By BEN BASKIN
Special to ZAGSBLOG
NEW YORK — The Connecticut Huskies started their 2013-14 season in nail-biting fashion on Friday night with a 78-77 win over Maryland at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center.
While the game was notable in that the Terrapins closed what was once a 17-point second-half deficit all the way down to 1 with seconds remaining and then survived only when Maryland guard Dez Wells’ last-second jumper didn’t go down, it also marked a fresh start for UConn basketball.
The Huskies were, of course, barred from postseason play last year as a result of the program’s low Academic Progress Rate scores. UConn became the first team from a Bowl Championship Series conference to be punished under the NCAA’s recently amended A.P.R. score policy, which requires program’s to have an average four-year score above 900 or an average two year score above 930. So while the Huskies finished 20-10, their sanctions precluded them from participating in either the Big East or NCAA tournaments.
But since UConn scored a 978 in 2010-11 and a 947 in 2011-12, their two-year score qualifies them for postseason play at the end of this season. Yet, coach Kevin Ollie said that this season opener “didn’t feel any different” than last year’s.
“I don’t care if we don’t play for the NCAA tournament, I don’t care if we do play for the tournament,” Ollie said. “Every day is a different day. We’re going to create our own story, we’re not going to let anyone create it for us.”
The Huskies senior star, Shabazz Napier, echoed his coach’s thoughts, saying that the team is “playing the same way” that they were last season, despite the stark difference.
“I don’t think about [postseason play] at all,” Napier said after going for 18 points, 7 assists and 5 rebounds. “All my life I’ve been a guy that’s just thinking about the next game, not a few months ahead. You don’t never want to think about the future because then you’ll forget about the present.”
Napier said that he did not watch last year’s NCAA Tournament on TV, though, and instead watched “a lot of Animal Planet.”
He also admitted that the team “sort of” used last year’s inability to reach the postseason as motivation coming into this season, but added that, “it just happens and sometimes you have to deal with consequences…we have a chance now and we’re not thinking about it, we’re just thinking about the next game.”
“I don’t have no pressure and our guys don’t have no pressure,” Ollie said. “We’re going to keep fighting through and hopefully we get back in the NCAA tournament. But it’s going to be one game at a time, one practice at a time.”
UConn will be back in New York City on Nov. 21 for the 2K Classic at Madison Square Garden.
