12/6: 84-59 over #22 Michigan here. We led all the way. 35, 7, 2, 3 for Gray, 14, 8 for Baly. +16 in the paint.
12/9: The win streak ends at 101, as #4 UCLA beats us in Storrs, 79-87. They took a big early lead and were up by 14 at halftime. We came back in the 2nd half but never quite got there. The two main factors were fouls, they went to the line 44 times, we went 15, and their SG, who scored 40. Their C also came up big. 19, 6, 7 for Ando, 15, 10, 2, 3 for Baly, 12, 10 for Lake. They matched us inside and beat us outside.
Post game press conference (excerpts): “Luke Bows, EPSN. Coach, how does it feel to lose after 101 wins in a row?”
“Losing is never fun but it’s not the end of the world. My guys are down right now and our main job as coaches is to get them feeling confident again. We’ll work on that at practice.”
“The foul calls were pretty one sided.”
“Yes they were. I’m certainly not happy about that but we lost because we had no answers for their shooting guard and their Center. We’ll work hard on defending against a guy or guys who are lighting us up.”
12/10: The kids turn 5 today. All of them can read, some just a little, some are reading novels designed for older kids. We work hard on math skills as well and the kids are doing well there.
12/13: 103-98 in OT at Temple. First OT game since I’ve come to UConn? Might be, I can’t remember another one. Temple led by 16 in the 1st and by 13 at the end of the 1st. We fought hard to come back and tied it at the end of regulation on a three by Troy Gray. In OT we took charge early and came away with the win. Losing two in a row would not have been good!
22, 7 for Gray, 20, 4, 8 for Ando, 14, 7, 5 blocks for Mile, 17, 8, 3, 3 blocks for Lake.
12/20: 71-58 at Arkansas. We never trailed but they got our lead to 2 at the half. We widened it in the 2nd, leading by as many as 15. 31, 7 for Mile, 13, 5 for Baly, 12, 7 for Lake. +26 in the paint and that was the difference.
12/25: We end pre-conference play at 11-1, #2, NET #1.
+14.1 PPG, +6.7 RBs, +5.8 assists. -7.1 TOs, averaging a very good 9.7.
Matt Baly leads us in coring and RBs with 16.7, 9.8. 14.0, 6.8 for Mile, 13.8, 7.2 for Gray, 10.9, 6.7 for Lake. 7.2 assists and only 2.3 TOs for Ando.