UConn's NCAA tourney hopes take hit with Terry Larrier's season-ending injury
With a loss on Wednesday, UConn fans should start to worry about this team making the NCAAs
•
2 min read
UConn is off to the worst start of any team that was ranked in the preseason. The 2-4 Huskies, who fell 79-69 Wednesday in their final Maui Invitational game vs. agitated Oregon, have also now lost, arguably, their best player for the rest of the season.
The school sent out official word on Wednesday afternoon, prior to the Oregon tip, that redshirt sophomore forward Terry Larrier tore his left ACL during the team's loss against Oklahoma State on Monday. When Larrier gets back to Connecticut, he'll meet with doctors to determine how soon he'll be able to have surgery. He won't see the floor again for the Huskies until next fall.
Takeaways:
1. Larrier was the only consistent player UConn had to start the season
With an average of 13.5 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 49-percent shooting, Larrier was the only consistent option for Kevin Ollie. The Huskies have stumbled, and to date have only one win against a D-I team, but Larrier was reliable on both ends of the floor. In losing him, UConn now has to determine how it will make up for all that he did.
It's going to be tough. Players like Kentan Facey, Steven Enoch and Vance Jackson will now be asked to do all the more. Remember, Larrier was a transfer from VCU. His redshirt year absolutely turned him into a better all-around player. To me, Larrier and point guard Jalen Adams are the two guys who most affect how steady UConn can/will be this season.
2. The Oregon loss is all the more critical now
Larrier was not expected to play in UConn's Wednesday game vs. Oregon, but with the Huskies unable to steal a victory, the team is in a really big whole. The last time UConn started a season 2-4 was 1971. We're talking mulitple generations since the Huskies were this poor in November, and this month comes and goes in a hurry in college basketball. Non-conference wins and losses stack up in a big way when the selection committee compares them to like-teams. UConn's NCAA Tournament chances are not dead -- far from it -- but the hill just gets so much steeper now. The Huskies' three best remaining games against non-conference competition will come at Ohio State, at Georgetown and on a neutral court (Madison Square Garden) vs. Syracuse. It's a tough ask to get two out of three wins there.
3. The Huskies are currently down a second starter, remember
It's not just Larrier who's out of the rotation. Shooting guard Alterique Gilbert, the best freshman on the team, is out as well. He's been battling a shoulder injury; he dislocated it during UConn's 65-62 win last Thursday at Loyola Marymount. Gilbert's out for the Oregon game, and he'll be fully inspected once the Huskies return to the mainland. UConn's next game comes Wednesday, Nov. 30, at home against Boston U.
