TheRoundUp 1/23: UConn searches for answers to basketball woes

Kevin Duffy: It's up to Alex Oriakhi to turn the corner - Connecticut Post
Part of the drop-off is simple logic: Andre Drummond's full extension reaches a higher point than virtually every other player in college basketball. If a ball bounces 13 feet in the air, Drummond is capable of grabbing it. Oriakhi (and the rest of the world) has to wait for it to drop a bit. But there's an extra effect there. Less opportunity often yields diminished confidence. And when confidence sinks, free-throw percentage goes down, easy buckets rim out and easy passes are mishandled. Every move becomes over-thought. The fun of the game is often lost, as well.

UCONN MEN: Big men need to come up bigger for Huskies- The Register Citizen
"I was talking to (CBS analyst) Greg Anthony before the game, and he said, ‘Who do you know, night-in, night-out, is going to give you what you want?’" Jim Calhoun said after Saturday’s loss. "I said, ‘The two guards will give us a great effort …"

UConn Men Feeling Ryan Boatright's Absence - Courant.com
But the reality is Boatright sits and waits, and the NCAA offers no explanation as its mills grind slowly, mysteriously; UConn remains silent, as its officials feel they must rather than risk antagonizing the NCAA; fans are tweeting their frustration using the hashtag #FreeBoat. And the season hangs in the balance. Boatright spoke with NCAA investigators late last week and, with a full week before the Huskies play again, vs. Notre Dame on Jan. 29 at the XL Center, they can hope — hope — to have their team intact for the last 11 games.

The New Haven Register Blogs: UConn Men's Basketball Blog: Rocky Top, Rocky Times for UConn Right now
Napier's not going to get on the big men too much. "I’m supposed to, but they’ve been getting yelled at all day," he said. "I’m not going to yell at them. I’m going to tell them the truth: they need to score more and rebound more. But there’s a lot of things I need to do better. I need to be a better leader, a better scorer, a better distributor. Just because they had two bad games, they’re going down there and working hard. Everybody has to play better."

UConn Football Coach Paul Pasqualoni Talks About Joe Paterno - Hartford Courant
UConn Coach Paul Pasqualoni, a member of the 1972 Penn State graduating class and a walk-on linebacker for the Nittany Lions talks about former PSU coach Joe Paterno who passed away early this morning. Paterno was Pasqualoni's coach. Here's what Pasqualoni had to say today about the impact Paterno had on his life and career.

Mosqueda-Lewis, UConn women rock DePaul - Connecticut Post
The philosophy for elite shooters is simple. Shoot yourself out of a slump. Do not get tentative offensively. Mosqueda-Lewis came out firing again against No. 21 DePaul Saturday. It didn't take her long to put her difficulties behind her. She scored 18 of her career-high 25 points in the first half to lead the Huskies to an impressive 88-44 victory over DePaul before a sellout crowd of 4,001 at McGrath-Phillips Arena.

No. 21 DePaul Falls Hard To No. 3 UConn, 88-44 | Fox News
The Huskies (17-2, 6-1 Big East) had won their previous four by an average of 44.5 points, and this one never was in doubt, either. They jumped out to a big lead in the opening minutes and snapped DePaul's 28-game home winning streak.

UCONN WOMEN: Challenging stretch speeds up learning curve for Huskies (video)- The Register Citizen
"You have the Villanova thing which is unlike anything and then you have to regroup right away with the Carolina thing," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "Then you have to regroup and all of a sudden it is two conference games where one team is trying to use the whole 30-second clock like Cincinnati did and DePaul is trying to force the tempo every chance they get. After that, you only have one day between all of those games to practice and get ready.