UConn game thread Dec 18

[muskieman]

Yeah, it was a loss, but these guys, without Zach, fought hard and deserve a standing O before the next game starts

[skyhops]

Watched late and dvr ran out with a few minutes in OT. Very encouraged with our effort and play with Maddox, Conwell, and McKnight. We win that game with a big or two. We are too small defensively against UConn with their size and shooters but we held our own. I can’t stand Hurley.

[connecticut72]

Just got home from the game and it was a terrific game. Great atmosphere. I am not into moral victories but I was so proud of our effort and our team tonight. Sean was great with his rotations and as you all said Maddox, Conwell, and McKnight were out of sight. I agree with all the comments expressed by you all. The big difference was trying to match their size down low particularly trying to cover their bigs off middle ball screens. They killed us with there offensive rebounding. Hugely in person is tough to watch. He is lost on ball screens and the worse part is he does not rebound. Sean gave him plenty of minutes tonight. Probably more than he deserved. Swain needs to step it up. I can’t imagine we can shoot like we did tonight in every game but I have renewed hope that we can be competitive. Our margin of error is just so small but what a great night. Go X!!!

[skyhops]

Swain and Hughley were no shows as usual. We have not won against a top 25 team in two yours. That has to be a Xavier record.

[bluegrass]

I wish the refs had swallowed their whistles on that UCONN foul with 9 seconds left.I would rather have taken my chances on a game ending 3 pointer.Ran out of gas in OT.Encouraged by the effort but are we going to shoot that well every game? We had three guys with career highs and still lost. That hurts.Hopefully Maddox and McKnight keep it up . The lack of rebounding and interior defense is going to be an ongoing issue.I think more often than not we will win if we hit 13 3's.Swain scored our first basket and that was it.Need to figure out what he can do.I was hoping he'd be like Claude and drive to the basket and score or get fouled.

[skyhops]

I've seen Swain play in college a few times and he really hasn't improved since. He doesn't have that dog in him to play complete games and rebound like a 6'8" SF. I still can't figure out how Miller saw potential in Hughley especially when he was 60lbs overweight, he is awful. We really needed to keep one of the bigs from last year or added another because Hunter and Hugley are not good enough.

[Kevin Reilly]

I think we need to give a lot of credit to Miller and his staff for getting the team ready to play like that without Freemantle vs UConn on the road. Maddox was outstanding. So were Conwell and McKnight. Our front court combined in 68 minutes for 11 points and 8 rebounds. We really competed the whole game. We still haven't figured out how to finish games. Too many turnovers and we need to stay aggressive on the offensive end.

[Anti-Homer]

I think we need to give a lot of credit to Miller and his staff for getting the team ready to play like that without Freemantle vs UConn on the road. Maddox was outstanding. So were Conwell and McKnight. Our front court combined in 68 minutes for 11 points and 8 rebounds. We really competed the whole game. We still haven't figured out how to finish games. Too many turnovers and we need to stay aggressive on the offensive end.

Agreed.

Miller and staff had a good game plan for both UConn & MQuette. It shows that they still have a lot of talent, even without Free. Unfortunately, Hugley continues to disappoint.