The UConn Fast Break - 12/7/2023

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Men’s hoops gearing up for another run

After playing Kansas to the wire in Lawrence, the Huskies didn’t have much time to rest. They went home on Saturday and had a quick turnaround for Tuesday night’s matchup against No. 9 UNC at Madison Square Garden.

The Tar Heels are a quality team, but UConn shook off the loss and simply played winning basketball, taking the lead three minutes into the game and never letting it go, leading by as much as 17 in an eventual 11-point win.

They did it with smothering defense, aggression on the glass, and a good combo of depth, talent, experience, and dawgs.

And they’re doing it despite not being fully healthy. Cam Spencer has some toe issues (and new shoes). Donovan Clingan has been hampered by foot troubles, while Alex Karaban’s had his fingers wrapped up.

Stephon Castle just returned from the knee injury that saw him miss five games, playing 10 minutes against UNC. He’s still on the road to recovery.

For UConn to work over a national power like North Carolina days after an emotional road loss while not 100 percent healthy speaks volumes to their immense character in addition to talent. They handled multiple UNC surges, only to build their lead back up. They did the same against Texas. They never let up at Kansas.

Cam Spencer and Tristen Newton have been steadily amazing in the backcourt. Solo Ball and Hassan Diarra have stepped up off the bench. Samson Johnson is a remarkably talented post player to be bringing in off the bench. Alex Karaban is much improved from the guy who started on last year’s national champions. This team is 3-0 at Madison Square Garden, facing talented competition.

UConn has looked like a top-5 caliber team without Castle. It should only go up from here.

On Saturday when the Huskies host Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Dan Hurley and his staff will look to get the five-star guard better acclimated to his team. We may see Spencer, Karaban, Clingan, and maybe others, in more limited roles, as Hurley emphasized the need for people to get healthy in the UNC post-game press conference.

Weekly Rewind

Men’s Basketball

Castle cleared to return, others banged up – Stephon Castle made his return for the UNC game while a few other Huskies picked up some minor injuries in the loss to Kansas.

UConn dominates North Carolina – The Huskies impressed mightily against a highly-ranked team at MSG. 

Notes & Quotes: North Carolina – Further details on the Huskies’ bounce-back win. 

North Carolina Takeaways – Spencer is a beast. The rotation has tightened a bit. Solo Ball’s stepped up.

UConn’s First Elite Eight Appearance – A deep dive into how a first-year coach brought the Huskies to their first Elite Eight appearance. (Free Premium Preview)

Fast Break Podcast – We discuss the Huskies’ games against top-tier opponents.

UConn continues to showcase its depth – The Huskies’ depth will take them far.

Huskies fall short against Jayhawks – UConn had their first non-conference defeat in the 69-65 loss against Kansas. | Photos 

Notes & Quotes: Kansas – What the coaches and players had to say after the Huskies’ first loss of the season. 

Kansas Takeaways – Tristen Newton’s excellence. An environment for the ages.

Spicy Nuggets – Our first Spicy Nuggets of the season discusses scheduling… and some sh*t talking.

UConn drops to No.5 – UConn moved down to fifth in the AP Poll. 

Women’s Basketball

Maya Moore will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame – The Husky legend will be honored for her career.

Caroline Ducharme out – The junior guard remains out indefinitely due to neck spasms.

Geno on the Huskies’ injuries – Auriemma opened up on his frustrations with his team facing injuries once again.  

Huskies fall to Longhorns – No. 11 UConn fell down early and didn’t have enough to come back. | Photos 

Huskies fall to No.17 – UConn’s lowest ranking since 1993-94. 

Nika Mühl is ready to face her sister – Mühl faced her sister for the first ever. 

UConn dominates Ball State – The Huskies defeated the Cardinals 90-63 in the battle of the Mühl sisters. | Photos 

Men’s Hockey

Huskies pick up ‘05 defenseman – Another good recruit for the Huskies. 

Podcast ($) – In this episode, we discuss the Huskies matchups heading into the final weekend before the holiday break. 

Ryan Tattle’s emergence this season – The sophomore forward has been through a lot to get to this place. 

UConn defeats UMass Lowell – The Huskies recorded their first win at Toscano defeating the River Hawks 2-0. 

Notebook: UMass Lowell ($) - Thoughts on the Huskies’ dominant win over the River Hawks. 

UConn falls to Maine – The Huskies had a tough 7-3 road loss to the Black Bears. 

Huskies’ disappointing loss to the Black Bears – A deep dive into what went wrong in UConn’s loss to No. 11 Maine. 

Matthew Wood earns an invite to Canada’s World Juniors camp – The sophomore forward is just one of 30 players invited to Hockey Canada’s World Juniors camp. 

Football

Huskies lose multiple players to transfer portal – UConn is losing Justin Joly, Mumu Bin-Wahad, and others. 

Soccer

Chioma Okafor named NSCAA Third Team All-American – The sophomore forward became the 28th All-American in UConn women’s soccer history.

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UConn, Great Pic

Despite the loss, Husky fans seemed to have a great time in Kansas. Our photographer Ian Bethune did, too. He was back in CT to catch the Mühl reunion.

Parting Thoughts

UConn men’s hockey has finished its first half — it hasn’t been the greatest start to the season.

The Huskies are down at No. 35 in PairWise with a 7-9-1 record, including 4-6-0 in league play, sitting 6th in the Hockey East standings, and eighth in points per game. Most likely, they will need to win their first Hockey East Tournament championship to break into the NCAA Tournament, since the path to an at-large bid is looking difficult.

UConn has been above .500 in three of the past four seasons. The only year the program had a losing record was in 2020-21, in which the season was significantly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The underlying numbers are great for UConn. The Huskies have the sixth-highest even-strength Corsi out of 64 Division I teams. Corsi measures a team’s share of shot attempts, which serves as a proxy for possession. This inches downward slightly in situations College Hockey News deems as “close,” but Mike Cavanaugh’s squad is still in the top quartile in the nation.

This extends to actual shots as well. UConn is No. 8 in shots per game (34.3) and has the 20th-fewest shots on goal against (27.9). That differential is the 10th-highest.

The defense has also been solid, as 2.7 goals against per game is No. 22 in the country, while the penalty kill has been outstanding. At 87.3 percent, UConn is tied for No. 9.

However, the offense has struggled significantly, and this has cost UConn games. The Huskies’ 7.5 percent shooting percentage is eighth-worst, while 2.6 goals per game is tied for 16th-worst. The power play has improved from its dreadful start and sits at 13.6 percent, but this is still a bottom-10 mark.

The Huskies won’t play again until Dec. 31, when Harvard visits Toscano Family Ice Forum in a game that will be on ESPN. Between now and then, UConn will need to find its shooting touch, or else this season won’t be going very far.

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