Post-game breakdown: Tulane
UConn took a difficult route to victory on Sunday.
So it was a typical win for the Huskies, who held off Tulane, 67-60, at Gampel Pavilion.
They improved to 15-11 overall, 8-6 in the American Athletic Conference, with four regular season games remaining.
“It’s extremely important just to get back on the winning side of things,” senior Ryan Boatright said. “We dropped two straight, a bad loss at SMU and then a road loss at Memphis. Any time we get back in front of our home crowd, it’s important to get a win.
Here’s a post-game breakdown:
-- Coach Kevin Ollie continues to tinker with the starting lineup. Junior forward Phil Nolan made his first start this season while sophomore guard Terrence Samuel went back to the bench.
Ollie believes in rewarding players for hard work. Nolan played well on the defensive end in Thursday’s loss at Memphis.
“I’m just looking,” Ollie said. “I’m trying to get the right mix of guys. Phil did an awesome job in the Memphis game and we knew they had some guys out here that he could play defense on. They really didn’t have a big time shooter at the four that can spread you out. I just decided to go with Phil.
“It’s a game to game, practice to practice evaluation to come out with my starting five.
Nolan had two points, one rebound and four fouls in 17 minutes. He was a fixture in the starting five during UConn’s national championship run last season.
-- Freshman Daniel Hamilton had another terrific all-around game, finishing with seven points, nine rebounds, nine assists, three steals and two blocks in 29 minutes. He also had three turnovers.
“He had some fantastic plays,” Ollie said.
Hamilton, who entered the game tied for first in rebounding in AAC games, is averaging 9.2 rebounds in the last five games.
-- Boatright bounced by from a 7-point performance against Memphis, finishing with 16 points. He moved into 12
th
place on UConn’s all-time scoring list with 1,650 points, passing Donyell Marshall (1,648).
-- Reserve Omar Calhoun had 12 points. He had gone eight straight games without scoring in double digits.
-- The Huskies improved to 9-0 when leading at halftime. They held a 34-27 edge.
-- UConn shot over 50 percent from the field for the sixth time this season, sinking 26 of 49 attempts (53.1 percent).
-- The Huskies struggled from the foul line, making 10 of 17. But they went five for six in the closing 44 seconds.
-- Slumping Tulane (14-12, 5-9) has lost seven of its last eight games. The Green Wave shot only 35.7 percent in the second half, 38 percent overall.
-- "We just dug down deep in the last five minutes and got the stops that we needed,” Boatright said.
-- Sophomore Amida Brimah, who greatly benefitted from Hamilton’s lob passes, went a perfect 8 for 8 from the field and improved his season field goal percentage to a team-best 71.1.
Brimah also scored 19 points for the second straight game.
-- Tulane coach Ed Conroy on UConn’s play down the stretch: “They made some big time shots and plays… They executed really well. Hamilton found Brimah and that was the key.”
-- Rodney Purvis remains stuck in a shooting funk. He went just 3-for-9 from the field, making him 9 for 32 in the last three games. He also needed three stitches to close a cut on his lower lip after taking an accidental shot to the mouth in the second half.
-- Up next: UConn visits East Carolina (12-15, 5-9) on Wednesday. The Pirates are 11-3 at home this season.
"Hopefully, we’ll get some momentum on our side going to ECU,” Ollie said.
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