The UConn men are headed to the national championship after outlasting Kentucky 56-55.
The UConn campus at Storrs, CT went wild the second after the game was over. Yelling and screaming everywhere. Dorms were emptying out as kids went outside to celebrate such a spectacular win. I was fortunate enough to go out with some friends to see literally thousands of kids all walking towards Carriage chanting UConn cheers and exclaiming the love they had for their Huskies. It was a very happy night with high fives and cheers everywhere. Tonight was the one night everyone was friendly to each other. On Monday night I'll have the pleasure of joining thousands of students to watch the championship game in Gampel Pavilion and will hopefully be celebrating afterwards. This is just a glimpse of the campus reaction tonight.
And this is what happened the last time the men won it all in 2004.
Kemba Walker led the Huskies with 18 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block. While you may say he didn't play well just because he didn't score 20+, that's not truly representative as to how much impact Walker has on the game. If you combine his 18 points and 7 assists, Kemba is accountable for 32 points out of his team's 56. Freshman star, Jeremy Lamb had 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 4 assists as he has continued to play excellently throughout the NCAA Tournament. Despite the pressure of being in the Final 4 and under a national spotlight, this young UConn team has yet to falter. Alex Oriakhi played very well scoring 8 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. His play has been vital to Connecticut's success. I think that he's essential to UConn winning. If bigs like him, Roscoe Smith, and Charles Okwandu can score in the paint and outrebound the other team, the Huskies will win. Everyone knows that Kemba can make shots and will get his points, as well as Lamb, but if you want to beat the Huskies you have to limit plays in the paint.
Free throws in this game were key. Kentucky shot a mediocre 4-12 from the line while UConn went 9-11. If Kentucky were to only make 50% of their free throws they would have won the game, it's that simple. You also have to dish out major credit to UConn's defense. They have been playing some of the best defense in the tournament that caused Kentucky to make only 33.9% of their field goals on the night and 9-27 from beyond the arc. It's Connecticut's defense that allowed them to win despite only making 1 three pointer out of their 12 attempts. What sealed the game was when Shabazz Napier sunk 2 free throws with about 1 second to go to put the Huskies up 4. Ever since that Syracuse game in the Big East Tournament where Napier missed a free throw that could have won the game in regulation, he has been clutch in every opportunity he has gotten when put on the line late in games.
Monday will be UConn's third championship game in school history, all of which have been since 1999 when they first won it all. Connecticut won again in 2004 and made the Final 4 in 2009, but lost in the national semi-final game. Coach, Jim Calhoun will be looking to win his 3rd national championship, which will take him to a very prestigious group of coaches to have done so. The Huskies will be facing the Butler Bulldogs who are looking to win their first championship after losing to Duke in the title game last year. The game will be on CBS at 9:23 pm.
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
UConn Makes History
Now that Connecticut's womens basketball team has advanced to the Final 4, the University of Connecticut has become the first school to reach the men's Final 4, the women's Final 4, and a BCS game in the same year. Congratulations to UConn!
UConn Women Advance to the Final 4
The UConn women are headed to Indianapolis to play in the Final 4 for the 4th consecutive season and the 12th time in school history.
In round 2 against Duke, the Huskies still destroyed them. For the 2nd time against UConn, the Blue Devils didn't show up to play. Instead of winning by 36, this time Connecticut won 75-40, only a margin of 35 points. So you could make the argument Duke played them better than last time, just not by much.
Maya Moore was unstoppable and led UConn with a double-double of 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 steals. Part of her scoring effort led her to 3,000 points in her career making her the 7th player in Division I history to do so. Freshman, Bria Hartley also led the rout of the Blue Devils with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Duke only made 25.4% of their field goals, while the Huskies made 59.3%. Duke wasn't able to penetrate UConn's defense and was forced to take jump shots and scored very few points in the paint.
UConn will be playing a road game in Indianapolis against Notre Dame. The crowd will be ruthless. It will be the 4th time they will have played this season with the Huskies winning all 3 games this season. The game will be Sunday, April 3rd at 9pm on ESPN.
In round 2 against Duke, the Huskies still destroyed them. For the 2nd time against UConn, the Blue Devils didn't show up to play. Instead of winning by 36, this time Connecticut won 75-40, only a margin of 35 points. So you could make the argument Duke played them better than last time, just not by much.
Maya Moore was unstoppable and led UConn with a double-double of 28 points, 10 rebounds, and 7 steals. Part of her scoring effort led her to 3,000 points in her career making her the 7th player in Division I history to do so. Freshman, Bria Hartley also led the rout of the Blue Devils with 14 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists.
Duke only made 25.4% of their field goals, while the Huskies made 59.3%. Duke wasn't able to penetrate UConn's defense and was forced to take jump shots and scored very few points in the paint.
UConn will be playing a road game in Indianapolis against Notre Dame. The crowd will be ruthless. It will be the 4th time they will have played this season with the Huskies winning all 3 games this season. The game will be Sunday, April 3rd at 9pm on ESPN.
Sunday, March 27, 2011
UConn Football Player Suspended
Senior wide receiver, Isiah Moore has been suspended for a violation of the team's policies according to head coach, Paul Pasqualoni. As of now there is no timetable for his return and will currently be missing spring practices. On Tuesday, Pasqualoni announced the suspension with 8 spring practices remaining.
Moore is 6 feet 1, 190 pounds and should play a bigger role this season in the passing game. Last season he played in every game and caught 15 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown.
He is the 2nd player to be suspended by the Huskies' new head coach. Prior to Moore's suspension, freshman running back, Lyle McCombs was suspended after being arrested for possession of marijuana on January 17th. It is unknown as to when he will return as well. However, Moore's absence does not appear to be criminally related as there is no police report about him.
Hopefully these two players will learn their lesson and when they get back on the field work harder than before to catch up, because as of right now there are question marks in both of those positions. The Receiving corps was weak last season with many missed opportunities and with Jordan Todman's departure for the NFL Draft; there is no clear candidate as to who will be the starting running back.
Moore is 6 feet 1, 190 pounds and should play a bigger role this season in the passing game. Last season he played in every game and caught 15 passes for 147 yards and a touchdown.
He is the 2nd player to be suspended by the Huskies' new head coach. Prior to Moore's suspension, freshman running back, Lyle McCombs was suspended after being arrested for possession of marijuana on January 17th. It is unknown as to when he will return as well. However, Moore's absence does not appear to be criminally related as there is no police report about him.
Hopefully these two players will learn their lesson and when they get back on the field work harder than before to catch up, because as of right now there are question marks in both of those positions. The Receiving corps was weak last season with many missed opportunities and with Jordan Todman's departure for the NFL Draft; there is no clear candidate as to who will be the starting running back.
UConn Women to the Elite 8
The Huskies will continue on to the Elite 8 after surviving a scare from Georgetown. Despite being down at the half by 3 and then down by 7 with 9:36 to go, UConn was still able to come out on top 68-63 to mark their 3rd win against Georgetown this season. The Huskies had this tough outing coming since Georgetown had previously played Connecticut tough in their two previous meetings. Familiarity between the two definitely played a role. However, in the end the better team emerged.
Maya Moore led Connecticut with 23 points and 14 rebounds. The freshman, Bria Hartley also had a good game scoring 17 points and 6 assists. Stefanie Dolson helped in the rebounding effort with 13 boards, which ultimately helped them win the game. Another key factor was free throws. The Huskies made 70.6% of their free throws and with only a 5 point win margin, every point counted.
The Huskies move on to face Duke Tuesday, March 29th at 7pm on ESPN. The winner moves on to the Final 4. The last time these 2 teams met, Connecticut annihilated the Blue Devils 87-51 after leading 41-15 after the first half.
Maya Moore led Connecticut with 23 points and 14 rebounds. The freshman, Bria Hartley also had a good game scoring 17 points and 6 assists. Stefanie Dolson helped in the rebounding effort with 13 boards, which ultimately helped them win the game. Another key factor was free throws. The Huskies made 70.6% of their free throws and with only a 5 point win margin, every point counted.
The Huskies move on to face Duke Tuesday, March 29th at 7pm on ESPN. The winner moves on to the Final 4. The last time these 2 teams met, Connecticut annihilated the Blue Devils 87-51 after leading 41-15 after the first half.
Yankees Starting Rotation Set
It's official now. Everyone can stop questioning the New York Yankees' pitching rotation.
Pitcher, Freddy Garcia has now been officially slated as the no. 5 starter in the pitching rotation behind Ivan Nova pitching 4th in the rotation.
Garcia had a good season in 2010 with a record of 12-6 and was great during spring training and ultimately deserved this spot. Ivan Nova went 1-2 with an ERA of 4.50 in 2010 in 10 games, 7 of them in which he started. Nova's spring training went well with the right hander going 2-0 with an ERA of 1.80 in 5 games, 4 of which he started.
It was decided that Bartolo Colon was going to be retained in the majors, but his role would involve pitching from the bullpen. Colon was a good candidate for that last starting spot, especially after not playing last year. However, the bullpen is an area that needed improvement, so Colon should make a good addition.
The Yankees starting pitching rotation will look like this for the regular season:
1. C.C. Sabathia
2. A.J. Burnett
3. Phil Hughes
4. Ivan Nova
5. Freddy Garcia
Outfielder, Curtis Granderson is still questionable to play in opening day this Thursday due to muscle soreness in his right side, but is optimistic that he is recovering well. He was able to hit off a tee, participate in a soft toss session, throw, and run the bases. The injury isn't serious and there's no need to worry. He'll be back as soon as possible and he shouldn't miss a significant amount of playing time.
Pitcher, Freddy Garcia has now been officially slated as the no. 5 starter in the pitching rotation behind Ivan Nova pitching 4th in the rotation.
Garcia had a good season in 2010 with a record of 12-6 and was great during spring training and ultimately deserved this spot. Ivan Nova went 1-2 with an ERA of 4.50 in 2010 in 10 games, 7 of them in which he started. Nova's spring training went well with the right hander going 2-0 with an ERA of 1.80 in 5 games, 4 of which he started.
It was decided that Bartolo Colon was going to be retained in the majors, but his role would involve pitching from the bullpen. Colon was a good candidate for that last starting spot, especially after not playing last year. However, the bullpen is an area that needed improvement, so Colon should make a good addition.
The Yankees starting pitching rotation will look like this for the regular season:
1. C.C. Sabathia
2. A.J. Burnett
3. Phil Hughes
4. Ivan Nova
5. Freddy Garcia
Outfielder, Curtis Granderson is still questionable to play in opening day this Thursday due to muscle soreness in his right side, but is optimistic that he is recovering well. He was able to hit off a tee, participate in a soft toss session, throw, and run the bases. The injury isn't serious and there's no need to worry. He'll be back as soon as possible and he shouldn't miss a significant amount of playing time.
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