[Cracked Sidewalks] UConn Preview

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UConn Preview
It's taken us a bit of time to get the UConn preview up and going, so it won't be as in-depth as we've done for previous games. Still no word yet on whether or not Dominic James will play today. Considering that we have beaten UConn the last two seasons, we're sure that Coach Calhoun has reminded his team and they will be fired up. Winning today will be a tall task even with DJ in the game.

Here are some quick links for the game

Rosiak's preview focuses on Maurice Acker
Rosiak's blog covers quite a bit of good info on UConn
Eric Silver has another good preview at MarquetteHoops.com

Top Five Numbers to Know about UConn. As always, information comes from Pomeroy's Scouting Report and Game Plan

39.1 - UConn's Offensive Rebounding Percentage (OR%)

    * The Huskies are #22 in the country at OR%
    * However, they are only 190 in the country at defending against Offensive Rebounding
    * It's basically like Marquette is playing themselves in this aspect, as we are #27 on offense and #225 on defense for OR%
    * Marquette has to get healthy on offensive rebounds

9 - UConn's national rating at effective Field Goal Defense

    * Much like facing Louisville, UConn does a great job at preventing their opponents from shooting a high percentage
    * A lot of this comes because UConn is #2 in the country at limiting 2-point field goals, only allowing opponents to shoot 37.2% from inside the three point line

2 - UConn's national rating at block percentage on defense

    * UConn gets a block on 20.5% of all defensive possessions
    * That's a block one out of every five times that an opponent tries to score
    * Maybe 7'3" Hasheem Thabeet has something to do with this?

30% - Minimum Free Throw Rate by an opponent in four of five UConn losses

    * Free Throw rate is Free Throws / Field Goals Attempted
    * Of course, UConn has only allowed opponents to get a FTR this high four times, which we're sure is highly related to that massive block percentage
    * In good news, Marquette has managed a FTR higher than 30% eleven times
    * In bad news, UConn is #7 in the country at getting to line for Free Throws as well.

35 - UConn's national rating at pace for the game

    * Uconn likes to push a quicker pace to their games at 72.5 possessions per game

Summary
UConn is strong in a lot of the same areas that Louisville was, such as blocks, limiting 2-point field goals, and limiting overall effective Field Goal %. However, they are not as strong on preventing offensive rebounds and they use a faster pace in their games. Watch to see which team does a better job of getting to the line. This one is going to be a tough game.

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