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Gavin Keefe
UConn Men's Hoops
March 17, 2010
Let's play a game of good sign, bad sign, revolving around UConn's NIT first round win over Northeastern.
Good sign: UConn broke a four-game losing streak and advanced to the second round.
Bad sign: The Huskies played another shaky game, needing a game-ending 11-3 surge to escape with the win.
Good sign: Senior Jerome Dyson snapped out of his slump, scoring 11 of his team's final 13 points and finishing with a team-high 18 overall. He made his final five shots after starting 1-for-8.
Bad sign: Dyson continues to turn the ball over at an alarming rate, finishing with four turnovers. He led all Big East players in that department during the regular season.
Good sign: UConn took better of the basketball, committing just 12 turnovers overall.
Bad sign: After making just four turnovers in the first half, the Huskies got careless, racking up five turnovers in the opening five minutes, 38 seconds of the second half.
Good sign: Senior Stanley Robinson made his usual couple terrific athletic plays.
Bad sign: Robinson also pulled his usual disappearing act at times.
Good sign: UConn stiffened on defense late in the game, allowing just one field goal in the last 6:42.
Bad sign: The Huskies played lousy defense during one stretch in the second half, allowing Northeastern to score on six straight possessions and take the lead. The NU Huskies drove the lane and got easy baskets.
Good sign: Freshman Alex Oriakhi played well, finishing with eight points, nine rebounds and two blocks in 28 minutes.
Bad sign: He still has a lot to learn on defense. During one possession, he left his feet, allowing Northeastern's Manny Adako to drive in for an uncontested layup.
And a few more observations and post-game reaction:
-- UConn had been 0-5 in games decided by four points or less.
-- Calhoun stuck with mainly six players, using Robinson (33 minutes), senior Gavin Edwards (34), Oriakhi, Dyson (38), Kemba Walker (35) and freshman Jamal Coombs-McDaniel (21).
Edwards started in place of freshman Ater Majok who played just one minute. Freshman Darius Smith had two turnovers in four minutes and junior Charles Okwandu had one rebuonding in six minutes.
-- A win is a win," Walker said. "We came out with it. That's what we needed."
-- Edwards on Dyson's slump-busting performance: "I knew that he would come back and have a great game, and he did."
-- Calhoun's decision to move Walker off the ball and put the ball in Dyson's hands paid off down the stretch. Dyson was able to create his own shots against a pesky match-up zone.
"The coaches were telling me the whole time that they needed me to shoot the ball and get to the middle," Dyson said.
-- Calhoun on his team's ugly game: "We had to gut it out. Thank God it was at home."
-- And another one from Calhoun: "(Northeastern) had every reason, right and opportunity to try to beat us. We came up with a couple of loose balls and jumped on the back of a guy who's been struggling -- Jerome Dyson -- late, and got a win."
-- It appears that UConn will play its second round game either Saturday or Monday. Nothing is set in stone yet. If Virginia Tech beats Quinnipiac Wednesday, UConn will head to Blacksburg, Va. The Huskies will host if Tom Moore's Quinnipiac pulls off the upset.
-- Good job by the UConn fans who showed up at Gampel Pavilion for the NIT game. Attendance was a respectable 5,571.
-- Finally, join me for an online chat from 12 to noon Wednesday. We can talk about anything from the NCAA brackets to the state of the Huskie and their NIT performance.
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