R.J. Cole leads UConn men’s basketball team to a close win over Maryland-Eastern Shore

The UConn men’s basketball team held on in a game that was not expected to be this close, defeating Maryland-Eastern Shore 72-63 on Tuesday night at the XL Center.

UMES came into the game 0-26 all-time against ranked teams, a record that seemed like it might be broken against the Huskies. The game had only one positive, according to Huskies guard R.J. Cole.

“We won the game, that’s about it,” he said.

UConn coach Dan Hurley blamed himself.

“I did a horrible job preparing these guys to play this game,” he said. “I will not allow us to look like that again, or else you will see a different group of people on the court.”

UConn has built its reputation on great defense, but the team struggled mightily on that end without Tyrese Martin, out with a elbow injury.

UConn allowed the Hawks to shoot 24-for-55 (43.6%) from the field, including 7-for-18 (38.9) from 3.

“Their guards overall got to whatever spots they wanted to get to on the court,” Hurley said. ...”R.J. was the only perimeter defender who played with any force. ... [UMES] played great.”

Freshman Jordan Hawkins made his collegiate starting debut with Martin’s injury. He finished with five points on 2-for-5 shooting.

“Jordan has got settle down in the game,” Hurley said. “In his first start, focus on defending and rebounding and let offense kind of come to you.”

Hurley urged his team to step up on the defensive end to support Cole who carried the load on both ends.

“We can’t ask R.J. Cole to balance out offensively and to be the only perimeter defender now that Tyrese is down,” said Hurley. “We were soft in a lot of respects.

“We didn’t blow up our season, that’s good I guess.”

Here’s how it happened.

Keys to the game

In the first half, the rest of the team picked up the slack for Adama Sanogo, UConn’s scoring leader so far this season. Sanogo shot only 3-for-8 for six points in the first half.

The rest of the team shot 13-for-21 (54%).

Cole led all scorers in the first 20 minutes with 11 points on 5-for-8 shooting.

UConn (7-1) started off the with hot shooting from beyond the arc, shooting 5-for-7 from 3.

UConn’s calling card is built around defense and hustle, something that was no where to be found early, allowing UMES (2-5) to shoot 3-for-7 (42.9%) from 3.

In the second half, UConn shot horribly as a team which allowed UMES to stay too close for comfort. The Huskies shot only 2-for-11 from 3.

UConn barely outrebounded UMES, 33-30, and the Hawks’ tallest player in their starting lineup is 6 feet 5.

Turning point

UConn seems to have this pattern where it lets mid-majors hang around the first 8-10 minutes of the game, but this time let things get uncomfortably close. At 12 minutes, the Huskies were up one, 16-15.

With 11:44 left in the opening half, Da’Shawn Phillips had his pass stolen by UConn’s Andre Jackson, leading to a fast break layup by Cole that put UConn up 18-15.

At the 10:20 mark, a second-chance bucket by Akok Akok, put UConn up 22-17. UMES got within two points when Nathaniel Pollard Jr. connected on a jumper cutting UConn’s lead to just 22-20 with 8:31 left.

Although UConn went into the half with a 39-31 lead, its usually stellar defense struggled, allowing the Hawks to shoot 12-for-24 (50%).

Again, UConn struggled to start the second half, allowing a 10-3 run that got UMES within a point at 42-21 with 15:40 to go. An exasperated Hurley looked irate in the huddle during a subsequent media timeout at the 15:40 mark.

The Huskies responded with a 11-5 run to take a 53-46 lead and held on for the victory.

Player of the game

Cole. His scoring was the reason UConn held on to win. Every time UConn looked like it would give up its lead, he came through with a timely bucket. Cole finished with 25 points on 8-for-16 shooting.

Stat of the game

UConn’s offensive droughts will be a storyline to watch, as the Huskies shot just 8-for-26 (30.8%) in the second half.

Big-picture implications

UConn plays its next game on Saturday at Gampel Pavilion against Grambling State. The Huskies continued their hot streak against mid-majors, improving to 5-0.

Martin sat out Tuesday’s game with a sprained left wrist that will keep him out about 2-4 weeks. Officially, it was called an avulsion fracture, according to Hurley. Sanogo got massaged throughout the game due to a lower abdominal strain that is being evaluated.

Shreyas Laddha can be reached at sladdha@courant.com.