3 reasons Butler lost to No. 3 UConn: Dawgs just run out of gas in Big East opener
No. 3-ranked and unbeaten UConn showed why its the class of the Big East, and possibly the entire NCAA, Saturday night at a lively Hinkle Fieldhouse and pulled away late for a 68-46 win over Butler.
The defeat snaps a four-game winning streak for Butler as UConn improves to 6-0 all-time against the Bulldogs. The loss is just Butler coach Thad Matta's second-ever loss at Hinkle
Big man Adama Sanogo led UConn with 27 points and 14 rebounds.
Here's three reasons Butler (8-4, 0-1) lost to UConn (12-0, 1-0).
Insider:Butler starts Big East play with tough loss, but it can't define rest of its season
UConn dominates on the glass and in the paint
UConn came to Hinkle with a Top 10-rated offense (per KenPom) led by 6-9 forward Sanogo and 7-1 center Donovan Clingan. The Huskies had the advantage inside and they exploited it early and often.
UConn had a 31-15 rebounding advantage in the first half. Fourteen of the visitors' 31 first-half rebounds were offensive rebounds, leading to 10 second-chance points. The Bulldogs grabbed just one offensive rebound and could not produce a second-chance point in the first half.
UConn finished with a 54-30 rebounding advantage.
With Manny Bates battling inside with Sanogo, Butler did not have the big bodies needed to contend with UConn's length on the perimeter. Georgia State grad transfer Jalen Thomas made a brief appearance to spell Bates in the first half, but he only played one minute, forcing a tired Bates to continue to bang inside.
Once Bates picked up a foul, he had to play more conservatively, allowing Sanogo to go to work inside. Sanogo, the preseason Big East player of the year, scored six straight during a 14-5 run late in the first half. He finished with a team-high 27 points, giving the Huskies a 36-18 advantage on points in the paint.
"Just playing with that type of relentlessness it's like a body blow, body blow," UConn coach Dan Hurley said. "That eventually leads to a head-shot knockout with teams because it's demoralizing to guard well, force a miss, now we've just got guys on trampolines on the backboard."
Grad transfers debut, Ali Ali makes early impact
Thomas showed his potential, drawing a charge on Sanogo on his first defensive possession. The Dawgs will need Thomas to play consistent minutes as a backup center, but the most exciting debut was made by Akron grad transfer Ali Ali.
Ali made his debut after missing nonconference play with a concussion and face injuries. Sporting a clear mask to protect his face, Ali entered in the first half and immediately drew a foul while shooting a 3. After a few empty possessions, Ali made his first field goal as a Dawg, draining a 3 and cutting the deficit to five with 1:29 left in the half.
Ali finished with six points on 1-for-4 shooting, but his length, athleticism and shooting touch were on full display against UConn. He'll provide a much-needed scoring punch once he becomes fully acclimated to the offense.
"Basketball is always the same, it's five-on-five. You've got to play defense, you've got to play offense," Ali said "Nothing is really crazy hard (about coming back), winning is hard, so that's the hardest thing."
Dawgs run out of gas
Simas Lukosius dished out another highlight-reel pass, finding a trailing Bates for a layup, cutting Butler's deficit to four with 9:37 left in the game. The Dawgs kept the game at two possessions past the mid-way point of the half, but similar to what happened in The Bahamas, they seemed to wear down as the game progressed.
UConn used a 15-2 run to put the game away. Sanogo did most of the heavy lifting, capping the run with a ferocious dunk. Even with reinforcements available on the bench, Bates played a game-high 37 minutes. Asking a man that large to bang against players like Sanogo and Clingan for that long is a tough ask, even for a player as talented as Bates.
The Dawgs have to incorporate more players in their rotation, but they don't have the benefit of doing it against a weak nonconference schedule anymore. How fast players like Ali, Thomas and Myles Wilmoth get up to speed will dictate how this team performs during Big East play.
"We got three or four days to get ready for the next game," Matta said. "We've got to be a better team than we were. We were playing some really good basketball (early). This was a little bit like the Tennessee game, we just got worn down with their size."
No. 3 UConn 68, Butler 46
UCONN (12-0): Karaban 2-10 0-0 5, Sanogo 13-21 0-1 27, Hawkins 5-13 0-1 12, Jackson 1-5 0-0 3, Newton 1-7 2-2 5, Alleyne 3-8 0-0 9, Calcaterra 1-5 0-0 3, Clingan 2-2 0-0 4, Diarra 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 28-71 2-4 68.
BUTLER (8-4): Bates 7-11 2-3 16, Harris 4-14 4-5 12, Hunter 1-10 0-0 2, Taylor 1-5 0-0 2, Lukosius 2-8 2-2 8, Ali 1-4 3-3 6, P.Thomas 0-0 0-0 0, J.Thomas 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 16-54 11-13 46.
Halftime—UConn 28-20. 3-Point Goals_UConn 10-29 (Alleyne 3-5, Hawkins 2-5, Sanogo 1-1, Calcaterra 1-3, Jackson 1-3, Newton 1-5, Karaban 1-7), Butler 3-14 (Lukosius 2-4, Ali 1-1, Harris 0-2, Taylor 0-2, Hunter 0-5). Rebounds_UConn 53 (Sanogo 14), Butler 29 (Harris 6). Assists_UConn 20 (Jackson 6), Butler 8 (Bates 3). Total Fouls_UConn 15, Butler 9.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Butler basketball vs. UConn: Huskies pull away with late run
