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Adam Betz: Sanogo's strong tournament run continues

adam betz, journal inquirer, manchester, conn.
·4 min read

Mar. 24—LAS VEGAS — There have been multiple stories for the UConn men's basketball team during its first three games in the 2023 NCAA tournament.

But perhaps none have been bigger than the play of junior forward Adama Sanogo.

The Bamako, Mali native and co-team captain finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the fourth-seeded Huskies in their 88-65 win over No. 8 seed Arkansas in the West Regional semifinals Thursday at T-Mobile Arena.

To put his tournament run in perspective though, this game was his worst game numbers-wise.

"I think I've just stuck to my identity," Sanogo said on what's been the key for him during this tournament run. "Not playing too fast, letting the game come to me. Trying not to force anything."

Sanogo has been one of UConn's primary weapons all season. He's started every game for the team and leads it with 17.3 points and 7.5 rebounds per game.

But his play during the NCAA tournament has been nothing short of extraordinary.

He recorded a double-double of 28 points and 13 rebounds in UConn's first-round win over No. 13 Iona and followed that with a 24-point, eight-rebound performance against fifth-seeded Saint Mary's in round two.

In Thursday's game, Sanogo finished 9-of-11 (81.8 percent) from the floor as he got free inside the painted area seemingly at will. He's shooting 75.0 percent (33-of-44) from the floor in the tournament.

"Every time we play we want to show people wrong, we try to show people why we play at UConn," Sanogo said. "We have something on our shoulders. Every time we play basketball, we're trying to prove people wrong."

Perhaps the most telling thing about Sanogo's game Thursday was that he scored six of his points late when the Huskies were already up comfortably.

But he felt it was critical to finish out the game strong.

"We knew we were fighting for something, so that's why we can never take our foot off the gas," Sanogo said. "We're fighting for something, we cared. We knew what we were looking for, so that's why we knew we couldn't lose focus even a little bit."

Scoring aside, Sanogo's rebounding effort was a big reason why the Huskies (28-8) won the overall battle on the boards against the Razorbacks (22-14) 43-31.

His rebounding total matched teammate Andre Jackson for the game high.

"Coming into the game, like in practice, Coach Hurley was saying this team is tough, they want to try to box us out," Sanogo said. "We know rebounding is one important thing for us, that's one of the things we do good at. So we were talking about it before the game; in our mind we were like they wanted to play tough but we were going to tough them out."

Scoring, rebounding and defense are all areas of Sanogo's game we've come to expect great things from. Arguably his "highlight reel play" though was a nice bounce pass to set up a dunk by Jackson late in the first half.

But he doesn't just need passing to assist his teammates.

"He's special," Huskies redshirt freshman Alex Karaban said. "He makes my life 1,000-times easier. Whether that's helping me defensively when I'm guarding those athletic forwards that are quicker than me by blocking them, rebounding being physical. Then he just helps a lot because he attracts so much attention on the inside that allows my offensive opportunities to appear, whether that's shooting a three or ripping and going to the basket. So, he makes everything so much easier and he's one of my favorite teammates. I love him."

When asked if he thought that Thursday's performance was the team's best of the season, Sanogo was quick to dismiss the idea.

"I think we played great today but I think we can do better," he said. "I think we left like eight, 10 points on the board that we could've gotten. But I think we could definitely play better in the next game."

The next game is coming rapidly as the Huskies have a date with No. 3 Gonzaga in the West Regional final Saturday.

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Adam Betz is a Journal Inquirer staff writer.

For coverage of UConn football and men's basketball as well as area high school and local youth sports, follow Adam Betz on Twitter: @AdBetz1, Facebook: Adam Betz — Sports Writer, and Instagram: @AdBetzJI.