Jim Calhoun has beaten cancer three times. Once, during a bike race, he hit a pothole, flipped over his handlebars, broke some ribs and responded by getting back on his bike and finishing the race. To date, he has returned not one dime of his salary to the state of Connecticut, because he'd like to retire one day. The point is, Jim Calhoun "doesn't get defeated by things," and spinal stenosis is on the list of things he will not get defeated by, according to a report from Andy Katz:

"There's no question [I'll be back]," Calhoun said by phone. "I've talked to the people at UConn and president (Susan) Herbst. I just want to get a resolution on my back."

However, he will not be back in time for Saturday's game at Syracuse, meaning the Huskies will once again be in the hands of George "what's a timeout" Blaney. That might not bode well since Syracuse is, you know, good, but Blaney does have experience beating top five teams when filling in for Calhoun -- two years ago he led UConn to a win over then-No. 1 Texas. And no, I don't remember how that season ended, why do you ask?

Lamb off, UConn loses at No. 24 Louisville - Norwich, CT - The Bulletin
Freshman Ryan Boatright led the Huskies (15-8, 5-6 Big East) with 18 points. Fellow freshman Andre Drummond went scoreless, missing all six shots. "He had a freshman night," Blaney said of Drummond’s performance.

UCONN MEN: Huskies crumble in second half, get blown out by Louisville- The New Haven Register - Serving New Haven, Connecticut
The second half of Monday’s game was simply the worst 20 minutes of basketball UConn (15-8, 5-6 Big East) has played in quite some time. The Huskies couldn’t do anything right — getting badly outrebounded on both ends of the floor, failing to grab loose balls, misfiring on one shot after another, making a parade of bad passes and allowing more passes to bounce off their hands than New England Patriots receivers did the night before.

Jeff Jacobs column: UConn offense struggles against Louisville, and team quits in second half. - Courant.com
Yet here's a less emotional, more analytical point to consider. If UConn doesn't do something about its offense, it's going nowhere. The ball movement is not good. The inside-outside game seems nonexistent.

Without Calhoun, rudderless UConn drifting out of NCAA picture - NCAA Division I Mens Basketball - CBSSports.com News, Scores, Stats, Schedule and RPI Rankings
But I am not an optimistic man, and this didn't feel like merely one bad game. It felt like I was watching a team that's leaderless and heartless and -- with Jim Calhoun on an indefinite leave of absence for health reasons -- in no position to get things turned around. It felt like I was watching a team that has quit in every way possible. The Huskies looked selfish and disinterested. They might've been pissed off but they didn't seem pissed off. They seemed apathetic.

Defending champ UConn in danger of missing NCAA tourney | The Dagger: College Basketball Blog - Yahoo! Sports
Quality wins over Florida State, Harvard, Notre Dame ensure the Huskies would make the field of 68 if the season ended today, but a difficult upcoming schedule suggests it's no guarantee they do a month from now. UConn still has two games against Syracuse and home games against Marquette and surging Pittsburgh, meaning that even getting to 9-9 in the Big East will be challenging.

The New Haven Register Blogs: UConn Men's Basketball Blog: Worst 20 Minutes I've Seen from UConn
"I’ve never given up at any time in my life," said Boatright, about the only Husky to show up on Monday with a game-high 18 points, five assists and four steals. "I’ve been in bad situations and pressure situations and real low points in my life, and I’ve never given up … If I’ve got to be the one to take that role, then I’m going to do it."

Louisville crushes UConn, 80-59 - BostonHerald.com
With Jim Calhoun still out, the Huskies’ performance could not have made him feel any better. They rallied, appeared to handle the Cardinals’ press, and led briefly midway through the first half, but were outscored 35-10 over the last minute of the half and the first 14 minutes of the second. Unable to make shots from any distance, particular three-point range, where they missed 13 of their first 15 attempts, the Huskies’ poor offense was able to ignite the Cardinals’ running game. Louisville eventually built a 30-point lead.

If you're like me and were more than ready to overreact to a two-game UConn winning streak that came against teams missing a key player, I have some bad news: Gorgui Dieng is expected to play tonight, so UConn is going to have to earn this one.

Louisville is probably my least favorite Big East opponent. Their press is frustrating to play against (and UConn's lack of depth in the backcourt isn't going to help) and when they get into the halfcourt they switch to an annoying zone. If UConn struggles to break the press and continues to falter from outside-- both are real possibilities since the Cardinals have one of the top 10 defenses in the country according to Ken Pomeroy -- this could be a long night.

UConn will once again be starting their three-guard lineup, which I'm all for, and the trio will be joined by Andre Drummond and Tyler Olander, whose starting spot is a reflection of his passing skills and zone-breaking ability.

This is also game two without Jim Calhoun, the Huskies traditionally do well under George Blaney in short bursts, but the longer Calhoun is away from the team the more likely it is that everything will go to pot. Let's hope enough of Calhoun's magic influence is still with the team.

The optimist in me is staying focused on the positive attitudes on display against Seton Hall and is hoping against hope that this is the start of UConn being what we all hope they could be. The realist in me looks at Louisville and sees a talented and aggressive team that has won four in a row after a rocky start to their Big East schedule. A win would be great, especially with a road trip to Syracuse looming.

The game tips off at 7 from the KFC YUM! Center. ESPN and ESPN3 will have your tv coverage, and we'll be discussing it in the comments here. Join us. Go Huskies.

Welcome to the Big East Basketball Power Rankings. Every week from now through the end of the regular season the editors of SB Nation's Big East blogs will cast their vote in an attempt to measure the current state of the Big East. The results are below. This feature runs on Mondays, in theory.

Once again there is no question about the top team in the league -- Syracuse has a stranglehold on the No. 1 spot and with Fab Melo back in the fold its tough to picture the Orange slipping very far. Georgetown took a strong hold on the second spot, and Marquette slipped to third somehow staying above Notre Dame despite getting pounded by the Irish 76-59.

But the team that really interests me is Pittsburgh. They were 16th two weeks ago, but then Travon Woodall returned from injury and the Panthers have caught fire. Pico from Rumble in the Garden said it was like watching an NBA team pull off a lopsided mid-season trade, and he's not wrong.

Homer of the Week No one was blatant enough to earn this, though Voodoo Five and Cardiac Hill both came dangerously close by listing their teams at 8. Still, those are respectable rankings confirmed by other voters, but it all feels a bit fishy to me. Hater of the Week goes to anyone who thinks Marquette should be ranked higher than Notre Dame. To be fair to Casual Hoya and On The Banks, they submitted their ballots early this week so they have an excuse. No one else does.

We'll see you back here next week.

1. Syracuse (12) (23-1, 10-1): 192 points -- Last week: 1

2. Georgetown (18-4, 8-3): 179 points -- Last week: 3

3. Marquette (19-5, 8-3): 162 points -- Last week: 2

4. Notre Dame (15-8, 7-3): 161 points -- Last week: 4

5. Louisville (18-5, 6-4): 142 points -- Last week: 6

6. West Virginia (16-8, 6-5): 128 points -- Last week: 5

7. Cincinnati (16-7, 6-4): 118 points -- Last week: 8

8. UConn (15-7, 5-5): 112 points -- Last week: 7

9. South Florida (13-10, 6-4): 92 points -- Last week: 9

10. Pittsburgh (15-9, 4-7): 88 points -- Last week: 14

11. Seton Hall (15-8, 4-7): 71 points -- Last week: 10

12. Rutgers (12-12, 4-7): 56 points -- Last week: 11

13. Villanova (10-12, 3-7): 53 points -- Last week: 12

14. St. John's (10-13, 4-7): 43 points -- Last week: 13

15. DePaul (11-11, 2-8): 19 points -- Last week: 15

16. Providence (13-11, 2-9): 17 points -- Last week: 16

Individual ballots are after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

The New Haven Register Blogs: UConn Men's Basketball Blog: A Look at UConn's Card Game
Indeed, the Cardinals love to press and run under Rick Pitino, and also largely employ a 2-3 matchup zone. UConn will counter with the three-guard starting lineup it unveiled against Seton Hall, along with Tyler Olander -- its best passing big man -- at the four. Louisville has won four straight, though not exactly against the iron of the league (at Pitt and Seton Hall, home against Villanova and Rutgers). It averages 9.5 steals per game, second in the Big East and sixth in the nation, and holds opponents to just 37-percent shooting, third nationally.

Gorgui Dieng's Status For Connecticut Game Still Unclear - Card Chronicle
Pitino stated after Saturday's win over Rutgers that he thought it was "doubtful" Dieng, who sprained his right ankle in the second half of the game, would be able to go against the Huskies. It was a sentiment the sophomore himself did not echo. "I'm ready to play," Dieng declared in the locker room on Saturday. "I care about this team more than anything. Anything I can do to help my team win, I'm ready for. Everybody works hard on this team and I don't want to let anybody down."

UConn Ready For Louisville's Press - Hartford Courant
"We looked at what was coming up," Blaney said, "and [knew that] probably we were going to see a lot of zone. And you certainly need ball movement. Tyler is our best frontcourt passer. When you do move the ball on the top and get the ball changed from side of the court to the other, that's when you can penetrate zones. And both Ryan and Shabazz did a terrific job of that [against Seton Hall]. … Changing sides of the floor with the basketball is really going to be a key for us."

UConn Women's Defense Gets Its Due - Hartford Courant
The No. 3 Huskies suffocated Rutgers 66-34 at Gampel Pavilion, holding the Scarlet Knights to 13 field goals, 0 threes, 14 second-half points and a field-goal percentage of 29.5. After it was done, Stringer said no one seems to give UConn enough credit for its defense.

UConn Women's Basketball -- Two big problems for Husky opponents
"It's definitely my mindset and the realization of what the team needs from me," Stokes said after scoring 10 points and grabbing five rebounds in 15 minutes of work. "When CD (Dailey) told me the team lost trust in me, it really homes. And when you hear they don't want you out on the court, it's like a slap in the face. It really hit me. I knew I had to change." In UConn's very next game, against nationally ranked North Carolina, the 6-foot-3 Stokes saw 14 minutes of playing time, scoring 11 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.

Our long, regional nightmare is over, as is UConn's four-game, three-week-long losing streak, courtesy of Saturday's 69-46 win over Seton Hall in its first game minus Jim Calhoun.

After playing four games in which nobody played well offensively, bottoming out when UConn's three guards shot a combined 4-for-31 on Wednesday, this was a breath of fresh air.

Saturday, UConn got solid play from two of the three starting guards (Jeremy Lamb's 17 points* and 8 rebounds and Ryan Boatright's 19 points (8-12 FG), 5 assists, 4 steals), and got solid rebounding and defense from Alex Oriakhi (10 points, 8 rebounds) and Andre Drummond (7 points, but 6 rebounds and 7 blocks).

Hallelujah.

*- Underrated: this year's UConn team has been dreadful in terms of getting to the free throw line. They had 26 today, and Lamb had 12. Though of course that was aided by Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard, who went all crazy pants after the game.

I'm very, very hesitant to look at this much-needed, yet not-very-telling win as a turning point. It came against a team missing its star player, a team that's now lost six in a row and is seemingly on the verge of a meltdown. It came in a game when the Huskies didn't execute the most crisp offense, shooting 43.4% from the field and 2-13 from 3. (Plus, UConn always plays well for George Blaney...at first. Then things go to hell.)

But if you want some actual reasons for hope, look no further than these two quotes from today's postgame. First, from the Blane Dog:

When XL crowd cheered for effort, diving for loose balls, "it almost brought tears to my eyes" Blaney said.

Here's hoping the players got the message, too.

How hard a team plays - particularly one that returns most of the players from a national championship squad - should never be an issue, but here we are in early February. The Huskies had been listless for most of the last six weeks in losing six of eight, looking discouraged and/or uninterested.

To watch UConn battle - on the boards, on the floor for loose balls - was heartening, and to hear the Morgue come to life has to be heartening to what is still a team of freshmen and sophomores. Even on days when shots aren't falling, there's no reason UConn should be getting outhustled. The Huskies showed some fire today, and while they still need to do that night in and night out, it's safe to say we're all encouraged after today.

Second, addressing the other macro issue with the squad (leadership and accountability), here's co-captain Oriakhi:

"I told guys, I'm willing to give up my minutes, I don't care anymore. I don't care if I'm on the bench...I just want to win."

Kudos to Alex - who has been dogged by us Internet pundit types for most of this season - for stepping up like a leader should. We know these kids have been frustrated, and we know they want to win. But the Huskies badly need to mature, and to adjust to what's gone wrong. This is a nice first step.

I remain skeptical that this team will suddenly morph back into the team we thought they would be, though we'll have a better idea after UConn's trips to the Yum Monday night and the Carrier Dome Saturday. Still, we have 48 hours of contentness after three weeks of suck. I'll take it.