Alright, alright, other than the television channel, this match-up has all the makings of a potential storybook finish to another fantastic week for Miami Hurricanes basketball.
The week started with Durand Scott's official decision to choose Miami over Connecticut (and Pitt!) on Wednesday, got better with a first-round Paradise Jam win on Friday over a solid Southern Mississippi team, and further improved when rumors started swirling Saturday over Jai Lucas' potential transfer from Gainesville to Coral Gables.
If Coach Haith's team does take down the #2 Huskies tomorrow, the Hurricanes are a definite candidate for VH1's Best Week Ever.
Connecticut, who barely squeaked by LaSalle with an eight-point victory on Friday night, did not look impressive as a whole in their 89-81 victory. One of the keys to stopping the Huskies is shutting down 7-3 junior center Hasheem Thabeet, who managed only nine points and seven rebounds in 30 minutes on the floor against the Explorers in their Paradise opener.
Unfortunately for LaSalle, forward Jeff Adrien picked up the Huskies frontcourt with 22 points and 14 rebounds in 39 (!) dominant minutes for Connecticut. The 6-7, 235-pound senior shot 8-16 from the floor and recorded 6 offensive boards to help lead his team to victory.
Another bright spot on the court for UConn was freshman Kemba Walker, a former teammate of Durand Scott's at Rice High (N.Y.), who recorded 23 points off the bench. It's the second straight 20-point game for Walker, who notched 21 in the Huskies 40-point blowout over Hartford earlier in the week.
Junior guard Jerome Dyson recorded 17 points for the Huskies and senior A.J. Price returned from an ankle injury to add 12 of his own in the victory.
Another key will be the role of bench depth for both teams; only one Connecticut non-starter saw major minutes on Friday, as compared to three who played over 20 minutes off Miami's bench. Coach Haith noted the Canes' ability to wear down Southern Miss with fresh bodies played a major part in their 10-point win.
Dwayne Collins, seven inches shorter than Thabeet, will have his hands full in guarding the Tanzanian center. Jimmy Graham, who recorded a few strong blocks against Souther Miss, will need to contribute his typical strong defense off the bench if the Canes hope to neutralize the Thabeet/Adrien frontcourt combo.
The importance of defense stretches to the guard position as well, where Jack McClinton and James Dews (with the help of Adrian Thomas) will have to slow down the Connecticut guards, especially Price and Walker. Neither are especially tall (Walker at 6-1, Price at 6-2), but both are great shooters.
Again, the Canes ability to stay fresh (and not just in orange kicks) on the court may play the most important role in Haith's gameplan. Cyrus cannot get into foul trouble early as he did against the Golden Eagles (eventually fouling out), and everyone is going to have to shoulder the load if the Canes hope to win. Even though nine players registered point for the Canes on Friday, the team will need more help from guys like James Dews (7 points) and Brian Asbury (6 points) if they hope to pull the upset.
Tomorrow is another exciting day in this magical journey we call 'Hurricane Basketball 2008-2009.' Hopefully when the final buzzer sounds against #2 UConn, the Canes will have the #1 spot secured on VH1's Best Week ever. If not...well hey, runner-up isn't too bad either, right?
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