NCAA Tournament: A Quick Look at the UCONN Huskies

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In preparation for Thursday’s night game against UCONN, I’m going to go through a couple quick facts about the UCONN Huskies.  ClonesConfidential.com will have more coverage leading up to the game throughout the days leading up to Thursday night.

– The UCONN Huskies finished the season 20-13 overall and 8-10 in the Big East.  That wouldn’t be bad for an average team, but UCONN fans have been disappointed with the season so far.  Especially considering they won it all last year and entered the season as a top 5 team.

– Despite their average play (for UCONN standards), they still have two of the projected top 5 picks in this year’s NBA Draft in Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond.

– Jeremy Lamb 6’5 shooting guard with a huge wingspan (7’1).  He was a major role in last year’s trip to the Final Four, but was often overshadowed by Kemba Walker.  Lamb is averaging 17.7 points, 5 rebounds, and shoots 48.1% from the field.  Chris Babb has a tough task in front of him.  I’ll go more in depth for that matchup in the next couple of days.

– The other, Andre Drummond, is projected to the second overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.  Drummond was considered the number one recruit coming out of high school last year.  The 6’11 freshman center averages 10.2 PPG and 7.7 RPG.  Drummond is incredibly athletic and will be a tough matchup for the Cyclones inside.

– Besides those two, UCONN still has plenty of more talent.  Point guard Shabazz Napier is one of the best in the nation.  Napier averages 12.7 points and 5.8 APG.  It will be interesting to see how the Cyclones are going to guard Napier.

– The names keep rolling.  Ryan Boatright and Alex Oriakhi are two names you may remember if you watched the Huskies play this year.  Boatright is third on the team in scoring at 10.5 per.

– Legendary coach, Jim Calhoun, missed eight games this year.  In that time, the Huskies went 3-5.  Having Calhoun back on the bench provides an extra spark for the UCONN players.

– It is going to be a tough game for Iowa State, but if there is a weakness that the Cyclones can take advantage of. it is UCONN’s 3-point defense.  Connecticut has the worst 3-point defense in the Big East.  Good news for the Cyclones.

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