Report: Huskies Under NCAA Investigation

UConn men's basketball coach Kevin Ollie may be on the hot seat as his
11-9, 4-3 Huskies are underperforming, while UConn is under NCAA
scrutiny for recruiting compliance issues.

STORRS—The University of Connecticut men’s basketball program has had its issues in the past with the NCAA in compliance to the governing body’s rules and regulations. On Friday, the school confirmed that the men’s basketball team is under NCAA investigation and will seek counsel by an outside firm.

“The University and its Athletic Department are committed to a culture of compliance with all NCAA regulations,” the school said in a statement. “We will appropriately address and respond to this inquiry and continue cooperating fully with the NCAA as this process moves forward. Until that time, we will have no further comment.”

It’s not clear yet, however, whether or not the program has violated any recruiting rules.

“Often times these things take a long time and once the NCAA comes to look at—even if they come in and look at a small matter — that means they can look at anything they want,” said Jay Bilas, a college basketball analyst for ESPN.

Nikko Cleri, a junior at UConn, said he’s gone to 50 UConn men’s and women’s basketball games in the past few years.

“I think anytime that there’s an investigation, it’s bad for the university,” Cleri said. “But I think it comes at a worse time for Kevin Ollie, just because there’s been so much speculation about what his future is here.”

In Ollie’s first season as the Huskies head coach after serving as an assistant for his mentor, the legendary Jim Calhoun, for two years, the Huskies finished 20-10 overall and 8th in Big East play with a 10-8 record in conference play, but were ineligible for postseason play by the NCAA due to low APR scores for several season. Even though Ollie led Connecticut to its fourth national men's basketball national championship the following season, the Husies have not seriously contented for one since then. Last season, the Huskies finished 16-17 overall (9-9 in the American Athletic Conference). It was the first time the Huskies experienced a sub-.500 campaign in 30 years.

Bilas believes the NCAA investigation process is a flawed system—one that is hard to understand, which is why universities look for help from the outside.

“Often times you’ll see employees sacrificed before the altar of the NCAA in order to save the institution so they have differing interests at times,” Bilas said. “That’s why outside counsel can be helpful. And really for coaches, having your own counsel can be helpful.”

Cleri, a lifelong fan, said that no matter what happens, fans should stand by the team.

“I think that if something were to happen, yeah, it definitely would have a negative effect,” he said. “But just going to this school, you still have to have some sort of school pride so you have to stick with them.”

Ollie is in the second year of a five-year deal. The team is in danger of missing out on the NCAA tournament for a second consecutive year. That, too, hasn’t happened for 30 years—prior to Calhoun transforming the Huskies into a nationally renowned program.

—Staff Reports

 

First-Place Black Wolves Sweep Rochester

Reilly O'Connor had two goals and two assists on Friday night.
(Photo by Bill Harper)

UNCASVILLE—The Eastern Division-leading New England Black Wolves took two games from the Rochester Knighthawks this weekend, lifting their home record to 3-0, best in the National Lacrosse League.

On Saturday night, Aaron Bold turned aside a season-high 48 shots to lead the Black Wolves over the Knighthawks, 9-8 in Rochester. Just one save shy of his career-high, the 32-year-old Victoria, BC, native, eclipsed his previous season-high of 39, set on Dec. 29 vs. Vancouver. Stephan Leblanc added two goals and four assists, while Shawn Evans chipped in with one goal and five assists.

The first half was a back and forth affair. After Rochester scored just 53 seconds into the contest, the Black Wolves came right back to knot the score at one goal apiece up just 1:27 later on a tally by Kevin Buchanan. After the Knighthawks picked up another, Leblanc found the back of the net on the power play with 3:45 remaining in the first quarter. Rochester scored on a power play of its own with just over two minutes later, but Kevin Buchanan picked up his second tally of the frame to tie it up at 3-3 with 35 seconds to play in the frame.

The second quarter started the much like as the first, with the Knighthawks picking up the first goal 3:57 in. Kyle Buchanan found the back of the net on the power play to tie the score at 4-4 before Rochester scored again to take a 5-4 lead. Evans tied it up on a pass from Adam Bomberry with just 47 seconds left in the half

New England scored first in the third, with Leblanc picking up his second 1:31 into the quarter to put the Black Wolves up 6-5. Rochester scored 50 seconds later, but David Brock picked up his second goal of the season to put New England up 7-6 with 8:47 left in the quarter.

Leblanc picked off a Rochester pass and fed it to Seth Oakes, who found the back of the net with 1:41 left in the third to put the Black Wolves up by two. That’s where the score stood at the end of the third.

To open the fourth quarter, Kevin Crowley increased his consecutive games scoring streak to 23 games, putting New England up by three, 9-6, with 11:51 left to play. Rochester scored with 1:57 to play to cut the Black Wolves’ advantage to two and with 20 seconds remaining, Cody Jamieson scored on a penalty shot to pull the Knighthawks within one. But Bold and the defense remained strong in the closing seconds to solidify the victory.

Jamieson led the Knighthawks with six points on two goals and four assists. Joe Resetarits scored twice and dished out two assists.

On Sunday, the Wolves returned to the friendly confines of the Mohegan Sun Arena where they held off Rochester in a physical, defensive battle, 9-8, before 5,373 on Native American Heritage Day. It was the third straight win for New England, which has held each opponent to fewer than 10 goals during the streak. It was also the second win in eight days over the Knighthawks.

Kevin Crowley and Shawn Evans each had three goals for the Black Wolves while Reilly O’Connor and Stephan Leblanc each scored twice. Goalie Aaron Bold backed up an active and aggressive New England defense with some clutch saves, including a pair of point-blank stops in the closing minutes.

Sunday was a rough-and-tumble affair as the Blackwolves survives a
9-8 battle at the Mohegan Sun Arena. (Photo by Bill Harper)

“The identity we said we wanted to establish in the offseason was being very sound and predictable on defense,” Black Wolves coach Glenn Clark said. “I think we have a pretty good sample size now that we are becoming that team.”

The Black Wolves never trailed in the game, but did go more than 30 minutes without a goal, including the entire second quarter. The New England defense kept Rochester bottled up for much of that same span, however.

O’Connor (two goals, three assists) broke the drought with 2:36 left in the third quarter when he converted a rebound off a missed shot by Evans, beating Rochester goalie Matt Vinc to make it 7-6. Then, 26 seconds later, he scored again from the edge of the crease to make it 8-6.

The Knighthawks rallied to tie the game, and appeared to take their first lead early in the fourth quarter. But an official review determined Cory Vitarelli’s foot was in the crease and it was overturned.

Soon thereafter, Crowley and Evans (three goals, three assists) took over. Crowley scored with 9:06 remaining to make it 9-8, and Evans collected his third of the game with 2:36 left to make it 10-8. Then, with 1:29 remaining, Crowley beat Vinc low to the left corner to make it 11-8.

The Black Wolves bolted out to a 4-1 lead just 8:13 into the game on two goals from Evans and single goals from Leblanc and David Brock. Leblanc and Kevin Crowley would add goals later in the quarter, but Rochester rallied to within 6-5 after the first quarter, and scored the only goal of the second quarter to tie the game, 6-6, at halftime.

Leblanc and Kevin Buchanan each had two assists for New England. Joe Resetartis had two goals and an assist while Austin Shanks had two goals.

With the weekend sweep, the Black Wolves improve to 4-1 and are now tied with Saskatchewan for the best record in the #NLL. Rochester falls to 2-4. Next up for New England will be a trip to Toronto where they will face the Rock on Friday night at 7 p.m.

—Staff Reports

Huskies Rout Temple for 18th Straight Win

Gabby Williams (15) puts up two of her 12 points on Sunday. She was
one of six Huskies to score in double digits in UConn's 113-57 victory
over Temple.

By Bob Phillips

PHILADELPHIA—The City of Brotherly Love has always had a special spot in Geno Auriemma's heart. Geno who, was born in Italy, moved to Philly as a young child and grew up there. Sunday turned out to be particularly satisfying homecoming as, after his Huskies put out what he called a “lackluster effort” in a 78-60 win over Tulsa at Gampel Arena in their last contest last Thursday, No. 1 Connecticut thrashed Temple, 113-57 before 3,392 fans at McGonigle Hall on Sunday.

Kia Nurse led all scorers with 24 points, while Megan Walker added 22 to lead Connecticut. In all, six Huskies scored in double digits, including a double-double (12 points, 11 assists) from Gabby Williams. Gabby Williams (12 points), Azura Stevens (13), Crystal Dangerfield (12) and Napheesa Collier (13) were the other Huskies scoring in double digits. It was the season high in points scored for the Huskies, who were without arguably their best player, junior Katie Lou Samuelson, who injured her left ankle in the Tulsa game.

Mia Davis led Temple with 19 points and Tanaya Atkinson added 15 for the Owls, who are 1-6 in their last seven games.

With Samuelson out, Walker, a 6-1 freshman from Chesterfield, Va., made the most of her time in the sun.

“When you see how she played today, it’s the look she had out there,” said Auriemma. “’It’s where ‘I belong; this is what I came here to do.”

After the Owls raced out to an early 6-0 lead to open the contest, it was all Huskies after that. UConn led 28-18 at the first turn, and opened up a 24-point lead at intermission.

The Huskies put the game on ice immediately at the start of the third period, hitting eight of their first nine shots en route to a 34-point quarter—the highest-scoring single period for the Huskies this season. By the time the smoke settled, the Huskies held a 90-43 lead at the end of three. When Azura Stevens dropped in a trey with six minutes left in the contest, the Huskies had broken the 100 point barrier for the fourth time this season.

“Once we got settled in, our defense became a lot more solid and we were able to get out in transition a little more and things opened up for us a little bit,” Auriemma said. “I thought the offense looked really, really good at times.”

With the win, the Huskies improved to 18-0 overall, 7-0 in the American Athletic Conference, while the Owls dropped to 9-9, 1-5. The Huskies now head to Tennessee where they will take on x-x Memphis on Wednesday. Tip-off is at 1 p.m., and the game will be televised live on SNY, with a 7 p.m. encore.
 
Nurse Named Player of the Week

Kia Nurse has been named the American Athletic Conference Player
of the Week.

Kia Nurse was tabbed the American Athletic Conference’s Player of the Week. The Hamilton, Ontario native averaged 18.0 points per game and shot 60 percent from the field and 55.6 percent from beyond the arc in victories over No. 9/7 Texas, Tulsa and Temple.
 
Nurse scored 13 points and chased-down five rebounds in 40-minutes of action against the Longhorns.  In that game, the Hamilton, Ontario native went 3-for-6 from the floor and six-for-six from the free throw line. On Thursday, Nurse had a 17-point effort vs. Tulsa, going 5-for-7 from beyond the three-point line.

On Sunday, she led all scorers with 24 points vs. Temple, adding four assists without turning the ball over. She was 9-for-13 from the field vs. the Owls, including 4-for-8 from downtown, and added six boards.

The 6-0 senior guard leads the nation in three-point field goal shooting percentage at 50 percent. 

—with staff reports

  

Checkers Blank Sound Tigers

The Charlotte Checkers threw the first shutout of the season at the Sound
Tigers, blanking Bridgeport, 3-0 on Tuesday night. Wednesday's game
has been moved to 5 p.m. because of the winter storm affecting the
Charlotte area. (Photo courtesy Bridgeport Sound Tigers)

CHARLOTTE, NC—The Bridgeport Sound Tigers could not break through against Charlotte goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic on Tuesday and were shut out for the first time this season, suffering a 3-0 setback to the Checkers before 8,341 fans at Bojangles Coliseum on Tuesday night. The Checkers are the American Hockey League affiliate of the Carolina Hurricanes—the team formerly known as the Hartford Whalers.

The Sound Tigers were unable to convert on 25 shots and went 0-for-5 on the power play as the club officially crossed the halfway mark of the 2017-18 season. It was the first time Bridgeport has been blanked since Apr. 14, 2017.

Warren Foegele led the way for Charlotte with one goal and two assists.

Following nearly 36 minutes of scoreless play, Foegele got the Checkers on the board late in the second period with a fantastic individual effort. The rookie forward helped keep the puck in at the blue line and guided it to the left corner of the Sound Tigers' zone. Foegele then skated there after Andrew Poturalski nudged it free and Foegele regained possession, brought it to the front of the net, and slipped a backhand shot under Christopher Gibson at the 16:05 mark.

Less than four minutes later, Nicolas Roy made it 2-0 when he capitalized on a turnover and beat Gibson in the final 11 seconds of the period. Bridgeport failed to advance the puck cleanly through center and Roy raced down the left wing to create a 2-on-1. He sent a cross-ice pass to Clark Bishop from the circle and Bishop was denied on a one-time opportunity, but the puck squirted free and Roy forced home the rebound. It was his seventh goal of the season and Foegele also notched an assist on the tally.

Foegele capped his three-point performance in the final minute of the third period when he converted an empty-net goal for his 19th of the season – tied for first in the AHL.

The contest also included one fight when Sound Tigers captain and former Checker, Ben Holmstrom, dropped the gloves with Trevor Carrick at 17:16 of the opening frame.

Charlotte outshot Bridgeport 27-25, while Gibson (14-8-2) made 25 saves. The bright spot was the Sound Tigers' penalty kill that went 5-for-5 on the night and is now 23 for its last 23 over a five-game span.

The Sound Tigers fall to 18-14-4-2, while the Checkers improve to 22-16-0-1. The two teams will meet again on Wednesday at Bojangles Arena. Because of the winter storm, the game, originally slated for 7 p.m. will start at 5 p.m., and the arena will be closed to the public. Fans can follow all of the live action via the Sound Tigers Radio Network or AHL Live,

THE SKINNY

• Bobbleheads and ZOOperstars!: The first 2,500 fans at this Saturday's 7 p.m. home game against the Providence Bruins will receive a special edition bobblehead of New York Islanders draft pick and 2017 AHL All-Star, Devon Toews, courtesy of IBEW Local Union 488. In addition, the world-famous ZOOperstars! will be in attendance, performing their popular antics during each intermission. Great seats are on sale now.

• Guarantee Your Seats: Flex plans are currently available for the 2017-18 campaign, offering the greatest savings and ultimate flexibility of all ticket packages. Pick between a full-season, 20-game, 15-game or 10-game plan and you'll also be entitled to exclusive benefits, including the ticket holder exchange policy, which means any unused tickets can be traded for future games. Please contact Brad Dworin at 203-345-4813 or via brad.dworin@harboryardse.com with questions or to guarantee your seats.

—Staff Reports