UConn's Offense Finds Surprise Spark in Time for Louisville Rematch

Filed under: Connecticut, Big East

STORRS, Conn. -- It isn't unusual to catch Connecticut forward Jamal Coombs-McDaniel heading back to Gampel Pavilion, all by himself, for an intense shooting practice session. He does this when the arena is quiet and he can be alone with his frustration, searching for a tonic to change his luck.

Call it late night or early morning. It doesn't really matter. Most often the clock is close to one side, or the other, of midnight. The ritual may be most common after road games, when the team bus crawls back to campus in darkness and most of the Huskies are focused on heading to bed.

"The bus will take us back up to our apartments, but he'll stay on there because he says he's going to shoot," senior guard Donnell Beverly said. "He'll get off at Gampel and just go in to shoot by himself. A lot of times after practice we come back and shoot at night. But sometimes after a game, he'll just be so frustrated. The only way to cool himself off is to go shoot."

Coombs-McDaniel says he has learned hard work is the only way to sustain success. He's finally getting a chance to put that to the test. The sophomore from Dorchester, Mass., had been an enigma throughout his UConn career -- until the past two games. But in Big East Conference victories over Providence and Georgetown this week, he has come off the bench to score 48 points, grab 14 rebounds, and play so many minutes (69 out of 80) that he actually admitted to some soreness.

In those two victories, he was 18 of 28 (64 percent) from the floor. That's more than notable when reminded that Coombs-McDaniel was a 32-percent shooter as a freshman. In 34 games last season, he made 32 field goals and took just 100 shots. Any more attempts and it might have been frightening to see coach Jim Calhoun's reaction.

"I'm trying to describe our relationship -- stormy? Stormy is a good word," Calhoun said after Coombs-McDaniel had his breakout game Sunday with 25 points against Providence.

But the clouds overhead seem to be dissipating, so much so that Calhoun thought about starting Coombs-McDaniel Wednesday night against Georgetown. The Hall-of-Fame coach decided against that change, saying he liked the "spark off the bench" that Coombs-McDaniel provided.

Coombs-McDaniel told his coach that was OK, as long he got 31 minutes playing time again. Calhoun gave him 38 and he responded by hitting 8 of 11 shots, going 2-for-4 from 3-point range, and 5-for-6 from the free-throw line.

 

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