, who was "the runner/jumper we all think he is ... and check this out: he guarded (Cleveland) Melvin the whole game and did a great job. That's a 6-11 guy playing a three-man who happens to play the four position."

"He's like Gronkowski," Blaney added, "he catches everything."

As for Napier: "I'm liking the way he's handling things on the floor. He's talking to peopl, keeping people in the game. More imprtant, he's pushing the ball at people. If he and Ryan can push the ball so much at people, that puts them back on their heels."

Said Napier: “I’m not here to pad my stats, I’m not here to claim my frame. I’m here to be a role player, to help the team win. When we win, we all look good … You can be the 12th man, the assistant coach, the trainer, the weight-lifting trainer. At the end of the day, everybody looks good because UConn looks good.”

UConn outrebounded DePaul 50-27, outscored it 44-26 in the paint and shot 63-percent (19-for-30) in the second half.

Oh, and it's worth saying again: DePaul really is awful. Some thought they'd be better this season. Not really.

UConn's intense practice the day after its regular-season ending loss to Notre Dame last season will go down in the annals of program history.

The way Jim Calhoun and others have described it, that practice is what kick-started the team's miraculous, 11-game run to Big East and NCAA tournament championships.

Could a players-only meeting called by Alex Oriakhi before Friday's practice yield a similar season turnaround? No one's suggesting the Huskies are going to go unbeaten the rest of the way, but everyone involved believes the emotional meeting will have a big impact. It certainly appeared to in Saturday's whitewash of an admittedly slumping, shorthanded Seton Hall.

Here's what Oriakhi and his teammates are saying about 'The Meeting':

“I told guys, ‘It really hurts not to make the tournament,'" Oriakhi said. "We weren’t playing together, so I told guys I’m willing to give up my minutes, I don’t care anymore. I don’t care if I’m on the bench, I’ll be the biggest cheerleader, I just want to win. When I said that, you could see in the guys’ eyes, they really bought into it. I said, ‘Either we’re in or we’re out.’ Everybody said we’re in. I think that really helped. It’s crazy when you change everybody’s mindset, what can happen.”

He continued:

"I just told guys, I apologize for being selfish, too much thinking about my minutes, this and that. I think it’s what we needed. My freshman year, we didn’t have that. If I’m the captain of the team, I have to take responsibility of what happens, whether I’m playing or not.”

Oriakhi said his parents, Alex and Angela, as well as assistant coach Kevin Freeman were all pleading with him to call a team meeting.

“If I’m hearing it from all different directions, I’m wrong if I don’t," he said. "I really think that meeting was all the difference in the world. It’s crazy what a few words will do.”

Oriakhi isn't necessarily a natural leader, he admits. But ...

“That’s what this team needs, that’s what I have to do. I’m new to this, as well. I’ve always been the guy in the backseat. It’s definitely something new to me, I’m willing to do it, though.”

He said Roscoe Smith also addressed the team during the meeting.

"He said he wanted to apologize for being selfish, as well, worrying about minutes. He told us, ‘When we win, we all look good.’ I asked him, ‘How many points did you score in the national championship game?’ He said, ‘None.’ I said, ‘Do you care?’ He said, ‘No.’ When guys heard that, they all bought into it. I looked into everybody’s eyes, and you could see they were willing to make a change. Guys bought into that, and it really, really showed on the court.”

The meeting went down right after George Blaney had held a meeting of his own with Oriakhi, Jeremy Lamb and Shabazz Napie.

“That’s what leaders do," Blaney said of Oriakhi. "That’s a good job.”

UConn players agreed:

“It was a good meeting," said Jeremy Lamb. "He really got serious with us. If he talks, aother people got stuff off their minds. We just told everybody we needed everybody on the team. In these hard times, everybody’s got to come together. It really meant a lot to the team. I appreciate him for doing that.”

Added Ryan Boatright: “It was real emotional. Alex and the upperclassmen felt like they had to get some stuff off their chest. Being a freshman, I just sat back and listened to what everybody had to say. We had a great practice, and it carried over to the game.”

We'll have some video shortly ...

A few more details from today:

*** Blaney said he spoke with Calhoun after the game, and that Calhoun watched the game with the volume turned down so that he could focus on the team's energy.

"He felt that Alex was the key to the first half," Blaney said.

He added: "There was a little bit of jump in his voice that wasn’t there this morning or yesterday. I was happy we were able to make him feel better.”

*** About the only excitement in the second half (aside from some thunderous Andre Drummond dunks) came late in the game, when Napier and SHU's Jordan Theodore started jawing after Theodore was called for a foul on Napier.

“He said Jordan was fouling him the whole possession," Boatright reported. "I guess when he went for the ball, he kinda scratched his neck. They were just tangled up. Just two dudes with emotion going on. They shook hands when we came out of our timeout."

However, SHU coach Kevin Willard wasn't pleased with the call (or, in particular, referee Gene Steratore) and was ejected from the game after getting consecutive T's.

Willard didn't mince words afterwards:

"I thought the refs called a good game. To be honest with you, there is one of them I don't get along with. I wanted to wish him a happy Valentine's Day. He didn't like that, and that was the end of that ... I don't mind getting blown out. I do have an issue when the refs enjoy the blow out. And I don't think they should be smiling or enjoying one team getting their butt kicked and another team not ... That's what I saw."

*** New Haven's Freddie Wilson, a Hillhouse product and Seton Hall frosh, scored just two points in 20 minutes but is making strides with the Pirates.

UConn is going with an eighth different starting lineup today -- and let me be the first to say, I like it.

The Huskies are going with a three-guard look: Ryan Boatright, Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb. Andre Drummond's the center and Tyler Olander the power forward.

I think this is the best lineup to get an offensive flow going, especially against a zone defense. Boatright makes things happen, as we saw before he got into foul trouble at Georgetown. He can make Drummond very happy getting him the rock.

Ditto for Olander, the team's best big-man passer who sees the floor well when he gets the ball at the high post and can also pop in a 15-footer.

Not to say Roscoe Smith, Alex Oriakhi, Niels Giffey and DeAndre Daniels don't still have roles on this team, but this starting lineup may be UConn's best right now.

*** The Huskies catch a break as Seton Hall top scorer, rebounder Herb Pope won't play after bruising his rib Tuesday night against Marquette. If UConn doesn't win today ...

*** Karl Hobbs has been bumped up to assistant coach while Jim Calhoun is out. He'll be able to coach the team during practices and, obviously, during games during this span.

*** I wouldn't expect Calhoun to make the trip to Syracuse. Getting on airplanes is one of the worst things for his back right now. (Oh, and so is the stress from losing. Yeah, Syracuse might not be a good remedy).

Here's what Jim Calhoun told the Associated Press this afternoon:

"I had back pain like never before last summer, thought it was back spasms," he said. "I saw a neurologist and he told me about scoliosis, stenosis and other things and that there could be things like a bone spur and that I could probably need something done at some point. I went for the physical therapy and it worked, but it started to lock up sometimes recently and it was worse."

"The bottom line is I'm going to need some work done," Calhoun told the AP. "In January the shooting pains were getting worse and after one plane ride I couldn't even get up. I tried to hide it. I'm taking medicine right now for the pain and they are waiting for things to quiet down and I'll meet with the doctor next week. "I told (president) Susan (Herbst) about it and said I could make it through the season that there were only 3 1/2 weeks left. But it's just so bad, even getting through practice. Now I'm going to see what the next step is. The bottom line is I'm hurting."

Calhoun had seen back specialists at the UConn Medical Center and up in Boston this past fall. We're told he considered surgery during his three-game NCAA suspension at the start of the Big East season, but decided against it when it appeared he'd miss too many games.

It's not known definitively if Calhoun will need surgery (though judging by his quotes to the AP, he will). If so, the big question is when: now, or some time after the season?

If it's now, I wouldn't expect to see Calhoun back on the sidelines this season.

Here are some quotes from UConn's practice today:

BLANEY

“I brought Shabazz, Jeremy and Alex into the room before practice and talked to them about – this is Coach Calhoun’s team, my voice is voice they’re going to have to listen to now for whatever amount of games or practices, and that I need their help and I need them to take control of the team again in the locker room.”

"He’s the toughest guy I know. He doesn’t use Novocaine when he goes to the dentist."

“When adversity hits sometimes, you watch what people can and can’t do. It’s time for people to step up and do it ... I like adversity with teams. I think it tells what guys are made of. I’m not worried about that. I’m worried about playing hard right now.”

“We all know we haven’t been working hard enough. We’re playing with dead faces. I want that guy in Section 209 to see our guys are having fun.”

Blaney said he probably won't start the same five players who started against Georgetown on Wednesday.

SHABAZZ NAPIER

“It’s one of those things that we wish we could be there to help him, and he wishes he could be here to help us. But sometimes, you’ve got to go on your journey without your captain.”


“It hit us negatively, but right now, at this point, we’re staying positive. We know that we’ve still got a lot more games left in the season, and we’ve got to take it one practice, one game, one day at a time.”

(on his recent on-court struggles)

“If I knew, I’d let you know. I don’t know, man. I talked with Coach Blaney today, we had an intimate talk, emotional. We just want to be back on-target. We all hate losing, that’s the worst feeling in the world. Sometimes, you’ve got to go through these rough edges to sharpen your game up.”

(on not starting vs. Georgetown)

“That wasn’t a problem at all, man. I’m just here to win. Coach felt like Boatright should be able to start, I felt he should be able to start the way I’ve been playing, too. I’m just trying to win. It doesn’t matter to me. As long as I’m out there the last five minutes of the game, when it really counts, I’m happy with that.”

ANDRE DRUMMOND

“We’re ready. We’re going to come out with fire tomorrow and play hard. We had a great practice today, a great team meeting before practice, and we’re in it for each other. We’re brothers.”

RYAN BOATRIGHT

“Everybody was devastated. We just hope he gets better.”

“I think we’re going to overcome it and do something special again. We’re the only ones who know what we’re going through. Everybody else is on the outside looking in.”

What do you do when you make wholesale lineup changes and end up with the same results?

“Back to the drawing board,” according to Ryan Boatright.

For about 3 1/2 minutes, Boatright's presence in the starting lineup in place of Shabazz Napier really seemed to light the spark UConn has desperately been missing. He hit Andre Drummond for three early hoops, and the Huskies had a 13-7 lead.

Then, Georgetown went into a 2-3 zone, slowing UConn's offense back down to a standstill. Not long after, Boatright picked up two quick fouls and was on the bench for the final 10 minutes of the half.

The rest of the way, it was pretty much more of the same for the Huskies. UConn did manage to get more good looks but couldn't shoot at all. The Huskies were 18-for-60 from the floor, 2-for-20 on 3-pointers (heck, even 6-for-13 from the foul line).

The 44 points mark the second-lowest total ever for a UConn team in Big East play. The previous low was 42, set in 1982 and 1999.

Jeremy Lamb was 4-for-18, 2-for-11 -- many of them open looks. The three new starters -- Boatright, Niels Giffey and Roscoe Smith -- were 1-for-9 for two points.

Of course, the players they replaced weren't much better -- particularly Alex Oriakhi and Shabazz Napier.

Oriakhi went scoreless with one rebound and attempted exactly one shot all night. That shot? A dunk attempt that somehow wedged between the rim and the basket.

And Napier. Oh, Napier. He went 0-for-9 with one point and has now missed 17 straight shots from the floor. His body language wasn't much better tonight, either.

“I expect a lot more out of him, an awful lot more – including body language,” said Jim Calhoun.

Said Boatright of Napier: “He’s not showing hatred towards me or anything like that. He’s handling it like he’s handling it. We like each other, we still get along and stuff like that. It’s the coach’s decision.”

UConn's point total matched its second-lowest ever in Big East play.

“The one thing that did shake my head, we missed a ton of shots that Division 1 basketball players ,and UConn, should make,” said Calhoun, seemingly separating, at least for a moment, the fact that his team is, indeed, a D-1 team.

There have been times over the past few games where it’s been tough to tell.

But the Huskies -- at least some of them -- vow to keep fighting.

“I’m going to keep working, I’m going to keep pushing. We’re going to keep pushing,” said Calhoun. “Tomorrow’s (practice is) going to be longer, and we’re going to go at them and find people who can do what they can do. We’re not the most talented team, I guess we’re the sixth-youngest (team in America). I have no idea what that means. It means (bleep), in plain English.”

Added Andre Drummond: “I have faith in everybody, I’m sure everybody has faith in everybody else, the coaching staff has faith in us. Nobody’s given up yet. We’ve just got to keep fighting.”

And Boatright: "I remember last year’s team, I remember watching them, they lost the last four out of five heading into the Big East and they put it together and made a run and they just came back. We still have a chance.”

In all, Calhoun was -- once again -- surprisingly serene after another bad loss.

“I’m happier with our defense than I was on Saturday against Notre Dame," he said. "Our defense, generally, was good, except we had some people who felt, down nine with 12 to go, game’s over so they’re going to gamble. Bang. You’re not down nine anymore, you’re down 11.”

JIm Calhoun is shaking things up: Ryan Boatright will start at point guard tomorrow night vs. Georgetown and Roscoe Smith will start at power forward. Shabazz Napier and Alex Oriakhi, the team's two captains, will come off the bench.

Also, Niels Giffey returns to the starting 5, in place of DeAndre Daniels.

It's simply a matter of quickening the pace offensively for the Huskies, who have scored 57 and 48 points in their last two games and look stagnant on offense.

"It doesn’t mean ‘Bazz can’t do the job … We just need to get into a better pace," Calhoun said. "From Bazz’s standpoint, he’ll get a better viewpoint coming off the bench.”

“We’ve got to get some cheap, easy points, be it against Georgetown or Seton Hall," Calhoun added. "We just can’t keep getting 50 points a game. We’re just not going to win that way.”

Calhoun said he started pondering such changes a couple of games ago. However, the team had some good practices over the past week, and he felt good about things going into Sunday's Notre Dame game (and, of course, had Boatright practicing on the blue team all week, not knowing if he'd be able to play).

But Sunday's stinker was the final straw.

"It’s not against anybody, it’s for the team," Calhoun said. "It’s what we think is best. (Boatright) is young, and he’s been told to push the ball up. And it’ll be against some three-quarter court pressure, because they will trap us.”

Telling Napier and Oriakhi, the team's captains and key cogs in last year's title run, wasn't easy.

“It’s very difficult, in a lot of different ways," the coach said. "But what I’ve got to do is not what’s best for each individual player, it’s what’s best (for the team) ... The one thing I’ve always felt we need to do as a team is to create easy baskets. It’s pretty hard to win a league as crazy and as close as ours (without doing that)."

Giffey is the quickest player up the floor, according to Calhoun, and Daniels is a close second. But Giffey's got more experience and is back in the starting lineup.

And as for Roscoe, his ability to run the floor should also help UConn's pace.

“He will get up the court," Calhoun siad. "I don’t know what he’s gonna do when he gets there, but he’ll try to make something happen, that’s for sure.”

Pretty intriguing stuff. Of course, Boatright could throw the ball away 37 seconds into the game, and Napier could pop right off the bench to replace him.

Calhoun also defended criticism of Andre Drummond's recent play.

“I’m not saying Andre’s perfect, he made a couple of not-so-good plays, but if he can keep giving us double-doubles, block four shots, it gives us a much better chance to win basketball games," the coach said.

It's also incumbent upon the Huskies to get Jeremy Lamb more than just the nine shots he got against Notre Dame.