Gameday Preview: UConn women set for BYU in Sweet 16 showdown

Top-seeded Huskies looking advance to the Elite Eight for the ninth straight year

Well, it’s the Sweet 16 and the Connecticut women’s basketball team is in a very familiar place.  The No. 1 seeded Huskies advanced to the Lincoln Regional with two conceiving wins in the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament. They will face the No. 12 seeded BYU Cougars in the regional semifinal this afternoon at 4:30pm (ESPN) at Pinnacle Bank Arena in Lincoln, Neb.

Yes, that is right – the Huskies (36-0) next opponent is the 12 seed. The Cougars (28-6) had two upsets in the opening rounds in Los Angeles to advance to the Lincoln Regional. They are the third 12^th seed to advance to the Sweet 16.

In a tournament that typically lacks the upset, there were plenty within the Lincoln Regional. It all started with these Cougars who knocked off fifth-seeded N.C. State 72-57 last Saturday in the first round. Then they took down fourth-seeded Nebraska 80-76 last Monday night in the second round to advance to their first Sweet 16 since 2002. BYU’s second round win prevented Nebraska from playing on their home court in this weekend’s regional.

In the other half of the bracket, Big East champion and seventh-seeded DePaul defeated second-seeded Duke at Cameroon Indoor Stadium in Durham, N.C. The Blue Demons will face No. 3 seed Texas A&M at 7pm (ESPN) in today’s other semifinal.

The Cougars know they are significant underdogs heading into this afternoon’s match-up. Two previous 12 seeds have advance to the round of 16 and lost badly. In 1996, UConn defeated San Francisco (72-44) and last season Notre Dame beat Kansas (93-63).

“It's very intimidating, and [UConn has] been here every year, so they're not nervous or excited probably as much as we are,” BYU coach Jeff Judkins told the Associated Press. “Anybody on any given night – a team can be off, foul trouble, injury, some team can be really on, so you just don't know.”

However, the Cougars are relying on their own family history to motivate them. They are being inspired by the 1983 NCAA men’s basketball champions. Forward Morgan Bailey’s uncle, Thurl, was on that N.C. State Wolfpack team. Led by coach Jim Valvano, the Wolfpack upset the Houston Cougars for the national championship. Houston was the top-seed in that tournament and on a 26-game winning streak before being upset on a last season shot.   

BYU does present a unique challenge for the Huskies. Stefanie Dolson, Breanna Stewart, and Kia Stokes will be challenged in the front court as the Cougars have Jessica Hamson. At 6-foot-7, Hamson averages 18 points and 11.5 rebounds per game and also leads the nation in block shots with 4.2 per game. Hamson was the West Coast Conference Player of the Year as well as the Defensive Player of the Year.

“She's extremely tall and is going to change a lot of shots and probably block a lot of shots,” Dolson told the Associated Press. “We have to make sure we keep attacking her and, for me, setting a lot of ball screens and bring her out of the paint so our guards can drive it in there.”

Another key to BYU is Lexi Eaton, a 5-10 guard, is averaging 17.1 points per game. Eaton had 25 points in the first round win against N.C. State.

As for the Huskies, this is the 22^nd trip to the regional semifinals. They are 19-2 in the Sweet 16 and they are looking to advance to the Elite Eight for the ninth straight year.

UConn is coming off two dominating performances this past week at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Conn.

After coming off Spring Break and a 12 day lay-off, UConn had 18 turnovers in an uncharacteristically sloppy performance in their opening round game last Sunday. The Huskies defeated No. 16 seed Prairie View A&M 87-44.

Stewart had 19 points and 10 rebounds to lead five Huskies in a balanced scoring attack. Bria Hartley had 16 points and Moriah Jefferson added 14 points and five steals. Dolson scored 11 points and had six assists, while Kalenna Mosqueda-Lewis had 13 points and six rebounds.

In the second round match-up with No. 9 seed St. Joseph’s this past Tuesday; UConn scored the first 10 points in en route to a 91-52 victory. Offensively, the Huskies were on fire with four players scoring 20 or more points. They shot 55% from the field for the second straight game and limited their turnovers to only eight. Defensively, they held the Hawks to under 35% shooting for the game.

Again five Huskies scored in double figures, led by a triple-double by Mosequeda-Lewis. She had 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. Dolson (21 points and 11 rebounds) and Stewart (21 points and 10 rebounds) had double-doubles as well. Hartley also contributed with 20 points and Jefferson added 11.  

The winners of today’s games in Lincoln will play on Monday night at 9pm (ESPN) for the regional championship with the winner heading to next weekend’s Final Four in Nashville, Tenn.

What a mess in Louisville!

The UConn men were destroyed in Louisville on Saturday afternoon.  I am very happy I did not get the opportunity to watch it.

The defending national champions made some noise, playing at a higher level and hope to get back to the Final Four next month.

Kevin Ollie took full responsibility for the way his team played.  It was honestly embarrassing.  I am not sure if the loss against Houston was worst.  The Huskies were outplayed and outcoached.  I really hope the Huskies learn to play against zone and some pressure defense and learn some patience on offense or it will be a quick end to March.

Ollie was asked if he saw this coming and he said no.  As of fan, I saw it happening.  Last Wednesday, they struggled to beat Rutgers.  There were many times this season where they were lucky to win games.  Still it would be great if there was another consistent option or two besides Shabazz Napier.  And post play, including rebounding, is key.

UConn will play Memphis on Thursday night in Memphis in the quarterfinals of the American Athletic Conference. UConn will be the home team by seed, but Memphis will be playing on their home court.  The winner will most likely take on Cincinnati in the semifinals.

Finally, anyone else notice the happy music ESPN has during the 30 for 30 commercial on the Big East?  It is like they are happy they destroyed the Big East.  However, I did notice on the new Big East website, they control all the records and the AAC (which is technically the Big East before it was renamed the American) has nothing.  Sad to see the likes of Ray Allen, Emeka Okafor, 6 OTs and UConn's 2011 run controlled by a bunch of Catholic schools who purchased it. So is the Big East dead or just dead to ESPN?  Still want to know what UConn does with the Big East banners in Gampel Pavilion?

UConn women look to clinch top seed in AAC Tournament

Eleven months ago in New Orleans, the upstart Louisville Cardinals met the Connecticut Huskies for the NCAA National Championship. Although it was a rout for the UConn women, Louisville displayed in that game that they were no Cinderella.

Tonight, they meet again for another championship at the KFC Yum! Center in downtown Louisville, Ky. (7pm ESPN2). This time it is for the inaugural American Athletic Conference regular season title. If UConn wins, they will win the outright conference championship and will be the top seed in this weekend’s American tournament at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn. If Louisville wins, both teams will share the regular season title and a coin flip will determine the top seed in the tournament.

The No. 1 Huskies defeated No. 25 Rutgers, 72-35, to earn a share of the American Athletic Conference regular season championship last Saturday. In a game where they never trailed, top-ranked and unbeaten UConn (30-0 overall, 17-0 AAC) used a stifling defense to keep the Scarlet Knights at bay. Rutgers was held to a season-low 35 points scored. They played without their leading scorer Kahleah Cooper who missed most of the game Breanna Stewart and Bria Hartley led the Huskies in scoring. They both scored 20 points each. Stewart and Stefanie Dolson (six points) had 10 rebounds apiece. Kia Stokes pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds off the bench.

Last month, UConn defeated the No. 3 Cardinals 81-64 and ended a 16 game winning streak in front of soldout crowd at Gampel Pavilion. Since then, the Cards (28-2, 16-1) have won five in a row, most recently a 75-51 victory against Cincinnati.

Louisville coach Jeff Walz is known for his aggressive game plans. In the last meeting, his team was physical and they opted to leave Moriah Jefferson open. However, offensively they struggled against the UConn defense and Stewart just took over. Stewart had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while Jefferson scored a career-high 18 points. The Huskies forced 14 turnovers and held the Cardinals to 36% shooting.

Expect Walz and his team to learn from the previous meeting and come with another game plan to contain Stewart and Hartley. It is without question that Walz will use some type of full-court pressure defense to tire out the Huskies who only have eight scholarship players. They will also use a combination of a two-three or three-two zone. Expect Stewart to be double or triple teamed in the post.

The Cardinals are led by a pair of All-American candidates in guard Shoni Schimmel (17.2 point per game) and forward Sara Hammond (11.2 points, 6.6 rebounds). In the last meeting, the UConn defense was able to contain and limit both players on offense. Forward Asia Taylor (12.2 points) had 18 points in the last meeting and guard Antonia Slaughter is a three-point threat.

Both teams are pretty much at full strength. UConn saw the return of Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis on Saturday afternoon. Although she scored only seven points, she did play 27 minutes. Geno Auriemma expects Lewis to have a better shooting performance than she did last Saturday. Lewis sat out the past two weeks with mononucleosis. Louisville will have guard Bria Smith, who missed the last meeting with the Huskies due to a knee injury.

The Cardinals are undefeated at home this season (17-0) and this is their senior night.

Mount Rushmore of UConn Women's Basketball

Wikipedia

The Presidents that are engraved on Mount Rushmore to me may not be the greatest, but they had the greatest impact on this nation.  As for sports, we always want to know who the greatest is.  We are constantly ranking teams or players or eras.  Nothing is truer than the comparison between Kevin Durant and Lebron James.  Or does Derek Jeter belong on the Yankee's Mount Rushmore.  But that is a topic for another time...

Yesterday we focused on the UConn men's basketball team and their impact players.   We took a look at their impact players.  Yes, a lot of great names were left off.  Picking the top three is very challenging - because Jim Calhoun had the greatest impact on UConn basketball.  Today, we look at the women's basketball team - that can even be more challenging, but maybe not.

NCAA

Let's start off with Geno Auriemma.  The head coach took Connecticut basketball from absolutely nothing and made it into an eight-time national champion.  It is simply the best program in all of college sports.   Auriemma is a Hall of Famer and his name will be mentioned in the same breathe as Wooden.  Auriemma has a chance to to win as many championships as John Wooden.

AP

Just like Ray Allen, Rebecca Lobo made people in Connecticut care about college basketball in the 1990s.  She went to four NCAA Tournaments, two Elite Eights and won the 1995 National Championship.  Lobo was the consensus national player of the year in 1995.  She led her team to a perfect 35-0 season.  She continues to do a lot for UConn as she is the face of women's basketball for ESPN.

AP

Diana Taurasi - the Southern California girl - led UConn to three National Championships.  Probably the greatest player to ever play the game.  She went to four Final Fours, won four Big East Regular Season titles and two Big East Tournament Championships.  She was apart of 70-game winning streak.  Played on the greatest team to every play the game which was a perfect 39-0 and was named the Final Four MVP two years in a row.   

AP

Maya Moore was a winner.  She went to four Final Fours, won two National Championships, and was a series of teams that won 90-games in a row.  Moore was the National Player of the Year three times.  Moore has the scoring record at UConn.  She had one of the most successful college careers in the history of women's basketball.  She continues to rewrite the history books at the pro level.  

Here are some pictures from the pre-game in Gampel

The View from Section 221 – Just some random thoughts from the fan experience

Saturday night was a special night in Storrs.  Due to conference realignment, when is the next time UConn will host a game of this magnitude?  I am not saying future games against Memphis, Cincinnati or SMU won’t be big time conference games – but it is not the same as Louisville, Syracuse or Georgetown.

The students camped out to get prime-time seats.  The players brought gifts to the campers during the day.  By 7:30pm, the students and the fans started to enter Gampel Pavilion.  All three student sections were filled one hour prior to tip-off.  The last I remember that happening – December 2000 against No. 2 Arizona.  Dickie V had some fun with the students.  The place was electric – it was the loudest in years.  The scene was set to make this a special night.

Unfortunately, it was a great road win for Louisville.  In a conference were the top teams are finding ways to win on the road, it seems to be very difficult to protect home court advantage.  Louisville lost at home to Memphis, while Cincinnati and UConn won at Memphis.  The Huskies find themselves three games out in the loss column for the top spot in the conference race.

Louisville got their first signature win of the season.  They lost to North Carolina, Kentucky and Memphis earlier this season.  I saw the Cards play Carolina in November at Mohegan Sun.  They looked awful – settling for threes and not playing defense.  It is hard to repeat and defend a national championship, but this Louisville team played with a renewed purpose last night.  UConn did not match the intensity or aggressiveness the Cardinals played with.  They dominated the glass by outrebounding the Huskies by 15 and they had 40 points in the paint. 

I have to give Rick Pitino a lot of credit.  He knew his team could not run with UConn.  Memphis tried to run with the Huskies last Thursday and failed.  Pitino wanted no part of that and Kevin Ollie did not adjust.  Very early in the game, UConn looked like deer in the headlights and could not capture the energy of the crowd.  They played like the team that lost games to Stanford, Houston and SMU.  

The Huskies have struggled with a zone all season.  UConn settles for a lot of threes – something you live and die by.  Just like the Stanford game, they do not look for second or third or fourth options.  The frontcourt does not flash to the high post and look to take a shot.  They did not try to open up the low post.  The Louisville zone was a mix between a 2-3 and a 3-2.  It was often extended and extremely aggressive.  It was the junk defense you tend to see the low to mid-majors use during the first couple of rounds of the NCAA tournament.

Again, DeAndre Daniels decided to follow-up a great performance with another horrible game.  Daniels scored the first basket for the Huskies on a corner three, but then quickly got into foul trouble.  He only had three points for the game on one for eight shooting.  The talented junior could have been that frontcourt player to go to the top of the free throw line and take jumpers but decided to settle for threes.  This says to me that Daniels wants no part of the physical nature of the game.

Again the Huskies had to rely way too much on Shabazz Napier.  Napier scored a career high 30 points.  Late in the game, he went into to the lane for lay-ups and got fouled.  He carried UConn on Saturday night and proved that he needs to be considered an All-American.  Without Napier, this team will be in trouble.

I am not going to mention much about the officiating.  There were a lot of questionable calls throughout the game against both teams.  The crowd was great with riding the refs again and again throughout the second half.  You know you will get a ton a fouls against the home team whenever Ted Valentine is on the court.  Remember, he was involved with an infamous Bobby Knight ejection.  However, he was actually the best official on the court last night.  The American Athletic Conference needs to review the game film and decide what to do with these officials.  You can’t make marquee games into free throw shooting contests.

Slightly off topic – new Football Head Coach Bob Diaco spoke to the crowd during the under-12 timeout in the first half.  What enthusiasm this guy has!  He is going to make UConn football special and we will be lucky to have him as a coach for the length of his entire contract.  However, he should never speak at another UConn basketball game again.  He is bad luck and is now 0-2!

Another random thought – the Huskies are 0-2 against teams with the nickname Cardinal in it, having lost to the Stanford Cardinal last month in Hartford.  And they are 0-3 with games that start at 9pm (Stanford and Houston).   

One last thought – Gampel Pavilion is in bad shape.  The ceiling tiles are cracked and falling apart.  The problem is getting worse.  What does the University and the State of Connecticut have in planned to fix this problem?  I don’t want to hear build a new arena.  Gampel is the best college arena in the Northeast.  The building is only 23 years old.  A restoration project may need to be done.  Also, the bleachers in the upper levels need to be replaced with chair back seats and expand the rows.  With the size of some people, they take up more than their assigned seat and everyone has their knees into someone back.    

The Huskies get back into action on Tuesday night when they return to the XL Center against Temple at 7pm.  I am sure the Owls will be playing a lot of zone looking for their first conference win of the season.  Hopefully Ollie and the coaching staff can quickly adjust.

Back in the American

Wednesday night was a gutsy performance by the Huskies. The average fan does not know that Harvard is a great basketball team with a great coach.   The Crimson is an NCAA Tournament team and will be a tough out come March.  This win will help the RPI in March.

Yes, UConn had to deal with turnovers during the first half and poor shooting in the second half and then there was final sequence of events in the final minute,  but they pulled it off.  Perhaps this was the best team win of the season.

Tonight they will be challenged by UCF.  Gampel will be close to a sellout.  The American is back open for business.  Win tonight and the Huskies are only two games out of first place.  Cincinnati looks strong and are undefeated, and Memphis and Louisville both have a loss.  If UConn wins the next three, they will be up there challenging for the conference crown.  The only thing good about a true round-robin schedule,  you determine a true champion.

Go Huskies!

The Texas Two (Mis)steps!

Huskies start the American Athletic Conference season 0-2...time to panic???  
We are Connecticut, we won three national championships and tons of Big East Conference championships, and we are 0-2 in the American - WTF?

Going into the season and looking at the schedule, I truly believed that this Connecticut men's basketball team would enter a tough two game conference stretch in mid-January that would determine if this team would be a contender for the National Title.  The American Athletic Conference early two-game Texas road trip would be a breeze as would be the entire non-conference schedule.  Albeit, there would be some tests - Maryland, Indiana, Florida, Stanford, Washington, Harvard - but this experienced Huskies squad would pass with flying colors and head into the showdowns with Memphis and Louisville undefeated - delusional UConn fan speaking.  After some close calls and lucky breaks against Maryland in Brooklyn, Indiana in NYC, and Florida in Storrs, I truly thought this team would go into the exam break thinking they were lucky to be undefeated and had the confidence to step-up their game and head into the remaining part of their non-conference schedule and start their new conference schedule as a top 10 team and contender for the National Title.  Boy was I wrong.

I never thought that the Huskies would be coming back from this Texas road trip losers of two straight conference road games in the likes of Houston and Dallas - Texas has been kind to Connecticut in the past - forgiveness of a Roscoe Smith SportsCenter Not So Top Ten play in Austin for a win in 2011 and the 2004 and 2011 National Championships in San Antonio and Houston, respectfully.  Now UConn comes back to Gampel Pavilion - losers of three of five games - to play against a very good Harvard team looking for a quality win to boast their RPI come March on Wednesday night and another conference game with Central Florida - yes a UCF team they have struggled with in the recent past -  on Saturday evening.  The Huskies can ill afford to lose either game as they head into heavyweight bouts with Memphis and Louisville the following week.

Being a season ticket holder the past few seasons, I have watched many inferior opponents play UConn in November and December and I as many fans see the weaknesses and worried about the product I was watching.  Four years ago, you saw the letdown and the NIT invite happening before January hit.  Three years ago, great games and then lots of question marks and never thought a national title would be possible, but that was all Kemba Walker.  Two years ago and last season, playing to the level of the competition and being happy with mediocre results.  Does the UConn hoard, I mean journalists, see it?  Do they bother to ask the coaching staff or the players about it?  I know Glenn Miller has spoken about it during many post-game interviews on IMG radio but is there any follow up.

One major weakness is that the players do not take their opponents seriously and play to the level of their competition and the lack of effort on the court.  THEY NEED TO LEARN THE WORD R-E-S-P-E-C-T WHEN ON THE COURT!  Besides the Detroit game in November and DePaul last January, when was the last time UConn blown out a weak opponent or just dominated teams?  This has been the problem the last few years - in the American Athletic Conference you can't finish .500 and compete for the NCAA Championship - you can't turn it on and off anymore, this isn't the Big East circa 2011.  There are good losses, but not in this conference except for Louisville or Cincinnati.  You need to get all the wins you can get and you definitely need to protect your homecourt.

Another weakness - and there are many here - the low post game, set plays, rebounding, defensive sets, shot selection.  (When was the last time UConn run a offensive set - 1999 with Richard Hamilton running that circle play?)  The Huskies are too reliant on Shabazz Napier and Ryan Boatright.  Defenses are sticking on Niels Giffey like glue from the three point arc, the team is too reliant on the three.  Lasan Kromah is a really good, solid player who helps the team off the bench.  Where is DeAndre Daniels and Omar Calhoun?  Post play - Brimah needs to learn to play defense with his feet and not try to block every shot, Phil Nolan needs to get healthy - yes he was sick the past week and gets a pass, and Olander needs to be the guy who played defense and contributed offensively during the 2011 national championship run.  A couple of passes and running a set play would not hurt, its better than taking an ill-advised three on the first pass with no one in rebounding position.

Honestly Husky fans - is this team better than it was in late October during their first exhibition game?

Finally, I think this may be treasonous but - everyone praises Kevin Ollie on such a great coaching job he did last season.  However, we are experiencing coaching growing pains and that is a major weakness.  I know Ollie has played for some of the best coaches in the NBA, mentored many young NBA rookies and he was Jim Calhoun's man to take over the program - but does he have enough experience?  Does he know what to do in the right situation?  Is this a legit question or is this something that we have to deal with?  He has two former head coaches as assistants, the entire coaching staff are UConn guys.  He does have Jim Calhoun available to him.  He is a young, inexperienced coach and I want this man to do well, and win many conference and national championships.  He is a great cheerleader for the University and the program, but do the players respect him as the head coach?  Does Omar Calhoun understand why he was benched?  Honestly, I think more players should be benched - lip service is one thing, but actions speak louder than words.  Jim Calhoun would have made a statement with a midnight practice after the Stanford loss.  A lot of the issues mentioned above land directly on Ollie's lap.

I want to see what Ollie does on Wednesday night and beyond and if players understand the urgency of the matter.

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Thank you ESPNU for the excuse of the travel and days away from Storrs for the recent UConn struggles.  UConn is a distant neighbor in this revamp Big East Conference - I mean rebranded American Athletic Conference or whatever.  Every conference game except Rutgers and maybe Temple is a flight.  This is something all the UConn teams need to get use to.  SNY tried to use the same excuse for the UConn women today - but they still won by 41.  Was this a UConn Athletics Communication talking point today?

The travel sucks.  This is the only conference that wants UConn and clearly this is the conference the UConn administration wants to be apart of.  So this is something everyone will have to deal with for seasons to come - hell if the Huskies are invited to the Big Ten, ACC or the Big XII - travel will still be an issue - maybe not so much in the new ACC.

Speaking of the ACC - here is some food for thought and some revisionist conference realignment news, from speaking to an official within the UConn athletic department a year ago - from my understanding - UConn is an ACC-type school however turned down an invite to join the ACC in order to keep Big East Conference together.  Talk about getting screwed in the end for being loyal.
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Back to basketball...

So I am not going to panic and neither should Huskies fans.  It is only early January.  UConn has 17 games left - 10 home games - six in Storrs including the next three.  They still have home and away games against Louisville, Memphis and Cincinnati - Houston and SMU get to visit Gampel when the students are back in session.  It all starts with Harvard on Wednesday night.  If the Huskies can be the team that they are capable of being and if Shabazz and Boat play like the best backcourt in the country and if there is some life out of DeAndre Daniels, Omar Calhoun, and the frontcourt - then we are talking 14-3 in their final 17 regular season games or better.   OK, that's a lot of ifs.  However, I am sure Ollie can fix this sinking ship - if not it is NIT bound.

Thoughts - comments, concerns, questions, answers to my questions, think I am panicking or have no clue what I am talking about or think my conference realignment story is BS - comment below, email me at backinstorrs@gmail.com, or tweet me @backinstorrs.  Love to hear your thoughts.

Go Huskies!
Brian

Houston, We Have a Problem!

The last time UConn played in Houston, they were cutting down the nets after winning the National Championship in 2011.  They defeated Butler in Kemba Walker's final game.

Well fast forward to 2013, lots have changed.  Butler is in the Big East and conference realignment has officially changed basketball rivalries for the worst.  We end the year 2013 and begin the new chapter of UConn basketball in the American Athletic Conference.  2013 was not a good year for the University of Connecticut men's basketball team or even the football team - at least the women's basketball team and feild hockey team won NCAA National Championships.  However, the men's basketball team was banned from the 2013 postseason and saw the Big East Conference break apart, we got to witness what lays ahead in Houston tonight - and it sucks! (When was the last time you saw a major conference basketball game with under 1500 fans?)

Tonight's performance was awful!  You cannot start off games playing one-on-one and taking bad shots and not rebounding the basketball.  You need to get back on defense and rebound.  Everyone in the game needs to contribute in someway.  The second half was a different story as the Huskies came from 21 down to take a three point lead in the final minutes, but only see it quickly go back to Houston as they finished the game on a 7-0 run.  I am not totally surprised by this result as the Huskies have traditionally struggled in their road openers and they have had their weaknesses exposed in the non-conference schedule by lesser opponents.  I am proud of the team from coming back, but you cannot play in spurts.  If you are better than your opponent, they you need to prove it immediately.  Basically, they need to stop playing at the level of their competition.

Saturday's game at SMU is a must win!  The Huskies cannot afford to start the conference season 0-2 with games at Memphis and home against Louisville on the horizon.  Kevin Ollie needs get his team ready to play.  He cannot be outcoached a second game, this time by his mentor - Larry Brown. Ollie needs to learn from his coaching mistakes and will this team to win games - he needs to rely on those two former head coaches on his staff.  It started tonight with him taking the blame for the loss, but it showed with his benching of several key players.

Finally, the AAC needs to get better officials.  This is technically the old Big East.  Swallow those whistles in the final minute.  Olander's foul was not a foul with gave Houston the lead in the final ten seconds of play.   Let the players decide the outcome of the game.

Happy New Year!

Talk to you after the SMU game on Saturday - follow me on Twitter @backinstorrs.