The Huskies returned both Azzi Fudd (knee) and Geno Auriemma (personal absence) and looked like they had turned the corner after starting the season again boggled down by injuries and absences. UConn shot a season-high 62.3 percent from the field against the Red Storm that January night in Elmont, NY
Yet, when the teams met again Tuesday night in Hartford, it was an opposite scene.
The No. 4-ranked Huskies fell 69-64 to St. John’s thanks to a season-low 35.5 field goal percentage. Fudd was back on the bench dressed in street clothes, coming out indefinitely after reinjuring his knee. St. John’s outplayed the Huskies in nearly every facet, including its bench outscoring UConn’s 29-3.
UConn point guard Nika Mühl said the team had emotions of “anger, embarrassment and disappointment” after the game.
UConn’s spot atop the Big East standings and its possibility of becoming a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament is now at risk with only two regular-season games final (Saturday at DePaul, Monday against Xavier).
But it’s not just Tuesday’s loss to blame for the Huskies’ (24-5, 16-2 Big East) recent deflation. There’s also a combination of a lack of depth, physical and mental exhaustion, and too many self-inflicted wounds, as Auriemma put it.
“That’s the frustrating part,” he said. “You know coaches are supposed to have all the answers, but this is one of those years where it’s always in the back of your mind even when you know you’re playing great and everything’s going great, shots are dropping, you know, people are really confident. You always know in the back of your mind that this can’t last. It’s not sustainable.”
Only two of UConn’s 10 active players this season have started and played in every game. Caroline Ducharme missed a combined 15 games this season, first with neck stiffness and then with a concussion. Fudd has missed 20 in total after initially injuring her knee in December – last week. Auriemma still did not have an update on her recovery timeline.
The team played with eight players in seven of its nine games last month. In the other two games, they only had seven available players. While UConn did go 9-0 in January, we saw how quickly its tank emptied after the team pushed itself to keep pace with top-ranked South Carolina (UConn lost by four to the Gamecocks and then fell 59-52 at Marquette).
With so few bodies, fatigue has become the Huskies’ biggest threat.
Auriemma and his staff have tried to combat the exhaustion by changing how the Huskies practice to avoid overworking them before games. Practices are shorter and off days, away from basketball, are priority.
But with shorter preparation time, Mühl said he feels the team’s effort and mentality have been negatively impacted since the focus has shifted.
“I feel like just the way we’ve been practicing hasn’t been the Connecticut way of practicing,” she said. “And today’s loss is the result of that. … We just haven’t been who we were. I feel like, you know, dealing with all these injuries and everything, you know, coaches are trying so hard to help us with lowering the practice time and all of that.
“But I feel like our mindset needs to be not worrying about that stuff. Our mindset, as players, needs to be that we got to go 100 percent in every time and we’re not entitled to win these games. Yeah, we’re we’re low on people, we got people coming back, but that hasn’t been an excuse all year and that’s not an excuse now either.”
UConn’s offense in all this has taken, perhaps, the biggest hit.
The Huskies have scored fewer than 70 points in five straight games, marking its longest such streak since 1992, according to ESPN. In six of UConn’s last eight games, the Huskies had shot less than 45 percent from the floor. In that same span, UConn has shot 30 percent or lower on 3-pointers in five games.
Ducharme’s return last week gave UConn another shooter off the bench – something Auriemma has emphasized the team didn’t have before. However, on Tuesday, the sophomore was 1 of 11 from the floor in 24 minutes.
UConn’s other three subs averaged less than 2.5 points and rebounds per game.
“We don’t have options,” Auriemma said. “We need points and we don’t have guys on the guys who can score points. So those guys who are helpful provided we have a lead and we’re playing well and the buckets are going in and you know, they can go in, but we need points. We need people to put the ball in the basket. Right now, that’s what we’re missing the most.”
The Big East Tournament is less than two weeks away.
UConn needs to win its next two games to secure the No. 1 seed and conference regular-season title. The Huskies have won nine-straight conference regular-season titles, including the last two in the Big East.
If the Huskies lose one or both of their last two games and Villanova wins its next two games, the Wildcats will take over the No. 1 standing and the No. 1 seed. Villanova (24-5, 15-3 Big East) held on to beat DePaul 67-64 Tuesday. Its last two games were against Providence on Friday and at Seton Hall on Monday.]
The teams will share the regular-season title if both split their last two games. A tiebreaker would be determined to award one team with the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament. The Wildcats have not won a Big East regular-season title since 1987.
“I think that we have to go back to that Connecticut basketball and not put too much pressure on ourselves,” Lou Lopez Sénéchal said. “Just you know, we’re wearing UConn, obviously it’s the standard, but I think it’s just going back to ourselves, the team itself, each player, and have that trust in each other and representing the jersey in the right way.”
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