UConn had not experienced a loss in more than nine months, so falling to Memphis in the first round of the Maui Invitational on Monday didn’t sit well with the No. 2 team in the country.
UConn (4-1) lost 99-97 after a furious rally in the last four minutes of regulation to send the game into overtime. The Huskies had not lost since Feb. 20, a span of 17 games that included winning the Big East tournament and NCAA Tournament.
The Huskies will try to start another streak when they play Colorado on Tuesday in the consolation side of the Maui bracket.
Colorado (4-1) fell 72-56 to Michigan State on Monday.
UConn showed its championship experience against the Tigers. The Huskies trailed by 13 with four minutes left and 82-77 with 41 seconds left, but Solo Ball’s 3-pointer with a second left sent it to an extra period.
It was tied at 92 when head coach Danny Hurley was hit with a technical foul for arguing an over-the-back foul call on Liam McNeeley, and it proved to be costly.
“I have a lot of issues with what went on out there in the game,” Hurley said in his postgame press conference. “That over-the-back call at that point of the game, there was no attempt to block out. … For that call to be made at that point of the game was a complete joke.
“For me, I don’t know what happened. I might have lost my balance by the absurdity of the call or maybe I tripped. But if I made that call at that point, I would have ignored the fact that I was on my back.”
Hurley has to turn the page quickly to face a Buffaloes team that held the Spartans to 2-for-21 shooting from 3-point range but still lost by 16. Colorado struggled to make shots, hitting just 37 percent from the field, and committed only 12 turnovers, five under its season average.
The Buffaloes had success when they went inside to Elijah Monroe, who scored 14 points, but a swarming Michigan State defense contested nearly every shot.
Coach Tad Boyle didn’t think his team was aggressive enough, especially on the defensive end.
“It’s soft,” Boyle said of his team’s defense. “That gets back to that toughness factor. The number one thing on the board … was keep the ball out of the paint. Whether it was from guarding the ball and gap help, whether it was post defense, you name it. Transition defense. We weren’t able to do it. They got the ball in the paint whenever they wanted in different ways. To me, it’s a matter of toughness.”
Colorado will have to improve that against UConn, which averages 90.4 points a game and holds its opponents to 60.6, even after Memphis’ big night. The Huskies played a soft schedule ahead of the Maui tourney.
–Field Level Media
