NH Register reporter says Wojo may be on the hot seat.
UConn’s bout with Marquette got a lot more intriguing after the Eagles beat North Carolina
By David Borges Feb. 26, 2021 Updated: Feb. 26, 2021 9:15 p.m.
Coach Dan Hurley and the UConn men’s basketball team will host Marquette on Saturday.
UConn has shown great improvement this season, but coach Dan Hurley will be the first to tell you his team isn’t in position to overlook any opponent on its schedule.
Still, up until a few days ago, it appeared the closest thing to a sure win left on the Huskies’ slate might be Saturday’s bout with Marquette (2:30 p.m., FOX) at Gampel Pavilion. The Golden Eagles have had a vastly disappointing season that’s included squandering an 18-point lead to UConn on Jan. 5 in Milwaukee, and head coach Steve Wojciechowski may be be on the hot seat.
Then came Wednesday night. In a hastily-arranged game put together after North Carolina’s scheduled bout with Boston College was postponed, Marquette flew down to Chapel Hill, N.C. and put an 83-70 beatdown on the Tar Heels.
1of2 James Bouknight and the UConn men’s basketball team will host Marquette on Saturday.Photo: Matt Slocum / Associated Press
2of2 Marquette’s Samir Torrence, second from right, and Greg Elliott (5) celebrate the team’s win over North Carolina on Wednesday.Photo: Robert Willett / Associated Press
The game accomplished numerous things. North Carolina fell on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble, per numerous “bracketologists.” UNC coach Roy Williams has been criticized for scheduling a game that would have gained the Tar Heels little with a win but cost them dearly with a loss, but Hurley understands his thinking.
“Especially this time of year, if you have a bye week or a week to 10 days off, you feel like your team is gonna get out of rhythm,” Hurley said. “I definitely get that point. As a competitor, you don’t want your team to lose its rhythm. They were playing so well going into that game. But again, the Big East is a tough league. These games are hard to win, you know? So, obviously that was a dangerous game to schedule.”
It also proved that even the bottom of the Big East is strong. Marquette (11-12, 6-10 Big East) sits in 10th place in the 11-team league’s standings, but had little trouble rolling over the fifth-place team in the ACC that’s battling for a tourney berth. And it helped UConn’s own NCAA tournament prospects, handing a setback to another bubble team.
Of course, it also made Saturday’s game all the more intriguing. Coupled with a 16-point shellacking of Butler on Feb. 17, Marquette has won two straight and appears finally to be getting things together. It certainly boasts talent, led by potential Big East Freshman of the Year Dawson Garcia, high-scoring guard D.J. Carton and rugged forward Theo John.
UConn (11-6, 8-6 Big East) has improved its NCAA tourney resume, winning three of its last four and rising to No. 32 in the NET rankings, No. 32 in KenPom and No. 29 in BPI. The conventional wisdom is that the Huskies are a tournament team right now, but any type of setback could hinder their chances. Losing to Marquette would be a Quad 3 loss for the Huskies, who already have a Quad 3 loss on their resume (Jan. 18 at home to St. John’s).
“Everybody knows what’s at stake here,” said Hurley. “It’s not like it was years ago. You can’t insulate anyone from the fact that this time of year, you’ve got to turn it up and perform.”
In that Jan. 5 game at Fiserv Forum, UConn trailed by 18 points in the first half and lost James Bouknight to injury. Bouknight hurt his left elbow when Marquette guard Koby McEwen fell on it while both were diving for a loose ball. Bouknight left the game late in the first half, returned for the second but seemed tentative and finished with a season-low six points. Tyler Polley bounced off the bench and picked up the slack, knocking down five 3-pointers for a career-high 23 points, and the Huskies won by 11.
“They outplayed us in the first half and the first seven minutes of the second half,” Hurley recalled. “We expect to see the team that was up 18 on us and pounded North Carolina.”
Bouknight had surgery a week later and missed the Huskies’ next eight games.
A win on Saturday would also enhance UConn’s chances of improving its seeding for the Big East tournament. Currently, the Huskies would be the No. 4 seed for the tournament and face the fifth seed (currently Xavier) in a first-round game. The winner would most likely face top-seeded Villanova in the semifinals.
Earning the No. 3 seed would pit UConn against the winner of the No. 6 vs. No. 11 game to start and allow the Huskies to avoid Villanova until the championship game.
Seton Hall (10-7 Big East) would currently be the No. 3 seed. UConn faces the Pirates on March 3 in Newark, N.J. in a game that will likely have huge consequences for both team in terms of both the Big East and NCAA tournaments. The Hall will end up playing two more league games than the Huskies this season, but UConn can overtake them for third place by virtue of winning percentage.
Of course, UConn could also fall to fifth place in the league standings if it trips up over these last few games and Xavier is able to overtake the Huskies for fourth.
RIM RATTLINGS
** Hurley was asked how many NCAA tournament bids the Big East is worthy of this season. He didn’t hesitate to answer.
“Six. I think there’s six teams that have proven themselves to be NCAA-caliber. We haven’t been able, as a league — maybe because of the differences in how COVID has been handled — to fatten up our non-conference record so we can manipulate the NET a little bit. It’s a heck of a league, when you look at what Marquette did (Wednesday) night. They didn’t just go on the road and steal one. From tip to finish, they dominated one of the better teams in the ACC that was playing for their NCAA life.”
** For what feels like the first time all season, Hurley reported his team was healthy and all players were ready to go on Saturday.
david.borges@hearstmediact.com
