As usual when it comes to UConn Huskies sports, this weekend was filled with important games, ranging from the men’s and women’s basketball teams, who each had games on Saturday, to the men’s hockey team, which completed its regular season on Saturday night. Read about all that and more in this week’s edition of Quick Hits.
Men’s basketball falls to No. 17/21 SMU at home; Adams hurt
Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie reacts toward an official in the first half of an NCAA college basketball game against SMU, Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017, in Hartford, Conn. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
The UConn men’s basketball team went to Hartford on Saturday afternoon to take on the No. 17/21 SMU Mustangs at the XL Center. The Huskies fell behind early after an onslaught of threes from SMU guard Shake Milton. To make matters worse, UConn lost star point guard Jalen Adams to injury late in the first half, making any comeback seem unlikely.
However, led by freshman Christian Vital, the Huskies made a run to cut the deficit to just five points with a few minutes remaining. SMU would take a timeout to slow the UConn charge and locked up on defense, making sure the comeback attempt was thwarted on the way to a 69-61 victory.
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Lawlor, Chong honored before Senior Day win
Connecticut’s Saniya Chong holds aloft a plague on senior day before the team’s NCAA college basketball game against Memphis in Storrs, Conn., Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017. Connecticut won the game 91-48. (AP Photo/Fred Beckham)
The women’s basketball team played their final home game of the regular season against the Memphis Tigers on Saturday afternoon, just hours after the conclusion of the men’s game. During the game, which was essentially over after the first quarter, sophomore Katie Lou Samuelson found her form after struggling over the last few games. Samuelson led all scorers with 29 points on 11-14 shooting in the Huskies’ 91-48 win over the Tigers, pushing the win streak to 103 games.
Seniors Tierney Lawlor and Saniya Chong were honored prior to the game as part of Senior Day festivities at Gampel Pavilion. Lawlor, a former walk-on and one of the team’s most enthusiastic players, got her first career start and could be the winningest player in college basketball history (along with Chong) with a career record of 154-1, so long as the Huskies remain undefeated this season.
Men’s hockey gets a weekend sweep, falls short of home game in Hockey East tourney
Junior forward Kasperi Ojantakanen (#23) brings the puck through the zone during Saturday’s game. (Zhelun Lang/The Daily Campus)
The UConn men’s hockey team completed a weekend sweep of New Hampshire, winning 5-3 and 4-2 on Friday and Saturday, respectively. On Saturday, the Huskies celebrated seniors Evan Richardson, Rob Nichols and graduate student Brian Morgan in their final home game of the season. Richardson, in particular, had an incredible spin-o-rama goal in Saturday night’s win, landing himself the No. 1 play in SportsCenter’s Top Ten.
Despite the sweep, the Huskies needed help from Vermont on Saturday to clinch a home spot in the Hockey East playoffs. Unfortunately, Vermont suffered a loss to Merrimack, meaning UConn will be playing on the road at Northeastern in next weekend’s opening round.
Baseball team drops two on the road at Texas
The UConn baseball team traveled southwest to take on the historically good Texas Longhorns this weekend and put in several good performances. The Huskies dropped the opener on Friday night 4-1, but would bounce back the next day. A fantastic start from pitcher Wills Montgomerie on Saturday afternoon helped the Huskies earn a 2-1 win over the Longhorns on the back of a two-RBI double from Isaac Feldstein in the top of the sixth inning. Montgomerie struck out a career-high 13 batters in the win. Unfortunately, UConn couldn’t bring home a series win, falling 9-3 in the finale on Sunday.
Chris Hanna is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at christopher.hanna@uconn.edu. He tweets @realchrishanna.