UConn Basketball makes defensive statement in 79-60 win over Butler
To quote the well-spoken Mike Tyson, everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.
The fifth-ranked UConn basketball team (11-1, 1-0) had a plan heading into its game against Butler (8-3, 1-1) on Tuesday – neutralize the uber-efficient scoring duo of Finley Bizjack and Michael Ajayi with its top 10 scoring defense.
It took over eight minutes – and two not so pleasant Dan Hurley media timeout huddles – for that plan to go into full effect. The Bulldogs jumped out to a seven-point lead within the first three minutes (with Ajayi and Bizjack the catalysts) and kept the Huskies at arm’s length until the 12 minute mark with sticky on-ball defense.
But Connecticut rallied behind its four scorers, who combined for all 39 of the Huskies’ first half points and 58 of their total, separating from the Bulldogs before halves’ end in a 79-60 win to improve to 3-3 in Big East openers under Hurley.
A lob from Silas Demary Jr. to Tarris Reed Jr. on the game’s first possession set the table for what would become a personal dunk contest inside PeoplesBank Arena.
The Huskies would be held scoreless for the next three minutes, however, as Butler built a 9-2 lead backed by a Bizjack 3-pointer and a pair of baskets from Drayton Jones before the first media timeout, punctuated by an Efeosa Oligou-Elabor transition slam. UConn had as many turnovers (4) as attempted field goals and had already surrendered three assists on four baskets.
“That was an unacceptable way to start a game,” Hurley rued post-game. “And they heard about it in the huddle. I liked our response.”
On the first possession out of the media timeout, Oligou-Elabor dribbled the ball off his foot out of bounds – turnover No. 1. Alex Karaban snapped the Bulldog run with a layup on the ensuing possession before Solo Ball rattled off five in a row to tie the game at 11 before the under 12 timeout of the first half.
It was the start of a career day for Ball, who finished with 26 points, five rebounds and two assists on an 8-of-14 mark from the field.
“The first thing I did today was get a block, I was really trying to focus on my defense today,” Ball said. “When I took my mind off scoring, I didn’t have to worry about how many points I’m putting on the board, I was just out there playing and having fun.”
Ball hit on 3-of-6 3-pointers and paired his opening frame block with a steal to round out his most complete stat line of the season.
The sharpshooting junior wasn’t the only one focused on his defense, though. The entire Husky front, which allowed Butler to hit on five of its first eight field goals, held the Bulldogs to a 1-of-7 mark through the next four minutes as it claimed Connecticut’s first lead of the night off a Reed post-up down low.
Reed chipped in 16 points, five defensive rebounds and three blocks on the low post, acting as the vanguard of a salty UConn defensive unit. The Huskies blocked a season-high 13 shots and climbed from No. 8 to No. 4 in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency metric.
“I think today we really hung our hat on the defense and the rebounding,” Ball said. “That kept us in the game and kept the lead at what it was.”
Braylon Mullins’ first triple of the night on the next possession was answered by a Jones and-one – what would be Butler’s last glimpse at a single-point deficit.
Ball chipped in another five, including a transition 3-pointer that forced a Thad Matta timeout.
“I know they’ve lost a game, but damn they’re good,” Matta said. “When you make mistakes, they make you pay. You take a bad shot, they score. Don’t go rebound the ball, they come up with it.”
It didn’t get much better out of the timeout. Mullins missed a pull-up jumper, ran down the court, intercepted a Bulldog pass, sprinted to the opposite wing and drained a 3-pointer that ignited the PBA crowd.
Bizjack ended the Husky run with a 3-pointer of his own, which had spanned 16 points in less than four minutes. It was Bizjack’s second make of the first half and last of the game. The junior wing, who coming into the day averaged 18.8 points, was held to 7 points on 2-of-9 shooting and recorded a season-low -25 +/-.
Hurley gave Demary, who left freshman point guard Azavier Robinson to Ball to switch onto Bizjack, the credit.
“That kid coming here changed our identity,” Hurley said of his point guard. “He changed our defense completely, just as being a player that is a ballhawk.”
Demary guarded Bizjack from baseline to baseline and grabbed a steal and a block in the process.
Eric Reibe spelled Reed off the bench and contributed two blocks and four rebounds within his first four minutes. The freshman center recorded only one foul in his 18 minutes of action and coupled that with four blocks and seven rebounds.
Connecticut took a 39-25 lead into the break, holding Ajayi and Bizjack to a combined 11 points and 4-of-12 mark from the field.
The Huskies stretched and pried their lead to as many as 23 in the second half, punctuated by a Jayden Ross transition slam that gave UConn its first 20-point lead of the night.
Ross came alive in the second half, scoring all 13 of his points in the back 20 while snagging four straight offensive rebounds to bring his total to eight.
Ross’s top play of the night came off a Husky miss, funny enough. After a Ball 3-pointer caromed off the rim, Ross leaped from the opposite side of the hoop to reverse slam an offensive board with one hand.
But it felt like the Huskies never fully closed out the pesky Bulldogs. A 23-point lead quickly shrunk to 14. From 14 it grew to 18 before fluctuating back down to 11.
“I wish there was more killer instinct,” Hurley said. “A killer puts a team down, buries a team. We had chances to do it.”
A Reibe alley-oop from Demary followed by an Ajayi turnover was the ultimate dagger, however. The Bulldogs had gone a ghastly 5-of-36 from the field from the final four minutes of the first half to the under eight of the second half. It hit on just 18-of-61 field goals on the night and turned the ball over 10 times. Ajayi and Bizjack combined for 15 points on 5-of-21 shooting, contributing half of the team’s turnovers.
Connecticut held Butler without a field goal for the final 2:05 and emptied its bench with three minutes remaining.
The Huskies will next be in action when they fly to DePaul on Sunday, Dec. 21 to take on the Blue Demons in Chicago.
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