PARADISE ISLAND, The Bahamas– Connecticut no longer has to worry about its future in March.
Last year, the Huskies lost on five buzzer beaters and wound up lost in the NIT abyss.
It’s early, but no one is going to keep the 18th-ranked Huskies (4-0) out of the NCAA Tournament this season. Versatile 6-7 sophomore swingman Daniel Hamilton scored 16 points, grabbed 9 rebounds and contributed 9 assists for UConn, which used a deep bench and a tenacious defense to defeat Michigan from the Big Ten, 74-60. late last night in the first round of the Battle4Atantis at the Imperial Ballroom at the Atlantic Resort.
The victory set up a classic old school semi-final matchup against former Big East rival Syracuse here Thursday. Both teams play in different conferences now. UConn is in the American. The Orange (4–0), who now play in the ACC, advanced with an easy 83-70 victory over UNC-Charlotte.
“It’s definitely a huge game,” Connecticut redshirt junior guard Rodney Purvis said. “I still remember that six overtime game in the semi-finals at the Garden. My mom let me stay up and watch it.”
Syracuse-UConn was always one of the classic matchups in the old Big East when Hall of Fame coaches Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim battled each other. Boeheim is still at Syracuse after 40 years. Calhoun, who retired in 2012, has been replaced by one of his favorite former players, Kevin Ollie.
Ollie has a team that should contend along with SMU for the American title.
“It’s a talented group,” Ollie said. “I’m not going to sit here and lie.”
Eighth-ranked Villanova is playing beautiful, unselfish basketball right now, but Connecticut, which has more size and players at every position, may be the one team in the East no one wants to play in March. The NCAA slammed Syracuse with a probation that will cost the program scholarships and keep Boeheim off the bench for the first nine games of the ACC schedule.
That hasn’t stopped Ollie from worrying about Syracuse’s ability to shoot threes. Forward Michael Gbinije, a transfer from Duke who finished with 26 points, made 6 of 8 threes. Guard Trevor Cooney and freshman forward Malachi Richardson each made three and the Orange shot 14 for 28 from beyond the arc against the 49’ers. “In their first three games, they had three guys averaging eight threes between them so we’ll get to get out on them,” Ollie said.
The Huskies can go 10 deep now that Ollie has added two elite fifth-year senior transfers — All Big East point guard Sterling Gibbs and forward Shonn Miller, an All Ivy pick from Cornell– who have both emerged as starters, giving the Huskies four key players with upper class experience. Purvis is the team’s top returning scorer, while Hamilton is the Huskies’ best returning player. Amida Brimah, the 7-0 junior center, is a shot blocking machine. They put five players in double figures, getting 13 from Miller and Purvis and 11 from Gibbs and guard Sam Cassell, Jr. and went on a 31-10 run at one point to take a 52-33 lead after Cassel buried a three pointer with 10:20 to play.
From here, UConn looks like the best team in this field. They are quicker than Gonzaga, which plays Texas A & M in the other semi-final; and deeper than Syracuse.
This is a team with a huge future. “When we’re on the same page, it’s going to be hard for teams to stop us,” Ollie said.
