Tennessee Chattanooga vs UConn: March Madness Preview
Written March 18, 2009 by Jack Jones
The #1 seed UConn Huskies play the UT Chattanooga Mocs on Thursday in the first round of the NCAA tournament. UConn is coming off of an impressive season that saw them ranked in near the top of the nation for the entire season. The Huskies didn’t fair as well in the Big East Conference Tournament, losing in the 6-overtime game against Syracuse that you may have hear of. Chattanooga won their half of the Southern Conference, plus won the conference tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Mocs did not do well this season against ranked opponents, posting an 0-4 record in some ugly losses. Connecticut is favored by 20.5 points over Chattanooga in this first round game.
The Huskies were ranked at or near the top of the nation for a reason. They have one of the most talented lineups in the nation, particularly for defense. Hasheem Thabeet is a beast in the middle for UConn and is helped by forward Jeff Adrien, who is an impressive player in his own right. The pair helped UConn to be one of the best rebounding teams in the nation, averaging more than 8 rebounds per game more than their opponents. With the defense looking great, there are some concerns on the offensive end of the court for UConn with the loss of Jerome Dyson. Dyson was one of the top scorers on the team (13.2 ppg). Dyson’s loss will also impact the defense as he lead the team with 1.8 steals per game, but the biggest impact for the Huskies will be, and has been, on the offensive end of the court. It’s not that they don’t have serviceable guards to fill in for him, it’s just the he is a significantly better player.
Chattanooga is lead on offense by Stephen McDowell, who leads the Mocs with 18.6 points per game. They also have a pair of forwards that average double-digit points this season, but they will have a very difficult time scoring in the paint with bigger, stronger UConn defenders to deal with. The Mocs could get into trouble early if they start to rely too much on the outside shot, which has been their tendency in the past. They will need to find some kind of way to get points in the paint or this will be an ugly game from start to finish.
Let’s just be honest here, Chattanooga doesn’t stand a chance against a bigger, faster, stronger Connecticut squad. the Huskies’ loss of Dyson will hurt against more talented teams, but I doubt they notice his absence much in this first round match up. Mark UConn to move to the second round of the tournament. Against a huge spread I’m laying off of this game personally, but I lean toward giving the points with Connecticut out to prove they are not the weakest #1 seed in the tournament this year.
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