Beating UConn is tall order
Before Turner Gill and Co. tee it up Friday in Detroit, there’s this small little basketball game taking place tonight back home on campus at the University at Buffalo.
Hard to believe a visit from No. 2 Connecticut and Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun could be any sort of preliminary, but that’s the odd feeling you get during these heady times in Amherst.
Has there ever been a two-day, two-sport stretch like this in local college history? Undefeated UConn in basketball at Alumni Arena, followed by unbeaten Ball State in football with a MAC title on the line at Ford Field.
This is exactly the kind of week former UB Presidents Steven Sample and William Greiner must have had in mind when the push toward Division I athletics got started during the 1980s.
The UB hoopsters (3-2) have certainly felt the buzz created on the football field and know they capture national headlines of their own by pulling off a colossal upset tonight.
“There’s a lot of spirit and enthusiasm that goes through the whole campus, and especially the athletic department, about just being able to feel good,” coach Reggie Witherspoon said after practice Wednesday. “The student-athletes can feel good about the things they have to endure that might not necessarily be fun but they can say, ‘We’re competing for something.’ ”
“This is going to be exciting, a game we’ve been waiting for and a chance to really put UB on the map,” said Bulls guard Rodney Pierce. “You have to try to approach it like a regular game. But everybody around here is upbeat, proud, excited and happy. It’s been a fun time.”
The Bulls are coming off an impressive 83-73 win over Temple on Saturday. But they’re facing an uphill climb — literally — against a Connecticut team that has a 7-0 record and features 7-foot-3 Tanzanian Hasheem Thabeet in a starting lineup that includes five upperclassmen.
“Hey, they’re human beings and basketball players just like we are,” said UB guard Greg Gamble. “I know they’ve got high rankings but that’s for fans. We come out here, we lace up and we’ll play whoever they put in front of us. When you play UConn, that’s a good opportunity.”
“This means a lot for the basketball community in Western New York to see a team ranked that high up close,” Witherspoon said. “You see them on TV, and on TV they’re 3-5 inches tall depending on how large your screen is. Then you see them in person and they’re really big and they move really fast.”
Through seven games, highlighted by wins over Miami and Wisconsin at the Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, Connecticut’s composite stat sheet borders on ridiculous.
The Huskies are averaging 84 points and allowing just 59.9. They’re hitting 50.3 percent from the field and hold foes to 37.6. They outre-bound their opponents by 9.6 per game. They have 110 assists and just 80 turnovers. UConn opponents have attempted 75 free throws — while the Huskies have made 156.
UConn starts three seniors in 6-7 Jeff Adrien and guards Craig Austrie and A. J. Price. Thabeet and guard Jerome Dyson are juniors.
“Sometimes you can catch a team at this level that’s really talented but they might be young,” Witherspoon said. “But this team is really talented and really experienced. You’re going to have to execute because they’ve seen everything.”
What can save UB? Well, Austrie and Dyson aren’t scheduled to fly here until late afternoon while finishing a class project so maybe they’ll be a little fatigued. And the Bulls do have some experience to draw from.
Gamble and Andy Robinson were sophomores when UB nearly beat second-ranked Pittsburgh in Alumni on Dec. 9, 2006. UB dropped that game, 70-67, after taking a 10-point lead with 14 minutes left.
“I definitely learned things from that game that we can input to this one,” Gamble said. “If we get a lead again, we have to put our feet on their throats. When it’s late, we’ve got to execute, not rush and shy away from the basket. We can’t play not to lose. We have to keep attacking.”
Pierce leads the Bulls in scoring at 17 points per game and Gamble is averaging 14 as well as a team-high 4.4 assists. Dyson leads five Huskies averaging in double figures at 16.7 points. Thabeet averages 13.6 points, 11.7 rebounds and four blocks.
There was a full house on hand for the Pittsburgh game two years ago. That may not happen tonight because some folks will already be on their way to Detroit. No matter. The noise will still be at a pretty high level because there’s never been as good a week to be a Bulls fan.
“The sense I feel around here is the students are really proud of our teams and our school,” Gamble said. “We’re finally getting exposure and now it’s time for the athletes to take advantage of that.”
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UConn came here in 2004 for NCAA Tournament wins over Vermont and DePaul in HSBC Arena en route to its second national championship. This will be the Huskies’ first trip to Buffalo for a road game since they lost to Canisius, 84-56, in Memorial Auditorium on Dec. 21, 1963.
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