Takeaways: UConn’s season firmly back on track with win over Gonzaga

The Huskies have bounced back in a big way since the Maui Invitational.

UConn men’s basketball picked up a third-straight resumé boosting win on Saturday night, taking down No. 8 Gonzaga 77-71 at Madison Square Garden. With the win, the Huskies have fully bounced back from their lackluster showing at the Maui Invitational and now sit at 8-3 on the season. Our staff put together some of the biggest takeaways from the Huskies’ final nonconference game of the season.

Back on track

Dan Madigan: Things sure were grim heading back from Hawaii three weeks ago. Three-straight losses to mediocre opponents, a concussion for Alex Karaban and a general vibe that maybe the program’s back-to-back title’s overinflated the actual talent level on this year’s squad. As the great Lee Corso often says — not so fast my friend!

Since Maui, UConn has beaten two ranked teams and solid Texas team on road. The Baylor and Gonzaga wins will almost certainly be Quad 1 wins all season, and there’s a good chance the Texas win sticks as Quad 1 too. Those are legitimate resumé boosters for a team that badly needed some, especially with the Big East laying a big egg so far this season.

And with a little more data under everyone’s belts, those Maui losses don’t look as awful as they felt. Memphis is still mercurial, but did beat a tough Clemson team this week, and Dayton just took down No. 6 Marquette. The Colorado loss is still abysmal, but the road to a top seed in the NCAA tournament is lot clearer now, provided no bad home slip-ups during Big East play.

The results, the data and the eye test all add up here — this UConn team is considerably better now than they were when they left Hawaii. The offense a buzzsaw, and the defense has taken a step towards being what we expect from a Dan Hurley led squad and is now up to No. 69 in efficiency. Per Torvik, the Huskies rank as the No. 5 team in the country with data just from after Maui. It’s definitely a small sample size, but it sure seems to make a lot of sense.

With all that in mind, I keep coming back to this Hurley quote after the Texas win. Sure seems like Maui may have been a failure on the court but a rallying point for this year’s team.

“Maybe the people with the shovels and the dirt, maybe they were too quick to grab the shovel and throw the dirt on us,” Hurley said.

Huskyball

Patrick Martin: Tarris Reed’s 12 point, six rebound statline might look pedestrian, but he was UConn’s second-best defender last night, per Bart Torvik. Youssef Singare had some the most impactful seven minutes one could ever have without attempting a field goal. Entering conference play, the Huskies have successfully Moneyballed the center position.

UConn’s defensive free-throw rate of 33% last night was its lowest since Le Moyne. They held Gonzaga to 49% eFG%, the Bulldogs’ third-worst output of the season. There’s been a team-wide improvement on defense, but it starts with the rim protection. Reed is getting better at pick-and-roll coverage by the game. Singare just standing in the post was enough of a deterrent last night, and shown he is capable of being a great insurance policy that can hold down the fort in the event of foul trouble. Jaylin Stewart —more on him later — and Alex Karaban can hold down the fort for some small ball minutes.

Samson will always be foul-prone, but prior to his scary fall looked like a guy coming off the best two games of his career, attacking the basket with renewed vigor. There may not be as many absurd blocks at the rim that made Clingan a lottery pick, but the aggregate of his impact is getting recreated.

Improved rim deterrents have a trickle-down effect. Guards can apply the proper ball pressure knowing its not a layup line if they get beat. With lanes shut off, shooters can be tagged properly. Take a look at any analytics page; UConn’s defensive numbers have turned from Wicked green (bad) to neutral white in the span of two weeks. Fouling will always be an issue this year. And the defense will never be some generational fortress like last year, but the frontcourt is the main reason UConn’s defense is back inside the KenPom top 75.

Baby, we got a Stew cookin!

Martin: McNeeley deserves his flowers and is already a star. It may sound crazy for someone only playing 15 minutes per game, but Jaylin Stewart is not far behind. Full disclosure in case the SEC is listening, but I’ve been a Stewart Stockholder the day he committed, and I have only added more shares along the way.

As Hurley reminded the media this offseason, Stewey is young for his grade; despite the flashes he’s shown, inconsistencies will be there. There are still some defensive miscues and forced shots as he was finding his rhythm and role on the team. That’s to be expected from a sub looking to make an impact.

But he’s simply too talented at too many things to stay off the court for extended periods of time, and the staff is starting to figure that out. He didn’t score much against Baylor in his first big start, but was an effective connective piece that defended and rebounded at a high level. His 16-point outburst against Memphis kept UConn afloat that first half, and after a hyper efficient 10 points on five shots last night vs. Gonzaga, its clear he can fill it up if needed. A talented role player doing the dirty work that eventually steps into a bigger, starring role is a player narrative that has worked out very well for UConn in the last 30 years.

Stewey’s second three last night, with the score knotted at 55, was his second clutch moment in the Garden in the calendar year. He may not flash analytically (yet), but the eye test is there in the winning plays he makes.

The combination of size and handle show—along with McNeeley — he’s comfortable taking his man off the dribble, breaking the east-west stagnant ball movement that the Huskies can be prone to if they can’t find penetration. And on defense, that same size and athleticism holds up well in small ball. It will be tough with Alex Karaban entrenched at one of the forward spots and McNeeley playing beyond his years, but the tape is piling up that Stewart is ready for an elevated role.