In three full games without Donovan Clingan, Dan Hurley and the UConn men’s basketball team have had to manage a tight rotation in the frontcourt to elongate the minutes of Alex Karaban and Samson Johnson.
So far, it’s worked.
UConn beat St. John’s with Karaban and Johnson each at four, one away from fouling out. Then the Huskies routed DePaul (Karaban with three fouls, Johnson four) and on Friday came back to beat Butler on the road despite Karaban fouling out late and Johnson on the bench for half the game with four.
“It’s not a sustainable way to win for us, the lineups that we’ve been fortunate to win games against St. John’s and Butler and the quality that those two teams bring to the court while missing Donovan and having some just crazy lineups on the court,” Hurley said Tuesday. “The margin for error is very thin – it’s thin with those guys on the court, it’s not sustainable if they’re not on the court.”
UConn is in the same spot as it heads to the Cintas Center in Cincinnati to play Xavier, Clingan still unavailable as he hits week three of the initial three-to-four week diagnosis.
“Those guys getting in foul trouble and no Donovan right now, to be where we’re at recordwise and to be where we’re at in terms of our resumé at this point, losing what we’ve lost (from last year’s team) and Donovan either being out or not being himself physically from the start,” Hurley said, “we’ve just got to keep grinding out games however we’ve got to do it.”
In the short term, Karaban and Johnson will likely play a major role in Wednesday’s game against Xavier, a team that has struggled to find consistency in the frontcourt. Losing Zach Freemantle, one of the best four-men in the Big East for the last three seasons, to a season-ending foot injury and Jerome Hunter to a heart issue, Sean Miller has had to rely on international players Gytis Nemeiksa and Lazar Djokovic, from Lithuania and Serbia, respectively, to fill the void.
Abou Ousmane, a senior transfer from North Texas, has been a mainstay at center for Xavier, replacing 7-footer Jack Nunge, who graduated.
“You can see the improvement that you know is gonna happen with Sean, he’s one of the best coaches in the country,” Hurley said.
Xavier beat St. Mary’s and took down Cincinnati in its crosstown rivalry game with a six-point loss to Houston, currently ranked No. 2 in the country, in between. The Musketeers also lost to Oakland and…
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