LAWRENCE, Kansas — UConn chants rang out from the top corner of Allen Fieldhouse, and for a brief moment after the Huskies’ improbable second-half run to take the lead, it felt like this small but mighty group of Huskies followers might just turn Lawrence into Storrs Midwest.
It lasted about five seconds, before a capacity Jayhawk crowd overwhelmed them with a mixture of boos, Rock Chalk chants and this reverberating whistling sound not heard anywhere in arenas in the Northeast, like KU fans knew exactly what to do to not only drown out opposing fans, but to render them completely irrelevant.
UConn fought about as hard as an opponent can in Kansas’ basketball cathedral, which almost feels like a haunted hoops museum. In 20 years under Bill Self, the Jayhawks have only lost a mere 16 times in that building. The home court advantage, maybe the best of the nation, is real.
“Wish we would’ve played better. Credit a good team for that. Credit the environment,” UConn coach Dan Hurley said after the game. “We don’t go to many places as organized with fan involvement, so that was a heck of an environment and it rattled us for a while.”
It was evident in the first 10-plus minutes of the game, as Kansas raced out to a 16-5 lead and later went up 30-19. If it weren’t for Tristen Newton, who poured in 31 points in a first-team All-American-worthy performance, things could have gotten ugly.
Newton finished 10-for-18 from the floor and 6 of 9 from 3-point range. The rest of the Huskies shot 13-for-38. Cam Spencer in particular struggled, finishing 2-for-12 and 1-for-7 from 3-point range. Donovan Clingan, matched up against potential All-American Hunter Dickinson, was 3-for-8 with eight points.
As if sensing that his struggling teammates needed him to take over, Newton did, draining tough, contested three after tough, contested three. As he caught fire in the second half, it seemed like he couldn’t possibly drain another deep 3 with a hand in his face, and then he did, coolly busting out the ‘Call Me’ celebration in the midst of deafening Kansas chaos in the crowd.
“I mean, we’ve been in the national championship game so I feel like no crowd can really faze us,” Newton said. “And I’ve been in college for five years, so I’ve been a part of games like this, especially with UConn. I don’t feel like the crowd really affected us.”
Newton’s performance, even in a loss, might vault him up in some National Player of the Year conversations. He’s now averaging 17.5 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.3 assists per game. For what it’s worth, he’s ranked fifth in the KenPom.com National Player of the Year ratings, with Kansas’ Dickinson third and Zach Edey of Purdue in the top spot.
“Tristen carried us tonight,” Hurley said. “That was a virtuoso performance. I thought the program and our guys showed a champion’s heart, by putting ourselves in position to have a 3 and steal it and get out of here with a win.”
So UConn’s NCAA record-breaking run of 24 straight double-digit nonconference wins is over. It’s suffered its first loss since last year’s Big East tournament semifinals against Marquette. It was going to end sometime, and there’s no shame in it happening here.
In fact, the way the Huskies performed in the second half, clawing back from a double-digit deficit and winning the second stanza (34-31), in Allen Fieldhouse, without Stephon Castle, may say as much about the team as any win this season does.
“[Hurley] is a terrific coach, they’re sound, they play together, they seem like they like each other, they’re tough. And they played without Castle. That’ll be a team that can win a national championship at the end,” Self said after the game.
Though he didn’t explicitly say the Huskies are flying back to Connecticut feeling good after the game, Hurley struck an upbeat tone, too.
“We’re just like Kansas. At UConn we don’t do the moral victories or silver linings,” Hurley said. “I wish we would’ve played better … but I think this year’s team has a chance to be as good as last year’s team when we’re fully healthy and playing in March.”
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