Oh My Amida

:D

I haven't stopped smiling since last night. Not only did UConn finally win their first conference game 84-61 over the University of Central Florida Knights, but they did it in relatively relaxing fashion, and we were introduced to a big man who gives the Huskies the opportunity to be a legitimate contender. UCF started out the game on a quick 6-0 run by pounding the ball inside and, quite frankly, taking advantage of Tyler Olander defending the hoop. Kevin Ollie responded with a quick timeout and promptly but Brimah in the game. The fun began soon after. Shabazz missed a jumper and Brimah gobbled up the offensive rebound and put it back for two. Then, on the ensuing possession, he blocked Knights' big man Eugene McCrory leading to a Ryan Boatright jumper which gave the Huskies their first lead of the game at 10-8 with 16 minutes left in the half. After the media timeout, he came back to get a dunk off a nice feed from Daniels, then had a block on the other end, and then a couple possessions later had another tip in, and then another. His 6 straight points gave UConn a 18-12 lead, and they were off and running.

Not only did Brimah help the team considerably on both ends of the court, but he brought the intangibles that sparked this team. His teammates were feeding off his energy and the team defense was taken to another level. UConn finished with a whopping 14 blocks as Brimah led the way with 5, but got considerable help all night from Daniels who had 4, and Giffey who had 2. UCF isn't a great shooting team, and their star player Isaiah Sykes loves to drive to the hoop often times looked hopeless doing so. When Brimah went off the court (to a louder and louder ovation each time) Phil Nolan came in and played his best ball of the season. He had 8 points and 5 rebounds going 3-3 from the floor and 2-2 from the line to extend his streak of consecutive free throws to 13. If he can be a servicable backup center like he was last night and provide quality minutes, it would be huge for the games that Brimah inevitably gets in foul trouble.

While UCF cut the UConn lead to 6 a couple of times in the 2nd half, the game never seemed in doubt. The Huskies were able to run away with this one at the end as Leon Tolksdorf, Tor Watts, and Pat Lenehan even got some action in garbage time. Shabazz finished with a double double of 14 points, and 11 assists to go along with 5 rebounds and 5 steals. He benefitted from the big men finally finishing his beautiful no look passes through the defense. The defense was great too with 8 steals and UConn held UCF to 31.3 % shooting from the field and 23.8% from beyond the arc. It was a win the Huskies had to have and they did it in style.

Player of the Game: Amida Brimah- 20 points, 8 rebounds, 5 blocks and +37(!) in 20 minutes.

Next up: At #24 Memphis in UConn's first major conference test.