For a while, it felt like an old time UConn game — the cold outside, the electricity inside a sold-out XL Center and the Huskies grinding it out against a top-flight opponent.
But 2017 raised its far less exciting face in the end, as Wichita State hit the crucial shots down the stretch to outlast UConn, 72-62, before 15,564 fans on Saturday. A crowd that came to erupt in support of UConn had to file quietly out the doors and into the cold.
“I expected UConn fans to be like they were,” said Wichita State’s Landry Shamet, who silenced them by going 5-for-6 on 3-point shots. “They came out in big numbers, loud and passionate. It was a cool atmosphere to finally get into conference play and get that first win.”
The Huskies were not overmatched by the 8th-ranked Shockers, or unprepared for them. They kept countering spurts with spurts, tying the game for the fourth time at 49 with 9:25 left.
But the 3-point shot is still not an effective weapon in the Huskies’ arsenal, and they spent much of the second half trading twos for threes. UConn took only 16 threes and made three of them; Wichita State took ’em, and made ’em, open or not, hitting 12 of 25
“We’ve got to limit that 3-point line,” UConn coach Kevin Ollie said after the game. “They can’t get 12 of those. But we’re just going to keep fighting. I thought [UConn’s] guys stayed in the middle of the ring and kept punching, and I’m very proud of their effort.”
Terry Larrier and Jalen Adams each scored 18, and Christian Vital had 17 for UConn (7-6), now 0-1 in American Athletic Conference play. Twice before in this season the Huskies showed that they could compete with this caliber of team, against Michgan State and Arizona, but both times they followed up with let-down efforts, against Arkansas and Auburn. Now, the Huskies continue on in AAC play with a game at Tulsa, a place they have never won, on Wednesday night.
“It’s definitely frustrating because we want to win games and it seems like we’re right there,” Vital said. “One play leads to run for them. But we’re going to stay together and we’re going to figure this out. If it’s now, if it’s later, we are going to figure this out. That, I truly believe.”
Said Larrier: “I think everybody played hard, and we’ve seen that we’re right there with these type of teams. We’ve just got to clean some things up.”
Wichita State (11-2), in its first game in the conference, got 16 points from Shamet. The Huskies had a slight rebounding edge at the half, but were killed on the boards in the second half, 27 to 12. Rashard Kelly had 11 points and 12 rebounds for the Shockers.
UConn, which shot 38.7 percent in the game, didn’t look much better on offense than in recent games, but the Huskies picked up the intensity and focus on defense, using a mix of zones, staying close throughout a grueling first half and holding Wichita State 37.5 percent shooting, 41.8 percent for the game.
Wichita State, ahead 7-2, went scoreless for nearly five minutes as UConn slowly riveted together a 10-0 run, taking the lead on a 3-pointer from the top of the key by Eric Cobb and finished the run with Adams’ jumper.
The Huskies were holding their own against the bigger Shockers on the boards, limited second-chance points. When Christian Vital got himself to the free-throw line and hit two, UConn led 18-12 with 8:57 to go in the half, the high-water mark.
Connor Frankamp created an open three for himself and made it to cut into the lead, and Wichita State regained the lead at 21-20 on Shamet’s three.
Both teams had problems scoring over the next few minutes, but Austin Reaves three-pointer gave the Shockers a 24-21 lead. The game opened up a bit as the half wound down, and Wichita State took a 33-29 lead to the break.
UConn turned up the pressure a little more to start the second half. Adams made a steal at the baseline and took it down the floor to the basket to tie the game at 35 with 15:59 to play.
Vital picked up a loose ball scored scored to give UConn the lead again, 43-42, getting the sellout crowd to its feet with 12 minutes left. But, again, Wichita State answered with threes. Shamet hit one to rebuild the four-point lead.
WSU led by six, and began going effectively inside to Shaquille Morris (nine points, five rebounds), but UConn came back again to tie it on a Vital basket, though he missed the and-one with 9:25 to go. The Huskies were outscored 23-13 from there, Frankamp’s three with 3:06 to go the effective “dagger” for the day.
“We’re still forming, new guys who’ve never been in this position,” Ollie said. “We don’t have seniors who have been through battles together. We’ve got to get better. It hurts, don’t get me wrong, because we’re right there, a couple of these games.”
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