Team #90 - UConn

On Tuesday December 21st, 2021, I saw my 90th Division One College Basketball team. On this occasion, I saw the UConn Huskies take on the Marquette Golden Eagles. UConn is the 8th team that I have seen out of the Big East. The Huskies come in off a 57-53 loss at home to Providence on Saturday. UConn played this game without Center Adama Sanogo. Sanago missed his fourth straight game with an abdominal injury. RJ Cole has lead the Huskies in scoring this year, averaging 16 PPG. Marquette comes in off an 80-71 loss at Xavier also on Saturday.  The Golden Eagles played Xavier tough the whole game but ultimately did not have enough scoring to overcome Xavier.  Justin Lewis continues to be the leading scorer for Marquette, averaging 15.3 PPG.  Marquette would be without Darryl Morsell for this contest who was out due to health and safety protocols.  

The first half of this contest was very exciting. Neither team would separate from the other at all during the half. Marquette fueled by many great passes by Tyler Kolek, would lead for most of the first ten minutes. Kur Kuath played one of his better offensive stretches of the season and would have eight early points. All of these points were easy layups at the rim. UConn played a very aggressive style of defense. They would typically double team the ball handler as he came off the screen. Tyler Kolek, who is currently the leading assist man in the Big East, took full advantage of this and found many open shots for his teammates. The rest of the first half however was the RJ Cole and Tyrese Martin show. The two combined for 14 of UConn's 21 points over the last ten minutes of the first half. Both were able to get to the rim at will. I was really impressed with the play of Martin. He seems to be the guy who will fill the void left by James Bouknight going to the NBA. The Huskies tried to pull away and lead by as much as seven with a minute left in the first half. Marquette managed to get a few key defensive stops followed by some huge shots by Justin Lewis and Olivier-Maxence Prosper. With just 30 seconds left in the first half, Marquette found themselves down three. The crowd at the Fiserv Forum was rocking. Unfortunately, for the Marquette faithful, Tyrese Martin would hit a three at the buzzer to send UConn into the half with a six point lead. Martin would be the leading scorer in the first half with 15 points. Justin Lewis was the leading scorer for Marquette with nine points.

UConn maintained the momentum from the first half into the second half. For the first part of the half, they lead by seven or so. However after the ten minute mark, Marquette really locked in on defense and tried to make a game of it. During this stretch, I thought that Olivier-Maxence Prosper played one of his better stretches. He would have a season high 13 in this game. Marquette had many chances to tie this game down the stretch but did not make shots. The game would have been tied at 67 with just about three minutes to go, but Kua Kurth back-rimmed a wide open dunk attempt.  From this point on, UConn would go on a 7-0 run to all but seal the game. UConn won the contest 78-70, but the game was much closer than the final score indicated. As previously mentioned, Tyrese Martin and RJ Cole both played great games. Martin finished with 25 points and Cole chipped in 20 points. Justin Lewis lead the way with 20 for Marquette. The one thing Marquette will pride themselves on all year is the effort they give. They may not be the most talented team in the country, but they sure do try hard and give good effort. I think everyone in the arena knew that UConn was the more talented team. Major props to Marquette for keeping it close the whole way. I think a lot of their Big East games will go like this. If a team has a bad night, they might win a game they shouldn't. If healthy, UConn has a very good chance to win the Big East this year. 

My next game will be Thursday December 23rd as I head to Madison to watch the Wisconsin Badgers take on the George Mason Patriots. So much for this game as it would get canceled due to Covid. My next scheduled game is December 30th as I head to Northwestern to see them take on Prairie View A&M. At this point I have my doubts this game will happen. Prairie View A&M just canceled a contest against Valpo scheduled for Tuesday.

And just like that the Prairie View-Northwestern game is cancelled. My next games are January 15 as Marquette takes on Seton Hall followed by IUPUI taking on Milwaukee. If anyone cares the night cap is Raptors-Bucks.