NON-CONFERENCE SCHEDULE: Tonight’s game against Harvard wraps up UConn’s regular-season non-conference schedule for 2013-14. The Huskies are 11-1 against nonconference opponents this year, the only loss coming against Stanford. Since the 1998-99 national championship season, UConn is 169-27 (.862) against regular-season, non-conference opponents. During that time span, the Huskies have gone undefeated in their non-conference schedule four times. Under Coach Kevin Ollie, UConn is 21-3 against regular-season nonconference opponents. CEREMONIAL START: To mark the beginning of the American Athletic Conference, there will be a short ceremony before the start of the first conference home game for each men’s and women’s team. A special ceremonial ball will be handed to the game’s referee and a photo will be taken including both head coaches, each team’s captains and selected school administrators. As the schedule works out, the UConn men have already been part of two such ceremonies --- at Houston and at SMU --- and will be part of a third at Storrs (Jan. 11 vs. UCF). CALLED FOR TRAVELING: UConn is coming off a 17-day whirlwind of travel and games. On Dec. 19, the Huskies began with a bus trip to Boston’s Logan Airport for a plane trip acrosss the country to Seattle, Wash., for a Dec. 22 game against the Washington Huskies. The team flew back to Boston on the red-eye, arriving back in Boston on the morning of Dec. 23, then busing back to Storrs. The Huskies took a bus to Bridgeport on Dec. 27 to practice for their Dec. 28th home game at Webster Bank Arena against Eastern Washington, returning to Storrs after the game. On Monday, Dec. 30, UConn boarded a flight to Houston to play the Oct. 31 AAC game against the Cougars. On Jan. 1, the Huskies took another flight, this time to Dallas for the Jan. 4th game against SMU. Following the game on Saturday, Jan. 4, UConn flew back to Connecticut. In 17 days, the Huskies played four games, but traveled roughly 8,600 miles.
UCONN BASKETBALL ALL-TIME TRIPLE-DOUBLES Player
Date, Opponent
Shabazz Napier Shabazz Napier Kemba Walker Hasheem Thabeet Marcus Williams Ben Gordon Emeka Okafor Caron Butler Doron Sheffer Donyell Marshall
11/11/13 vs. Yale 14p, 11/20/11 vs. Coppin State 22p, 12/3/10 vs. UMBC 24p, 1/31/09 vs. Providence 15p, 2/21/06 vs. Notre Dame 18p, 12/20/03 vs. Iona 17p, 12/6/03 vs. Army 18p, 12/26/00 vs. URI 14p, 12/30/95 vs. Hartford 10p, 1/17/94 vs. Hartford 23p,
11r, 12r, 13r, 11r, 10r, 16r, 15r, 12r, 10r, 11r,
10a 13a 10a 10b 13a 11a 10b 11a 11a 10b
RPI RANK: In the Rating Percentage Index through games of Jan. 5, UConn is ranked No. 42 in the country. UConn is 1-1 against teams ranked in the top 50, 2-1 against teams in the top 50-100, and 4-1 against teams ranked 100-200. The Huskies are the fourth highest-ranked team in the American Athletic Conference, behind Cincinnati (26), Memphis (30) and Louisville (32). Other teams in the AAC, with their RPI as of Jan. 5: SMU (45), Temple (170), USF (190), Houston (200), Rutgers (214), and UCF (247).
the first half gave UConn a lead, but SMU came back to edge in front, 32-29. However, a free throw by junior DeAndre Daniels and a three-pointer by junior Ryan Boatright just before halftime put UConn ahead, 33-32, at intermission. In the second half, a 13-3 burst by SMU gave the Mustangs a 53-44 lead with 7:04 remaining, and UConn could not recover. Boatright led UConn with 15 points and 3 steals, while senior Shabazz Napier had 12 points and 5 assists, and Daniels had 11 points and 5 rebounds.
TOP 25: UConn is ranked among ‘Others receiving votes’ in both the AP Top 25 and USA Today Top 25 in the polls of Jan. 6. If the rankings were extended, UConn would be No. 31 in AP and No. 28 in USA Today. It is the first time the Huskies have dropped below the Top 25 after nine consecutive weeks ranked in the polls. Five of UConn’s 2013-14 opponents also appear in the AP Top 25 or ‘Others receiving votes.’ The
CONFERENCE OPENER: UConn had a disappointing start to its American Athletic Conference season as it fell at Houston, 75-71, on Oct. 31. The Huskies struggled mightily in the first half, falling behind by as many as 21 before heading to the locker room at halftime trailing by 46-28. But UConn opened the second half on a 21-3 run to tie the game at 49. The Huskies finally took a lead, 67-64, after back-to-back 3-pointers by Shabazz Napier and DeAndre Daniels, but Houston rallied in the final minute and clinched the game with four free throws. Napier led the Huskies with 27 points, scoring 25 in the second half, and 9 rebounds. Ryan Boatright had 19 points and 9 assists, while Daniels added 12 points.
longest consecutive streak for UConn to be ranked in the Top 25 is 77 weeks, a span from Nov., 1997-Jan., 2001. Consecutive Weeks in the Polls Streak Dates 1. 77 weeks Nov. 1997-Jan. 2001 2. 67 weeks Mar. 2003-Jan. 2007 3. 51 weeks Dec. 1993-Mar. 1996 VS. THE PAC-12: UConn played its second 4. 36 weeks Feb. 2008-Jan. 2010 consecutive opponent from the Pac-12 Conference Nov. 2010-Jan. 2012 when it traveled to Seattle and defeated 5. 28 weeks Washington, 82-70, on Dec. 22. That followed UConn loss to Stanford on Dec. 18, which broke a streak of 13 consecutive wins over teams from the Pac-12 (formerly Pac-10), since the Huskies bowed to UCLA, 102-96, in the 1995 NCAA West Regional Championship (Oakland). The Huskies are 18-3 overall against teams from the conference. Since the UCLA loss, UConn is 5-0 vs. Arizona, 1-0 vs. Arizona State, 5-0 vs. Washington, and 3-1 vs. Stanford. Besides the losses to UCLA and Stanford, UConn’s other loss to a Pac-12 team was at Arizona State, 74-69, on Dec. 3, 1982. Overall, the Huskies are 5-0 vs. Arizona, 2-1 vs. Arizona State, 2-0 vs. Cal, 0-1 vs. UCLA, 4-1 vs. Stanford, and 5-0 vs. Washington.
Stats
POWER TRIP: UConn owns a 5-1 record against teams from the so-called power conferences. The Huskies are 2-0 against teams from the ACC (Maryland, BC), 1-0 against the Big Ten (Indiana), 1-0 against the SEC (Florida), and 1-1 against the Pac-12. Under Coach Kevin Ollie, UConn is 8-2 overall against teams from the power conferences. LAST TIME OUT: UConn lost a second straight game for the first time this season as it bowed to SMU, 74-65, on Jan. 4 before a sellout crowd at the reopening of SMU’s Moody Coliseum. A 14-3 run midway through
NEW HOME VENUE: The Huskies played their first home game in a venue other than in Storrs or Hartford in 27 years when they hosted Eastern Washington before a sellout (9,274) crowd in Bridgeport’s Webster Bank Arena and recorded an 82-65 victory. UConn had difficulty pulling away from the stubborn Eagles, but used a balanced scoring attack to finally take control with about 6:00 left. Senior Shabazz Napier led five Huskies in double figures with 15 points and 9 assists. Junior Ryan Boatright (14), senior Niels Giffey (13), sophomore Omar Calhoun (12) and sophomore Phillip Nolan (a career-high 11) were the other Huskies in double digits. BOUNCING BACK: UConn rebounded from its first loss of the season with a victory in its first true road game, an 82-70 decision over
2013-2014 University of Connecticut Basketball Media Notes January 8, 2014 vs. Harvard UConnHuskies.com