UConn 99, DePaul 78: Wrapping Things Up from Gampel

STORRS – Some notes, quotes and thoughts from UConn’s win over DePaul.

It looks like DePaul is one of those teams that, whenever I hear how much better they are, I’m going to have to say, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”

They weren’t all that impressive tonight. Not much there on defense. But, of course, UConn, with its guards, is not a team you want to rely on pressure to beat. Ryan Boatright promised “layup city.” And he delivered again and again.

Boatright scored 22, and was the subject of Jeff Jacobs’ column off the game, which will soon be on our main website.

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DePaul coach Oliver Purnell suspended two starters, Charles McKinney and Donnavan Kirk, for breaking team rules. He said it would in all likelihood be just one game.

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UConn is averaging 8.3 steals per game. The Huskies had 10 more in this game and scored 28 fast break points, 20 off turnovers. Here is the main game story for the Wednesday Courant.

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How about UConn’s rebounding? A 17 to 2 start and 49 to 29 finish. Ollie used a new “three box-out drill” that got players in the habit of hitting first, instead of just turning and trying to out jump the other guy. “It just broke down the box out to its finest points,” Tyler Olander said.

Have to save something to write tomorrow, and this will be the topic. UConn had 30 rebounds in the first half, more than their total in six different complete games.

More on the game, the notebook and the box score, will be up soon on our main website.

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Here is Kevin Ollie’s take on the game. He was very good on DeAndre Daniels, who bounced back from that tough night in Milwaukee to score 26 and grab eight rebounds.

And here are some great pics from Rich Messina.

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You’re not supposed to shoot on the last possession of a blowout, but Leon Tolksdorf put in a rare bucket. “In my heart I was saying, ‘go Leon,’” Ollie said.