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Improved second half play, rebounding factor into No. 10 UConn’s win at Washington

brimah

On Wednesday night No. 10 UConn played its worst half of the season, shooting 5-for-31 from the field and scoring just 13 points in the second half against Stanford. The Cardinal went zone and the move resulted in the Huskies being far too stationary offensively. Stanford took full advantage of UConn’s issues, erasing a ten-point deficit and winning 53-51.

Sunday’s game at Washington represented a chance for Kevin Ollie’s team to get back on the right track with the start of American Athletic Conference play right around the corner, and after a slow start UConn was able to do just that.

Shabazz Napier scored 15 of his 20 points in the second half to help lead UConn to an 82-70 win over Washington, and two areas stood out for the visitors. One was the fact that they shot 60% from the field and averaged 1.14 points per possession in the second half, and that’s despite turning the ball over on nearly 27 percent of their possessions. Had UConn (11 second half turnovers) exhibited better ball control the margin likely would have been even worse for a Washington team that led by 14 at one point in the first half.

The other area, and it’s one that will be of even greater importance when UConn takes on the talented front lines at Louisville and Memphis, is how well they were able to hit the offensive glass. UConn entered the game ranked 249th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage, as they managed to corral just under 29% of their missed shots. Against a Washington squad that has also struggled on the boards due to a lack of depth UConn rebounded 46.2% of its misses on Sunday, with bigs Amida Brimah and Phil Nolan accounting for six of those 12 offensive rebounds.

Given Washington’s depth (and talent) issues inside, those numbers do have to be taken with a grain of salt. However for a team that’s had so much trouble on the boards Sunday’s performance should be seen as a step in the right direction. UConn’s going to score points, with Napier and Ryan Boatright leading the way and forward DeAndre Daniels also being a valuable scoring option. Daniels scored ten points on the afternoon and George Washington transfer Lasan Kromah added 14 off the bench, providing the start guards with some needed supplementary production.

But it’s very rare for a team to win a championship by solely outscoring its opponents, meaning that the “little things” like hitting the offensive glass and finishing possessions on the other end by way of a forced turnover or rebound are a big deal as well. UConn will need to use Sunday’s performance in the second half and on the boards as a catalyst of sorts, because they’ll need to just as productive when taking on their fellow American contenders when conference play begins.

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