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Uconn vs. Butler (SAT 4pm)

the Blades

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Jan 20, 2003
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Uconn at Butler Indianapolis, IN...( Jan 9 Sat).....4 p.m......TV: CBS SN

link- MBB Dan Hurley Coach's Show Jan 7
with Mike Crispino as they look back at the Tuesday come from behind win at Marquette, look ahead to Butler and Kevin McNamara of This Week in the Big East is the guest

Butler has been starting 3 guards but has good height off the bench... Stats:

click to enlarge-
BE-8-Butler-20-21-Roster-Stats.jpg
 
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What I remember most about that Butler game in 2011 is Butler shot 19% (NCAA record for FG defense in title game, probably never to be broken), UConn 10 blocked shots (another NCAA title game record) as the underrated Oriakhi and Okwandu beasted and shut down the lane, and Niels "The Glove" Giffey, then just a freshman, shutting down their top 3 point shooter.

That was the game where the whole nation saw the team wasn't just Kemba. Kemba got us there and then handed off his Superman cape to Alex, Chuck and Niels and let them D it up.
 
The Vegas Insider opening line was UConn -2, and it has already gone to UConn -4.5 with money being bet on UConn in Vegas.
 
Without James, Tyrese would need to play some as part of a 4 man backcourt rotation and Tyler would need to play some at his old 3 spot he started at last year, when it was Josh , Akok and him as the frontline. Meaning the rotation got taller.

 
Typical recovery times on hyperextended elbows are 3-4 weeks. Everything you wanted to know about this injury is here:

 
I suspected Bouknight would miss this one. The guys who need to step up are 2 of Polley, Martin and Cole, the 3 best candidates for secondary scoring.
 
Sounds about right...I figured they'd have to start out smaller for D match-ups vs. Butler's 3 guard line-up:

 
Great team win and 3pt shooting again (47.6%) as the Polley show continues.. Everyone got in the scoring column except Richie in the last 18 secs. Big difference in the 2nd half was taking care of the basketball ( 10 TO's in the 1st half ) with only 2 TO's after the break. Team looks a little challenged when guys who don't usually have to handle much were forced to handle more in the 1st but they cleaned it up nicely in the 2nd. Also welcome back Akok even though you can see it'll take time, especially on D rotations.

Box- Uconn 72 - Butler 60
 
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The guys who need to step up are 2 of Polley, Martin and Cole, the 3 best candidates for secondary scoring.

Ended up being Polley and Martin. Polley is proving to be a major force off the bench. Also like the way Martin played today: 3s, D and offensive boards. UConn also played consistent very good defense. In fact UConn has been pretty good on defense in all of their Big East games so far and against USC. They are consistent and have very, very good defenders throughout the roster, and Whaley, Martin and Cole are particularly good.

All of this being said, Butler was the least athletic team UConn has played this year. They have banger type big men and their guards are nothing special penetrating the D. Teams like this get overwhelmed by athletic teams and that is what UConn did to them. There were a lot of plays around the rim that UConn was winning based on being more athletic. Butler was not as good as Marquette in my opinion nor as athletic as DePaul, which UConn plays at Monday night. DePaul might even be a tougher game than this one.

The only team I have not seen play in the Big East is PC, but I think UConn might have the most athletic team in the league as the Hartford coach said. They are using that to fuel their defensive performance and it is showing up in the results and should continue to do so. They should be able to beat DePaul January 11 and St. John's January 18 without Bouknight. They then have Xavier at home January 20 and at Creighton January 23. Bouknight might not be needed until the Creighton game although Xavier will be a tough opponent.
 
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