UConn Basketball Is BACK .... To Beating Syracuse In The Garden

UConn 83, No. 15 Syracuse 76

Listen, this is a big deal. This was the first real challenge for Danny Hurley at UConn and against Syracuse in the Garden. No matter how good or bad these teams are it’s a game that people pay attention to and one that these two teams need to win. Needless to say it’s a huge step for UConn, so let’s get into some quick hitting takeaways from this.

– Oshae Brissett can’t be this inconsistent. Coming into the game he’s shooting just 48% on 2-pointers. Today he went 3-for-15. That’s so bad for a guy that’s just incredibly talented. In my preview blog I highlighted Brissett and how he’s the difference here. He’s Syracuse’s second best player and often finds himself in the paint. In the last game he showed both the great (1st half) and inconsistency (2nd half). Today we saw bad Oshae Brissett and that’s a large part as to why Syracuse lost.

– Alterique Gilbert being healthy is awesome. He’s a former All-American and has had 3 shoulder injuries since he committed to UConn. We saw him hit big threes. We saw him drop some incredible passes. But, more importantly it takes that pressure off of Jalen Adams in the backcourt. Letting him take control of the lead guard spot and letting Adams operate off of the wing just gives a different look that UConn hasn’t had.

– Eric Cobb was an absolute monster. He couldn’t get on the court last year and when he was on the court he was out of shape and tripping over himself. 13 and 13.

– Jalen Carey needs to learn how to take care of the ball. I highlighted it in the preview blog that he has one of the highest turnover rates in the country at 40%. He finished with 6 turnovers tonight. Syracuse as a team had 11. Carey is filling in for Frank Howard while he’s out with injury, but if Carey can’t take care of the ball, Syracuse is nowhere near the No. 15 team in the country.

– This highlighted some of my concerns with Syracuse. I know that Frank Howard isn’t playing, but I’m also not super high on Howard. Yes, he’ll take care of the ball better than Carey. But, he’s not making up enough in this game. However, 27% from three, still a ton of ISO ball (which will always be the case with Boeheim) and just relying on settling for shots makes this offense stagnant. Syracuse really needs someone to become a consistent 3-point shooter to keep the floor spread. That was supposed to be Buddy Boeheim and Elijah Hughes. Boeheim is struggling and Hughes was fine going 3-for-8 from three. However, that moved his 3-point shooting to just 11% this year. So, no, Syracuse I don’t hate your team. I just question how good this offense is.

– People want to know the floor/ceiling for UConn. This is somewhat close to the ceiling. They are capable of beating NCAA Tournament teams. We see the American struggling this year. UCF isn’t as good as people thought. Cincinnati still can’t consistently score. Houston is fine. Wichita is down. Memphis is rebuilding. Temple is well, Temple under Fran Dunphy. UConn can all of a sudden become a top-4 team in the American with execution like this and keeping guys healthy. They should be a bubble team, which is huge for Hurley in year 1 as he still gets his guys into the program.

– Let’s keep having Cuse and UConn playing in the Garden every year though. It needs to happen.

– No one goes from celebration to professionalism like Danny Hurley