STORRS – Dan Hurley doesn’t like his centers shooting 3-pointers. Not until they’ve mastered the other typical big-man duties, like ball-screen defense, physical rebounding, being able to roll and put pressure on the rim.
But during Wednesday’s top-four showdown at Gampel Pavilion, No. 4 Arizona was begging for No. 3 UConn’s 7-foot-2 Eric Reibe, a prospect who showed promise with his jump shot before getting to Storrs, to take a 3-point shot. There were times in the first half where the freshman clearly thought about it and then turned down the shot, probably knowing Hurley would prefer a higher-percentage look, but he did take one before the break and missed from the wing.
The mindset appeared to switch in the second half of the Huskies’ 71-67 loss. Reibe took four shots from beyond the arc and made two, both coming in massive moments. The first helped slow Arizona’s run to go up by as many as 13 points out of the break, and the second completed UConn’s improbable comeback and tied the game at 60 with four minutes to play.
“I just wanted to get the best shot as possible for the team,” Reibe said. “In some situations I just might think that there’s a better shot for somebody else.”
Shorthanded UConn men fall to No. 4 Arizona 71-67 in top-five showdown at Gampel Pavilion
There was no better shot for anybody else, though it wasn’t exactly how Hurley drew it up, coming out of a timeout after Jaden Bradley had put Arizona up three with 16 seconds left. Silas Demary Jr. drove into the lane and dished in to Reibe down low for a layup to cut into the deficit, but the ball hung on the rim, taking about five dribbles before it fell off in the wrong direction. It could’ve been a three-point play to tie the game, but he ended up missing both of his free throws and the game was out of reach.
Still, thrust into the starting role against one of the more physical and talented frontcourts in the nation after Tarris Reed Jr.’s ankle sprain, UConn couldn’t have asked for much more from the rookie. Reibe finished with a team-high 15 points with four rebounds and a pair of blocks.
“He played like a dog, he really kept us in the game,” said Solo Ball. “Late in the game he really gave us a big run when he got that 3 and then a big rebound, he had so many plays throughout the game, didn’t even look like a freshman. That was the first thing I told him in the locker room before we even started the game, like, ‘I want you to come into this game just with the approach that you’re not a freshman. You’ve played big games already, played against BYU at TD Garden,’ and I mean, I’m so proud of this dude.”
With freshman phenom Koa Peat, 7-2 junior Motiejus Krivas and the forceful 6-8 Tobe Awaka, Arizona had too much frontcourt firepower for Reibe to overcome on his own.
“With Reed out of the game, we’re not gonna say it doesn’t change things. We know it changes things,” Arizona coach Tommy Lloyd said. “If you get a good hop, field it and turn two. And our guys found a way to do that.”
While he’ll be upset over falling short of “stealing” a big game, Hurley couldn’t help but smile at how close the Huskies came despite being without Reed – one of the best centers in the nation – and being dominated inside, 43-23 on the boards, 16-5 in second chance points and 42-24 in points in the paint.
“We should’ve been minus-10 on the glass (Wednesday),” Hurley said. “We got punked. It’s gonna be a bad film session coming out of here. There was a street fight going on in the paint and men can’t watch fights, you can’t stand on the outside when your buddies are in a fight. You get in the fight, you don’t stand on the periphery of a fight. I think we’re gonna see a lot of clips where guys were not in the fight with their teammates.
“And again, Tarris is one of the best rebounders in the country, there’s a lot of things that would not have went on in the game – paint defense, defensive rebounding, offensive rebounding – but I’ll say this: I don’t think I could be prouder of Big Eric.”
Injury update
Reed’s injury occurred late in Saturday’s win over BYU at TD Garden. But the news that he wouldn’t be available Wednesday didn’t come out until about 90 minutes before tip-off.
“It was pretty quiet on Sunday and then on Sunday night into Monday we didn’t really think much of it because he was kind of walking around in the post-game and he wasn’t in a boot or anything like that. I think we kind of thought he’d be available and then the medical (people) got a look at him and he’s gonna be game-to-game from this point with an ankle sprain,” Hurley said. “I believe we are the Basketball Capital of the World, but we’re also becoming the ankle sprain capital of the world and the muscle pull capital of the world. We’ve got to get this team on the court, we’ve got to get all of our weapons on the court.”
UConn has also been without highly touted freshman Braylon Mullins, who hurt his ankle in the offseason, but he is also considered game-to-game.
Next step for Stewart: Sustaining
Jaylin Stewart scored eight of his 10 points in the first half. He made three of his five shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers that kept the game tight. But he was relatively ineffective in the second half, playing only 10 minutes and adding two points.
“Jaylin’s biggest thing is cardio. He was awesome to start the game, but he gets tired,” Hurley said. “The next step for him is being able to sustain that. That should’ve been a 15-point game for him and it should’ve been a game that he played in the 30s minutes, but his cardio’s got to get better and he’s got to be able to sustain it because he’s such a talented player and he saved us in the first half because we had all types of foul trouble. I was shocked we were down two at halftime.”
High praise for Peat
Koa Peat, one of the many freshmen who’ve stormed onto the college basketball scene, scored 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting and had 12 rebounds and he and the Wildcats continued to add onto the most impressive resume of any team in the country to this point.
“The way he carries himself on the court, that guy, he plays like a 10-year NBA vet,” Hurley said. “He knows his identity, he’s all over the glass, he’s just a classy, classy player and he’s gonna be a great NBA player.”
