NEW YORK – UConn sent Alex Karaban out by himself first to answer questions from reporters after the Huskies had their 18-game winning streak snapped by St. John’s at Madison Square Garden Friday night.
About five minutes later, coach Dan Hurley took over his captain’s spot on the dais.
“Sorry for the delay,” he said. “I wanted to see a couple of plays on the iPad before I commented on anything.”
There were a couple of plays in particular where Hurley thought a foul should’ve been called against the Johnnies. But he didn’t want to get into too much detail on what he was looking at on the iPad.
“Will you pay the fine?” he quipped when asked. “How many reprimands am I on right now?”
St. John’s rocks UConn men in the Garden, 81-72; Huskies 18-game win streak comes to end
“There was just a couple,” he continued. “When Silas (Demary Jr.) is driving down the lane and he gets fouled by two different people at that point in the game; I thought Alex got fouled at least on one of those two drives in the paint. And then when we fouled, they called it. I mean, we’re undisciplined as a fouling team. Hey listen, officiating is a tough thing to do, that’s not why we lost, but certainly for the way that they play defense, especially with that pressure where they make it really hard to enter the ball because of the manner in which they’re guarding.”
Demary, who, despite his nine turnovers, was keeping the Huskies in the game down the stretch, went flying to the floor after he got past Bryce Hopkins on the dribble and was swiped at by Joson Sanon with three minutes left, down five. Karaban only missed two shots in the second half, both in the paint after taking a bump from center Zuby Ejiofor.
UConn was called for 23 fouls in the game; St. John’s just 15. The Huskies went to the foul line 12 times, but missed seven of them. And the Johnnies capitalized on 22 of their 31 free throw opportunities.
“You’ve got to be in great shape to do what they do,” Hurley said of the St. John’s defense, which forced 15 turnovers that led to 20 points. “I mean, for them to deny the ball in the front court they way that they do and then the discipline to not be called for one foul the entire game the way that they face guard. They’re handsy, and again, that’s a Big East game, but I would say that just, it disrupts your ability to get into what you want to do offensively.”
Hurley got into it a bit more with local reporters outside the locker room, acknowledging that there were also some plays where his team could’ve been whistled but wasn’t.
“But I want to watch the film, and then you send in an edit to the league and they tell you the calls that should have been made or were correct, and then nothing really. We all just go on,” he said.
It is similar to the NBA’s two-minute report, which also doesn’t change anything after the fact but it does provide an explanation for calls made in the critical moments of the game.
“I think in certain plays that happen in the game, I think that would be a nice move for college basketball to have transparency on plays that are controversial,” he said.
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Foul line woes continue
When UConn did get sent to the foul line – Tarris Reed Jr. (2-for-6) and Demary (3-for-6) – it didn’t make the most of its freebies.
The Huskies are only shooting 69.8% from the stripe this season, which ranks No. 263 nationally.
“You practice free throws, obviously it becomes mental for some players. Obviously Tarris (54.8%) is really struggling there and taking points off the board. So you get in the gym, you focus on your routine,” Hurley said. “The coaches, we’ve got to try to help him figure it out. But when you get to this level of basketball, it’s hard to fix somebody that’s not making free throws. You’ve got people on the exterior, ‘Hey coach, you’ve got to make free throws.’ It’s a very personal thing for players and when they get a low confidence level, it’s problematic.”
Pitino’s adjustments reveal room for Mullins’ improvement
Trying to guard Braylon Mullins and his lightning quick jumper proved to be a problem for Rick Pitino, who matched him up with 6-foot-8 forward Dillon Mitchell.
Mullins made his first three shots, two from beyond the arc and one a difficult turnaround from midrange over Ejiofor. But they were the only three shots he attempted in the first half. His shotmaking presence wasn’t felt after the break, as he went just 1-for-5 from the field in the second half.
“I just thought they were a little short with some closes, I don’t think that they, in the first half, kind of timed up how quickly he gets shots off and the distance he shoots from,” Hurley said. “Their adjustment they made was they ran at him a lot faster, and he needed to just mix in some shot fakes, he needed to use his eyes and his shoulders. And he’s a young player, and this was a big spot. I mean, this was an intense game. I think Coach (Pitino) might’ve been off on the ratio of the crowd. I looked around during the anthem, I saw a lot of red. It felt like a real road game.”