As No. 19 UConn struggled mightily in its 81-48 loss at No. 11 Louisville on Saturday, it continued on a recent trend that the Huskies have been going through.
UConn (24-7, 12-6) simply can’t score on a consistent basis if any of their main three weapons are having an off-night, and lately, that’s definitely been the case. The Huskies are averaging a little over 73 points a game this season but they’ve failed to crack 70 points its last six games and haven’t done it since a February 15th overtime win over Memphis.
Shabazz Napier is playing heavy minutes during that stretch -- at least 37 minutes in UConn’s last five games before 34 minutes in the Louisville loss -- and finally had an off-day against the Cardinals, but the senior point guard needs more help from Ryan Boatright, DeAndre Daniels and his Huskies teammates if UConn wants to make a postseason run.
Napier and Boatright combined for 14 points on 4-for-24 shooting from the field in the loss to Louisville (26-5, 15-3) on Saturday while Daniels finished with 17 points. The UConn backcourt duo of Napier and Boatright usually averages just over 30 points per game.
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Boatright, a junior guard, and Daniels, a junior forward, both average just over 12 points a game this season but have gone cold over the recent six-game stretch.
Boatright has shot 18-for-62 from the field over the six-game stretch while Daniels has only averaged 8.6 points a game while failing to crack double-figures in four of those games.
Connecticut could try to turn to other options, but Niels Giffey is rather one-dimensional as a shooter on the offensive end while Lasan Kromah provides a lot of energy but isn’t necessarily a guy that can create on his own.
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The Huskies also have to miss the production of sophomore guard Omar Calhoun, who is going through one of the worst sophomore slumps in America. The 6-foot-6 Calhoun had a respectable freshman season, averaging 11.1 points in 32.1 minutes on 40 percent shooting, but after scoring in double-figures the first three games of the season, Calhoun has only done that twice since then as he hasn’t registered a point since a February 6th loss to Cincinnati.
Calhoun hasn’t scored in the last seven games he’s appeared in, a span that totals 49 minutes of playing time. The sophomore is averaging 4.5 points in 15.1 minutes while shooting 31 percent this season.
So without a lot of other options to turn to, UConn really needs Boatright and/or Daniels to get rolling as the postseason begins next week or the Huskies could be in serious trouble.