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Hey, there, American, remember the “Hungry Huskies?” Maybe it’s time to get reacquainted.
Dan Hurley has taken the listless, dispirited players he inherited from Kevin Ollie and turned them into a wild bunch. Whipped up into a pressing, diving, perimeter-shooting frenzy, they pulled off the program’s most satisfying surprise in a while, knocking off 15th-ranked Syracuse, 83-76, before a filled Madison Square Garden.
It’s early in the season, sure, but the Huskies (3-0) are doing all that Hurley, hired last March, promised they would, and they can add an old-school UConn souvenir – a trophy earned in New York – if they can beat the winner of the Iowa-Oregon game in the final of the 2K Empire Classic Friday night at 6:30 p.m.
This was far from a perfect game, the Huskies sometimes looking too amped up and losing control of the ball, turning it over 20 times. But they made up for the fumbles and stumbles with pure effort, contesting everything, fighting hard for every 50-50 loose ball.
Syracuse pulled within four points down the stretch, but Alterique Gilbert and Jalen Adams made killer 3-pointers, Adams extending the Huskies’ lead back to 10 with 1:33 left.
Adams and Gilbert each scored 16 points, and Eric Cobb, in the best game of his college career, had 13 points and 13 rebounds. Tarin Smith added 14 and Christian Vital 11 as the Huskies, playing like a swarm on defense, were an ensemble cast on offense.
It got scary again when Adams missed the front end of a one-and-one, and Syracuse’s Jalen Carey hit a 3-pointer at the other end to make it a five-point game again with 1:01 left. After coach Jim Boeheim took his last timeout, and Syracuse was forced to foul. Tarin Smith hit two, and things felt safe.
UConn shot 49 percent, and made 12 of 21 on 3-point attempts, including 8-for-13 in the second half. They smothered the bigger, more experienced Syracuse front court 44-to-31 in rebounds, and held Syracuse to 38 percent from the floor. Carey, a freshman, scored 24 for Syracuse.
UConn came out with hair afire, contesting everything Syracuse tried to do, and the Orange, still playing without point guard Frank Howard (ankle injury) felt the pressure. Freshman Jalen Carey had four early turnovers.
UConn broke out. Christian Vital and Alterique Gilbert hit 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to give the Huskies an 8-2 lead, and Vital’s lay-up, off a pass from Tarin Smith, opened it to 13-4 with 15:31 left in the half.
Syracuse struck back quickly. Oshae Brissett made a 3-pointer, the Orange’s only made three of the half, and Elijah Hughes followed a turnover with a three-point play. Carey scored twice and Tyus Battle’s layup put Syracuse ahead, 15-13, finishing the 11-0 run.
But the Huskies clawed back. Executing Dan Hurley’s relentless pressure, they were having an effect, but fouls were mounting. Hurley subbed freely, using 10 players in the half. Eric Cobb, in for Josh Carlton, had one of the best stretches of his career, going 4-for-5 from the floor, hitting a 3-pointer and grabbing five rebounds as UConn again opened a lead, 32-25, with 4:14 to go in the half.
UConn got a little reckless with the ball at times, committing 12 turnovers, but never let up on the defensive side. Isaiah Whaley, shaking off his ankle injury, getting in for the last couple of minutes and blocking two shots. Jalen Adams scored four down the stretch and the Huskies took a 38-32 lead into the half, a fast, physical and frenetic half it was.
With the starters back on the floor, Vital opened the second half with a 3-pointer to up the Huskies lead to nine, matching their biggest first-half advantage. But he picked up his third foul on the other end. The Orange missed nine of 10 threes in the first half but Hughes knocked one down to cut UConn’s lead back to four.
Vital stayed in with the three fouls, and hit another three, and Smith made a block, and scored on the break on the other end to restore the Huskies lead to seven. Gilbert hit a three to give the Huskies their first double-digit lead at 51-41 with 14:05 left.
The Huskies maintained their lead, building it to 14, but got sloppy around the six-minute mark, and Hughes hit a long 3-pointer to pull Syracuse within five, 66-61. They responded with two baskets.
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