The answer to how long UConn could sustain its improved play was quickly determined Tuesday.
Looking nothing like the team that had won the previous three, the Huskies were blown out at Memphis, 73-49, in American Athletic Conference men’s basketball at the FedEx Forum.
Playing without Terry Larrier, who was suffering from headaches, the Huskies didn’t have enough offensive weapons to make a game of it. But it was hard to imagine any one player making a difference. They couldn’t handle the ball with any competence, turning it over 17 times, and didn’t give themselves much of a chance, either, allowing Memphis (13-6, 4-2 in AAC) to snatch long rebounds and loose balls throughout the night. There were shot-clock violations, lane violations, a technical foul — if it could be gotten wrong, the Huskies (10-8, 3-3) did as their winning streak crashed at three.
“We just didn’t have the toughness tonight that it takes to win these type of games,” coach Kevin Ollie said. “We gave up 22 points off turnovers, outrebounded by 15, those toughness things that we’ve got to correct.”
This was the third time this season the Huskies built up some momentum and optimism, only to put forth an abysmal performance. They lost to Arkansas by 35 points on Nov. 26, at Auburn by 25 on Dec. 23 and now by 24 at Memphis after getting an impressive conference road win at Tulane only three days earlier.
Michael Parks Jr., 6-foot-8 and beefy, had 21 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs, for Memphis, and Jeremiah Martin also had 21 points and 11 rebounds.
“[Parks] just commanded the basketball,” Ollie said, “he carved out space. He got the ball wherever he wanted it.”
Freshman Josh Carlton had 15 points and nine rebounds, both career highs, but much of that production came with the game out of hand and Parks out of it. Same for Christian Vital and his 14 points. Jalen Adams had 11 points, two assists and four turnovers for UConn, nine of those points coming in the opening minutes.
“They took away Jalen, so we had to find other ways to score the ball,” Carlton said.
The night was typified on the stat sheet by UConn’s first-half rebound total — seven. It was typified to the eyeball by Vital’s back-to-back airballs early in the second half. If the Huskies believed they had a chance, it didn’t show. They looked beaten from the tap.
“I hope we had the right mentality [coming in],” Ollie said, “but on some plays it didn’t show. It has to show with the toughness, it has to show with the defense. We didn’t have the defense that we’ve been playing the last three games.”
The Huskies play top-ranked Villanova before a sellout crowd at the XL Center on Saturday.
Maybe Shabazz Napier can be dialed up via Skype?
The Huskies got word before the game that Larrier, their second-leading scoring and rebounder, would not be playing. Larrier, who took an elbow to the cheek against UCF last Wednesday, played at Tulane Saturday, but had been having headaches the last couple of days.
“Let’s face it,” said Memphis coach Tubby Smith, “Kevin Ollie and those guys are having a tough time over there. One of their starters didn’t start tonight. They looked like they were distracted by that.”
Without Larrier, Adams, coming off one of his best games at Tulane last Saturday, was absolutely smothered by Memphis’ defense, especially Martin. Adams missed eight of his last nine shots, and neither Vital (4-for-14), who was called for a second-half technical, nor Antwoine Anderson (0-for-6) provided support.
“We got off script early,” Ollie said. “They were denying [Adams] a lot, so we needed somebody else to step up and handle the basketball and make some shots. We didn’t get that tonight.”
Adams hit his first four shots, including a 3-pointer that pulled UConn within 13-9 with 13:21 to go in the half. In a slow-paced game, the Tigers slowly stretched their lead. A pair of Martin lay-ins made it 24-11 with 6:22 to go. Jamal Johnson’s jumper made it 32-18 with 1:19 to go, the last points of the half.
The Huskies didn’t score over the last 4:09 of the half, had 11 turnovers, and were outrebounded 18-7. That’s right, seven.
Johnson started the second half hitting a 3-pointer with a hand in his face to put Memphis up 17. As UConn missed 11 of its first 13 shots in the second half, the Tigers opened it up to 19, 22, 25 with 10 minutes to go.
The Huskies got a few more rebounds in the second half, but it was lights out.
“Trying to get the win is the most important thing,” Carlton said, “so I’m not really paying attention to personal stats.”
