(PHOTO COURTESY OF USA TODAY SPORTS – MIKE DINOVO)
RJ Cole put UConn on his back and carried them to a tough road win at DePaul Saturday evening with a final score of 57-50, putting another win on a building five-game win streak.
The Blue Demons led at the end of the half and would have been leading by more if not for the heroics of RJ Cole. Cole finished the game with 25 points, an impressive but not staggering number. The more astounding fact is that more than 43% of UConn’s points came off of his left arm. He refused to let UConn fall to a team that was a bottom feeder in the Big East before their game, posting a measly record of 1-8 in conference play. Cole was nothing short of amazing; on a night, UConn desperately needed somebody to step up with the rest of the team, tallying a grand total of 0 three-pointers and shooting a hair over 30% from the field. UConn’s typically deep bench of Polley, Gaffney, Akok, and Hawkins could only muster 6 points to help the starters, a far cry from the 28 combined points they had in Tuesday’s win over Georgetown.
The first half felt like a fever dream to UConn fans. Sure, DePaul was expected to be a tougher contest than Georgetown, especially traveling on the road. Not one fan expected the team to be as ice-cold down low and from deep. Nobody could buy a bucket, but tough defense and good, not excellent rebounding kept them in the first half. Adama Sanogo jolted the team and the fans with a last-second layup to cut the deficit to one as the buzzer sounded to end the first half.
Ending the half with a bang!! @UConnCoachMora Do you need another QB?#ThisIsUConn | #BleedBlue pic.twitter.com/lHvzPNnBbx
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) January 30, 2022
A second-half schooling on the glass allowed UConn to build a slight lead and eventually pull away in the game in the waning minutes. Andre Jackson posted double-digit rebounds for the second time in four games, Adama Sanogo posted 8, and Tyrese Martin added on 6 to lead the UConn starters. In the second half, holding DePaul to 22 points was critical for UConn as they couldn’t ride their typically hot offense. The length of Jackson and Martin on the perimeter was hard to miss, as they were constantly disrupting passing lanes and creating turnover opportunities for the Huskies.
UConn will look to build on a solid defensive performance on Tuesday in Hartford against a sneaky good Creighton team that beat up on a nine-seeded Villanova earlier this year. UConn will need more scoring from players not named RJ Cole while they are looking to contest for a top seed in a surprisingly strong Big East Conference. The game will be televised on FS1 at 6:30, February 1st.
