By Connor Wilson
Last time that UConn and DePaul faced off in Chicago 29 days ago, the Huskies put up 90 points and took home the 14-point victory backed by 26 points from Jordan Hawkins.
On Wednesday night in the rematch, the Huskies put up 88 points, with just three coming from their star shooting guard.
“We did tonight’s performance with Jordan playing his worst offensive game of the year, so that’s exciting,” UConn head coach Dan Hurley said. “He’s not gonna have any more games like that the rest of the year. He got that out of the way today.”
UConn comfortably defeated DePaul 88-59 in its final home game of the season, but the score doesn’t tell the whole story. After the two teams traded early buckets, the Huskies responded with a 27-0 run and were on top of the Blue Demons 29-2 in the blink of an eye.
“The first half performance was as good as you could hope for,” Hurley said. “Both ends of the court. Disruptive defensively and offensively, with 17 assists at the half, just an impressive performance and we’ll continue to build the momentum.”
UConn forward Adama Sanogo ready to take a shot against DePaul
The Huskies were led by forward Adama Sanogo, who scored 26 points on 11-for-14 shooting in just 22 minutes. Every time the UConn guards would find Sanogo down low, it seemed like the result was an automatic two points.
“We know that for us to be a great team we have to be a good defensive team,” Sanogo said. “Every time we struggle we know we have to focus on playing good defense.”
Joining Sanogo in double figures for UConn were four of his teammates, as Tristen Newton (12), Andre Jackson (11), Alex Karaban (11), and Donovan Clingan (10) all had 10 or more points.
The playmaking was on point all night for the Huskies, with 17 assists in the first half alone on 21 field goals. Jackson was at the forefront with the assists, as he registered a career high nine dimes and also added eight rebounds in what was his closest effort of his career to a triple double.
UConn guard Andre Jackson feeds forward Adama Sanogo down low against DePaul
“I knew I had it and was about to get it,” Jackson said about his near triple double. “I wasn’t trying to put too much emphasis on it and tried to psych myself out so I wouldn’t think about it but it's alright, I have a few more years here to get it.”
“With what we get at center and what Tristen is capable of, when he’s on, and with Jordan and getting the punch off the bench with Nahiem and Joey, if Dre is getting close to double digit points and we know we’re getting doubles from Alex, we’re hard to deal with,” Hurley said.
Despite all of the passing and playmaking going down, Hurley still didn’t think his team played its best.
“A majority of the year we’ve been a high assist team,” Hurley said. “We still found a way to turn the ball over, there’s always got to be something, so we need to stop doing that. This should have been a 30 assist game and I was hoping to see a six or seven turnover game.”
UConn forward Alex Karaban blocks a shot against DePaul
UConn also got solid bench production for the second straight game, as Clingan, Joey Calcaterra, and Nahiem Alleyne combined for 23 points and fan favorite Richie Springs added a bucket late in what may be the redshirt junior’s final home game.
This marks back to back games in which Calcaterra hit three three pointers off the bench, with his recent hot streak coming days after he was a DNP against Seton Hall in a coach’s decision.
For the Blue Demons, as mentioned there wasn’t too much going on offensively. One bright spot for head coach Tony Stubblefield’s group was big man Nick Ongenda, who scored a team high 17 points in just his fifth game of the season after being out with an injury.
“We got beat tonight by a very, very good basketball team that’s going to make a run in the NCAA Tournament,” Stubblefield said. “They can beat you from a lot of different positions, they’re deep, they’re talented, and they played extremely well tonight.”
DePaul forward Nick Ongenda drives into traffic against UConn
Outside of Ongenda, all of the Blue Demons struggled from the field. Umoja Gibson and Javan Johnson combine to average over 30 PPG on the season and registered just 15 - 10 from Johnson and five from Gibson, his lowest since early December.
DePaul was without one of its better players in Hartford, as forward Da’Sean Nelson was out with an ankle injury. Nelson provides depth to the Blue Demons front court and has been one of the best reserves in the Big East this season.
Even if Nelson played, it's unlikely the Blue Demons would have been able to overcome the Huskies and their potent offensive attack. UConn is peaking at the right time, as Hurley and Co. have now won eight of their last 10. With the Big East Tournament right around the corner, the players are ready for retribution after a couple of early March Madness exits.
“It’s the best time of the year,” Jackson said. “It’s when it's time to really pull together as a team and most teams are peaking right now and getting to their best.”
“It’s time for us to work again,” Sanogo added. “Last couple of years our March was not good so it's time for us to go to work again and keep going.”
The Huskies have done something this season that few teams can claim this season, as they won the Phil Knight Invitational back in November.
“We’re one of the few teams in the country that has proven we can win a tournament, a big tournament against some really good teams,” Hurley said.
INJURY REPORT: For DePaul, as mentioned, Nelson missed the game in Hartford with an ankle injury, but it isn’t expected to be too serious. For UConn, Hassan Diarra missed his second straight game with an abdominal strain, but was a game time decision coming into the contest. Jordan Hawkins also appeared to suffer a lower body injury and limped off the court, but stayed on the bench and Hurley affirmed he would “be in practice tomorrow.”
WHAT’S UP NEXT: UConn heads to Philadelphia for a clash with a red hot Villanova team on Saturday evening and DePaul also plays Saturday evening when they play host to Creighton. Both teams will head to Madison Square Garden after that for the Big East Tournament.