Interesting subplot today, somewhere beneath the obvious implications attached to a second-round game between teams with strong and similar resumes (sorry, UConn’s is superior) and searching for wins to improve NCAA Tournament seeding.
Once upon a time, Connecticut’s super-sub point guard Ryan Boatright was committed to WVU — and that came after he was committed to Southern Cal as a 14-year-old. His association lasted with the Mountaineers for five days. Boatright’s mother called Bob Huggins the week after her son thought he’d made up his mind and she said he was no longer committed to thge Mountaineers.
The reason? Jabarie Hinds. He committed to WVU a day after Boatright did and Boatright said he couldn’t keep rowing in that direction.
“When you think about it, there really was no point going somewhere you’ve got to fight with other players at your position,” Boatright said, adding that senior Truck Bryant would also be on the team and in the backcourt. “There were too many people in one position. I felt like UConn was a better system for me.”
Huggins called Boatright “very talented” Tuesday and didn’t want to talk much about a player he still likes and respects, but he did say that players “don’t commit and then say you’re going to take other visits. That’s not a very strong commitment.”
Hey, respect the kid’s honesty. He didn’t run from the questions Tuesday and his answers, while maybe not entirely endearing, are nevertheless truths. Young man’s been through a lot already in his career and I don’t think it’s a coincidence he’s as cool on the court as he is.
By the way, good player, too. WVU has to keep him out of the paint today. Has to. Trouble is, he has great feet and balance and he seems to get in there whenever he wants to against a defense that doesn’t protect against straight-line drives.
And that would be WVU, though the Mountaineers have actually guarded pretty well teh last three halves they’ve played.
10:49: Lots and lots of WVU people here this week. More than I can ever recall save the weekend the Mountaineers won it in 2010. But even then, it wasn’t as populated on Tuesday and Wednesday that year as it is this year.
Several former players are in that group. Every one I talked to yesterday likes WVU’s chances, as long as WVU plays hard throughout the game and doesn’t come undone when UCon flexes — and UConn is going to flex.
Hard to believe this, but the Huskies have won 12 straight postseason games now — five Big East Tournament games and six NCAA Tournament games last year and Tuesday’s event-opener. The six-gam winning streak in this tourney is fourth-best in BET history. UConn holds the record, too, for winning nine in a row in 1998-2000.
Unspoken motivation for this group: They can’t play in the NCAA Tournament next season because of an APR ban.
10:51: One more observation. You’ve heard lately Huggins say that he knew his team was in trouble before the St. John’s game. Well, a guy I know here who knows Huggins. He had tickets behind the bench for the St. John’s game and he was telling me last night he’d read that story and that it was absolutely true. He said Huggins turned around early in the game and said to everyone and to no one in particular, “I told you we weren’t prepared,” and then some other things.
So, no, Huggins wasn’t embellishing recently for the purposes of drama. He say it back thenand he called it back then.
The point? Same guy said Huggins liked the way his team has focused, practiced and played and feels pretty good about WVU’s chances, in general. Just saying …
10:57: OK, I liked. One more. Peruse WFTF’s Facebook page to kill some idle time before the game. Top secret WVU/Big 12 documents there.
11:16: So yesterday Huggins arranges a media opportunity at the team hotel across the street from MSG at the very time the league’s annual awards are announced. He even left his practice early to make sure he was there on time. Today the Big East decides to announce the 2012 addition of Temple at noon, just when WVU is beginning its game. This is fun.
11:39: In yesterday’s game blog, I mentioned a Big East suit reminding Justin Jackson that the player of the year vote was a vote of the coaches … which Justin knew … which meant the Big East knew what happened and was bracting for the reaction and washing its hands before thigns got dirty.
Well, Crowder won the award and then this happened:
The @BigEastMBB major award winners are determined by a vote of the league’s head coaches. #noconspiracytheories
And then this — this wonderful reaction — happened.
Noon: Add Wellington Smith to the list of dignitaries. Sorry, ladies, Mr. Smith, whi is now a financial planner, is engaged.
12:02: Pep band chants MVP when KJ is introduced.
12:05: Truck chases Lamb all over the floor and gets a steal and then drives awkwardly to earn two free throws. He makes both for the 2-0 lead.
12:09: UConn doing what USF did and using size on D against Truck, but Truck is driving on the slower defender. Also, Huggins is pretty upset with Miles and his “rebounding” right now.
12:22: Internet is shaky for everyone along press row, so no promises, but a plea to keep the action going in the comments because we’ve got a large at-work audince online today. SO far, pretty fun game with both teams making plays and making shots and really working for rebounds, where WVU leads 10-6 and could be happier with some efforts and calls. Overall, it’s 15-15 and Hinds v. Boatright is a push.
12:23: WVU bench not happy with that call, either. Boatright saved that play, though. So smooth when he’s moving so fast. And Deniz is entertaining today — missed dunk, air ball hook, dunk — but he’s trying.
12:25: Aaron Brown guarded Lamb for about seven seconds and then Lamb sipped inside for an and-one. WVU bench was counting out loud to get the five seconds call.
12:26: Nique! Thunderous and fantastic dunk along the baseline. He seemed to enjoy that quite a bit. So did the gym.
12:26: Boatright! Huggins demands a call for Boatright hooking his defender. He’s going to get a call here sooner or later.
12:28: Frenetic under this basket (UConn offense) with a lot of physical play and people flying all over the place. UConn leads 22-19.
12:35: I guess WVU is rebounding too hard. That’s back-to-back possessions (Brown and then Nique) where the Mountaneers worked outside to inside for a rebound and the officials waved it off. Foul count it 5-2, WVU. Score is 25-22, UConn.
12:36: Huggins has been working the officials (Michael Stephens, Pat Driscoll and Tim Clougherty) about Oriakhi traveling in the post and, I think, moving on screens. He just got both calls in rapid succession. Another thing that’s fun to watch: Look at all the screens UConn sets to get Lamb the ball. Truck worked around four on one series before he had to switch and handle Oriakhi … and that was when he traveled.
12:42: Michal Stephens with a tribute to retiring Tim Higgins with the mini-Higgins shuffle on the block call against Browne.
12:43: Stephens getting a crash course in the college rules from Huggins after that KJ charge: “Michael, it’s the blue circle, not the white circle.”
12:45: Exciting finish to the half. Lamb misses a rushed shot. Browne transitions and Brown misses a 3 — the bench was on its feet, three fingers in the air … so I think WVU is OK with that shot — but Nique grabbed the rebound and drew every defender.
He kept his head and so did Brown, who cut in and took a pass and missed a gimme layup. UConn goes the other way and Shabazz almost banks in a running 30 footer. The buzzer goes off and Brown thunders off the floor swearing at himself, but Nique stops him and pats him on the head.
Nique just played his best game at WVU … in the first half. He was tremendous and he’s why WVU leads 30-26.
1:07: KJ’s brother, Gerrard, is seated to the left of us. When KJ posted up on Drummond, Gerrard barked out the entire sequence. Think they may have gone over that once or twice? And Truck jsut got a call going to the basket that A) He never gets and B) DePaul didn’t get yesterday. He makes 1 of 2 and WVU is up 35-33.
1:15: That’s not a foul against Deniz. What’s he supposed to do? Move out of Napier’s way and let him score? Now he has to sit with three fould … and he got hacked loudly when he was scoring on the other end before that.
1:16: That’s a terrible call, as well.
1:22: Nique won’t get a stat there, but he made that play. Miles missed a baseline jumper that he looked like he did not want to take and KJ and Nique crashed. Drummond had the ball but Nique knocked it loose and KJ scored for a 43-36 lead and a UConn timeout. Drummond shouldered Nique as they walked to their benches.
1:27: Up 45-36, Huggins goes with Deniz, Nique, Browne, Miles and Truck. Deniz misses, Nique scores on the putback.
1:29: That ends that. Only way UConn is going to get in is 3s or foul shots and Deniz fouls Napier on a 3 after Napier had just missed one. Circle it. It’s 47-40 and WVU was probably a possession or two away from breaking this.
1:30: Circle that. Truck with a corner 3.
1:31: Browne with a game-in-a-nutshell play. Giffey throws the ball high and deep into the backcourt and Browne beats Napier to it, gets inside under the pass and draws a foul.
1:32: Napier 3, and WVU is seemingly OK with that shot, and then Truck goes 1-for-2 at the foul line. It’s 51-43 with 9:07 to go. I’ll just say this: WVU was up 10 at UConn with 10:24 to go.
1:33: Dave Hickman’s brother-in-law, who went to B.C. and has no real connection to the game, texted Dave and asked if the officials had something against the Mountaineers.
1:35: Aaron Brown fouls Napier on a pump fake and Huggins pulls Brown and says “Three days, AB. Three days. He pump fakes after every bounce.”
1:38: Again, that’s not a foul. Rutledge had position way before the drive and was driven into by the Boatright, who should be commended for executing the “Draw a foul” game plan. Four fouls on Nique and he has to sit with 7:46 to go. That’s a big, big play, though Boatright only made 1 of 2 and WVU is hanging on 55-48.
1:42: Kilicli has four fouls, too, by the way, and he can’t go hard after rebounds. UConn gets a long offensive rebound that Kilicli tracked, but let go. Napier to Lamb on a lob.
1:46: Big swing here. We’re going back and forth and Lamb curls for a lob but KJ recovers and breaks it up. Roscoe Smith is fouled on the rebound, but misses two free throws. Brown drives and dishes inside to Kilicli, who finally finishes one to make it 61-52 with 4:53 to go. Curious if and when Nique returns because he’s not a good free-throw shooter.
1:49: Bad moment here. Bad moment. Truck is sticking Oriakhi in the post and Hinds sneaks in to steal the ball from Boatright. Hinds misses the layup and Jones flies in and grabs a rebound and passes it to Truck, who swings for the fence and misses a 3. Kilicli gets his fifth foul in the scrum and Huggins is screaming at Truck to use his head. Boatright makes two free throws and it’s 61-54 with 4:19 to go. That was an important sequence.
1:52: Napier with another 3 and Browne was nowhere near him. WVU will take a timeout here with 3:18 remaining.
1:54: Napier fouls Truck and Napier acts like he’s going to go after Driscoll, who made the call. We’re in a valuable timeout here. It’s the under-four timeout and Truck has a one-and-one, but Huggins is drawing up what to do the next time his side gets the ball … and we’re at the game’s fork in the road. If Truck makes two, WVU is up eight and UConn is forced to be more urgent on offense … and then WVU gets the ball and has a plan. Intriguing time right now.
1:57: And truck misses the front end …
1:58: Napier gets inside and gets fouled and makes both. Here we go. This is how you give one away or pull one out. For the first time all week, the Garden is alive.
1:59: Napier steals it rom Brown and makes a layup and Huggins needs a timeout.
2:01: Browne turns his back to the play and Napier steals it again and scored again. Tied and the Mountaineers are in trouble. They look tight.
2:01: Browne floats inside and scores.
2:01: Drummond counters on a run-out.
2:02: Rutledge … he makes a great decision and pumps and drives and is inside. But he pauses, doesn’t slip it to KJ, waits for the defense to gather and has the ball blocked. UConn timeout in a tied game with 58 seconds to go.
2:04: Well, they certainly let them play on that one. Plan was to isolate one of UConn’s three guards against WVU’s and after a struggle to get the ball in and atop the key, Napier is one-on-one with Browne, who somehow pokes it free. They dive for it and Browne wrestles it free and calls a timeout with 42.2 seconds to go. Again, that kid gets to the ball.
2:06: Hinds misses and that can’t be the shot WVU wanted.
2:07: Napier misses short at the buzzer but the Huskies still get overtime after finishing regulation on a 13-4 run in the final 4:53.
2:12: WVU gets to the basket and panics again. This time it’s Hinds, but WVU finally draws a charge. And where’s KJ?
2:13: Napier (26 points … he was terrific) fouls out and Truck has two free throws with 2:35 remaining. Hey, Boatright v. Hinds now and Hinds forces a bad jumper. Browne gets the rebound and WVU is plus-15 for the day (43-28) with a huge edge in second-chance points (25-8). Crazy that UConn can’t rebound it this year.
2:18: KJ misses a 3 against the shot clock after the timeout and Lamb curls around a screen and hits a tough 3. KJ then misses a hook and WVU takes seven seconds to foul Boatright. WVU now down 70-67 and just can’t score.
2:21: Boatright goes 0-for-2 with 33 seconds to go and Truck drives into the paint and does a very Truck thing. He tries to draw a foul and gets nothing. Boatright misses one and makes one and here comes PHW with 19 seconds to go. Nique sits so he can’t get fouled.
2:24: PHW is open in his spot and inexplicably pump fakes and then drives and tries to draw a foul. That was bizarre. Huggins has to use his last timeout now.
2:25: Truck misses the 3 but the team rebound stays. KJ misses a 3 and then the rebound goes to Truck, who pumps and gets hit and misses a 3. That would have been quite a thing if he made the 3 with no whistle. Ball game, everyone, and the final Big East Tournament game is a 71-67 loss after WVU held a 61-52 edge with 4:53 to go.
