It’s going to be a battle for the AAC tournament title tonight, but it’s going to have a Big East feel as the Huskies and Cards lock up one last time. Usually this story would have played out in front of a packed Madison Square Garden on a Saturday Night, but tonight the story will end in Memphis and it’s hard to say what the crowd will be like since they have been thin all week. The Cardinals lead this series 10-6 and have won four straight against the Huskies including that 33 point drubbing on senior day last weekend.
After a year of sitting out of post season play UCONN is one of the hungriest teams in college basketball right now looking forward to getting their chance at a deep NCAA run. Coach Kevin Ollie did an excellent job keeping his team playing hard last year, and this season has been no different. They could have folded their tents after that beat down in Louisville last weekend, but they have now beat the host team Memphis and top seeded UC to make the AAC final.
Their backcourt is experienced, talented and one of the best in the country. They are lead by All-American candidate Shabazz Napier (18.1 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 5.3 apg), Ryan Boatright (12.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.5 apg) and Omar Calhoun (4.5 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 0.3 apg) all can pressure the ball, are competitive, play with confidence and have the ability to score. They are also getting quality minutes from DeAndre Daniels (12.1 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 0.4 apg), Niels Giffey (8.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 0.5 blkpg) and Lasan Kromah (7.1 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 0.4 blkpg).
Taken together, the Huskies’ big three of Napier, Boatright and DeAndre Daniels are shooting around 44 percent inside the arc and around 45 percent outside it this season. Napier is everything for this team. He leads the team in every offensive category, steals, and even rebounds. He averages 17.8 points a game, and he makes his team better. DaAndre Daniels and Ryan Boatright both average over 12 points per game.
The Huskies are also playing some pretty good defense this week holding Memphis to 26.4% from the field and holding UC to 43.9%. Daniels and Amida Brimah are both in the top five of the conference in blocked shots. They had 4 against the Tigers and 6 against the Bearcats. These guys make the Huskies a scary team down low.
The key for them in their last two wins is that they have played more like a team, and not relied on Napier as much as they had been. It has been more of a team effort.
The Cardinals will get the Huskies best effort tonight. You best believe that they wanted this rematch. Our Cards have had an easier road to the AAC title game, but there will be nothing easy about this game tonight. The Cards biggest strengths to this point has been their ability to score and stop their opponents from scoring. It will have to be par for the course tonight. They lead the conference in points per game at 81.8. Russ Smith is coming off his monster game last night and we have four players averaging double figures. I would think that the scoring tonight will have to be distributed and more balanced. I look for a surprise game from Wayne Blackshear and just maybe Terry Rozier. I think Chris Jones will also have a big outing in his curtain call in his hometown. Taking care of the ball tonight will also be crucial.
The defense will need to have another big night and force them to get the ball in the hands of their guys that don’t handle it well. UCONN is a very good offensive team and the Cards will need to repeat their shut down performance of the Huskies last weekend. The Cards got brutalized on the boards last night, and that can’t happen tonight. Montrezl Harrell is second in the conference in rebounds per game, but last night only had 5. He has to do better in this title game.
With all that said you can throw all logic, stats, and records out the window for this one. It’s the AAC title game. A lot of pride is on the line for these two very proud programs. Don’t think for one second that the guys leading these two teams Russ and Napier don’t want to go out on top. This should be a great game and a fun one to watch. I think our Cards win a close one down the stretch. Our defense will be too much and the Huskies will eventually buckle under the pressure. I’m looking forward to this game! Go Cards!