Last night the University of Connecticut blasted Georgetown 96-73 in Storrs, CT, a game in which the Hoyas never led, tying just once, finding themselves down by 31 points twice. What did G'Town head coach Pat Ewing attribute the outcome to?
"The fast breaks and the rebounds" was his summation.
In terms of fast breaks, G'Town ceded 27 points, a whopping 28% of UConn's scoring output. Conversely the Hoyas only allowed six.
"the turnovers is what led to most of the fast break points" opined Ewing, "referencing 16 points given up on 11 cough-ups. He went on to note a few of those break points occurred "when we were pressing we let the ball get over the top of us", giving UConn freshman guard Jordan Hawkins (15 points) three ball opportunities he sank. Ewing also believed fatigue factored into his team's subpar transition defense.
When it comes to rebounding, UConn earned a 40-28 advantage, including 19 via the offensive glass.
Ewing indicated UConn "is very athletic" and "play athletic". As a result "I told them if you're playing against great athletes, you can't try and out jump them. Or be ore athletic than them. You have to put bodies on them, especially on the rebounding, and we didn't do that tonight".
Basically "They out competed us today.".
One bright spot was the Hoyas' shooting, sinking their shots at a 45.7% clip, even being more proficient from beyond the arc (52.4%). Both marks exceed their yearly averages.
UConn's 50%/41.7% also bests their normal work this season. Sophomore center Adama Sonogo led all scorers with 19 points and eight rebounds. Graduate student forward Isaiah Whaley had 15 points, while 15 points and 14 points were produced by senior forward Tyrese Martin and grad guard R.J. Cole, respectively.
Collin Holloway, a sophomore forward also scored in double figures for the Hoyas, logging 11 points, while grad guard Don Carey contributed 10 points.Freshman guard Aminu Mohammed led the Blue and Grey thru 15 points.
UConn, 14-4 overall, 5-2 in the BIG EAST is off until Saturday, when they travel to DePaul for a 630p EST tip-off.
Georgetown, now 6-11/0-6 also next take the floor Saturday, in their case a noon EST start at Butler.
How is Ewing going to approach preparation for Butler's Bulldogs?
"Hey look, we've played six games, 14 more to go" said the coach. "We still have a chance to get ourselves back in the hunt.
"We just have to stay positive, watch the film and show them things we didn't do right tonight and come back and regroup for our next game on Saturday".