Three Point Shot: Takeaways from UConn-Auburn

Auburn’s basketball may not be on par with football, but Bruce Pearl has turned around the Tiger program as a competitive SEC squad this season. UConn could not capitalize on the chance to earn a resume-building win.

With the Huskies opening conference play Wednesday against Houston, here are a few things we learned from Friday.

What’s Cooler than Being Cool…Ice Cold: At this point, UConn’s offense lives and dies in the paint. The bigs are playing well and the guards are attacking the rim. Which is why it’s so puzzling to see the Huskies take 28 shots from three. It’s bad enough they only made *four* of them. It’s even worse that the guards settled way too many times for contested jumpers rather than attacking the paint. In the last six games, UConn is shooting 27% from three.

Kentan’s Face-Time: After three-plus seasons on the bench and a slow start to 2016, Kentan Facey has finally arrived. The senior has been a hawk on the glass the past five games averaging 9.6 RPG, but Friday he brought out the scoring touch once again. He followed up the 20 & 9 performance vs North Florida by scoring 15 points, grabbing 14 rebounds, and blocking 4 shots vs Auburn. What’s most impressive is the variety of ways he’s scoring. Whether it was from a runner, at the rim, or the line, Facey finished his shots and looked poised in the post.

The Injury Bug Bites Again: This time, Jalen Adams was in the wrong place at the wrong time. The sophomore took a nasty blow in a collision with Auburn’s Danjel Purifoy in the 2nd half. Adams left the game with a laceration near and his eye and concussion-like symptoms. Kevin Ollie confirmed postgame that Adams is undergoing concussion protocol and his status is unknown for the Houston game. On a team already missing three players, the Huskies hope Adams can have a speedy recovery.

Miss anything? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments.