Roscoe Smith had 14 points and seven rebounds on Saturday, but perhaps his most important statistic didn’t show up on the postgame score sheet: one charge.

In fact, the charge Smith picked up on Pitt’s J.R. Moore with 1 minute, 33 seconds left appears to be the first taken by any UConn player this season. Seriously.

“First charge we’ve taken in six months, I think,” associate head coach George Blaney quipped after UConn's 74-65 win over Pitt. He wasn’t kidding.

“We’ve been trying to get a charge out of anybody this whole season,” added point guard Shabazz Napier. “We (would) tell each other, ‘First one to get a charge, I kid you not it’s going to be big.’ And he got that charge and I couldn’t help my emotions but to jump on him and grab him and tell him, ‘You did it! You got that first charge!’ That was a big moment, a big key because we needed that stop to prevail.”

Indeed, the Panthers – particularly Moore – had been driving to the hole incessantly throughout the second half, turning a 15-point deficit into, at one point, a one-point lead. UConn led 63-61 when Smith took the key charge on Moore.

“It felt good,” Smith said. “They normally hurt, but I didn’t feel any pain. Everybody was very happy. We were kind of competing to get the first one. It was right there for me, I just stepped right in there and took it.”

Napier hit a 3-pointer on UConn’s ensuing possession, and the Huskies never looked back en route to a 72-65 win.

“That’s what you have to do, if people are driving the ball that hard,” Blaney said of Smith’s charge. “They’ve got five or six guys that can put it on the deck and put it to the rim. That remains the most difficult thing to defend in the game, the dribble-drive. To be able to step in and take the charge is very important.”

Smith has now scored in double figures in three straight games as his playing time – and confidence – increases more and more.

“He got a lot of consistent minutes last year, but he was a freshman,” Blaney pointed out. “You expect more out of a sophomore. He still was making mistakes early in the year. He’s getting saner with the ball, not turning it over.”

Added Andre Drummond: “I’m proud of that kid, man. Seriously. He played really well today.”

*** The Huskies were energized by Jim Calhoun's return to the sidelines.

“To have him on the sideline,” Napier said, “words can’t explain what he means for this team.”

Said Jeremy Lamb: "He was fresh out of surgery and still he came to coach us and gave it his all. It meant a lot, so we wanted to play hard for him."

Added Blaney: “It’s why he’s in the Hall of Fame, it’s why he understands a team, how to motivate a team. They were practically crying in the locker room, because he told them he loved them, and that’s why he came back.”

Blaney handled postgame press conference responsibilities as Calhoun, just five days removed from lower back surgery, was simply too exhausted (and emotional) to do so.

While not as active on the sidelines as usual, Calhoun was certainly animated at times – yelling at officials several times, and his players at others. Drummond knew the 26th-year, Hall of Fame head man was truly back when he heard him scream his name after Drummond took an ill-advised baseline jumper midway through the latter half.

“Oh, there he is,” Drummond thought at the time.

Calhoun’s surgeon was at the game, and afterwards told him he was concerned “when you were running up and down the sidelines,” according to Blaney.

“He was clear-headed, emotional when he had to be,” Blaney said of Calhoun. “To me, the only thing he did different was we put a chair out for him to sit in during timeouts … He is exhausted right now. The game’s exhausting, anyway, but to be coming off of surgery, that really can get you.”

But Calhoun told his players on Friday that he’d do anything he could to be there for them, and he came through.

“Coach Calhoun brought a lot of motivation, a lot of energy,” said Smith. “We definitely could feel it out there. It was electrifying when he first walked into practice. He definitely gave us that extra push we needed.”

Added Drummond: “It was great seeing him on the sideline. It gave us that extra spark, knowing that he was out there. Just hearing his voice again, it makes you play that much harder.”

Drummond, of course, had predicted Calhoun's return the day before.

“Should’ve listened to me the first time," he quipped. "I never doubted it.”

*** Barring a possible NIT game, Saturday was the final game at Gampel in the careers of walk-ons Kyle Bailey, Ben Stewart and P.J. Cochrane. All three, along with four senior team managers, were honored in a pregame ceremony, with Jim Calhoun presenting them gifts at midcourt.

Calhoun walked out from the locker room for the ceremony about 15 minutes before the opening tap, to a large, standing ovation from the assembled crowd. It was his first public appearance as UConn’s head coach since a Feb. 1 loss at Georgetown, and his first appearance at a UConn home game since a Jan. 29 loss to Notre Dame in Hartford.

*** Among the visiting recruits at Gampel Saturday was Sam Cassell, Jr., a Class of 2012 guard out of Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Mass., and the son of the longtime NBA star.

*** Napier led UConn with 23 points in what Blaney called “one of his best games of the year.” Lamb added 14 points, Alex Oriakhi had eight and Drummond seven to go with four blocks (all in the first half). Moore led Pitt with 16 of the bench.

*** As of right now, there's still a remote chance of UConn being the No. 9 seed for next week's Big East tourney and playing Tuesday at noon. DePaul would have to beat Seton Hall tonight at 6 for there to be any chance of that happening.

More likely, the Huskies will be the 10th seed and play Tuesday at 7. They can't finish as the eighth seed.

*** We'll have some video up around 6:30 p.m.

Alex Oriakhi is averaging just 6.7 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this year, both well down from last year's numbers (9.6, 8.7).

But by far his most impressive -- and, in the long run, perhaps most relevant -- number he's logged this season is 3.6. That's his grade-point average from last semester, Oriakhi said on Friday. Prior to Wednesday's win over DePaul, he and three walk-ons -- Kyle Bailey, P.J. Cochrane and Ben Stewart -- were honored for notching GPA's north of 3.0, as well.

“All my hard work studying, keeping my grades up, it’s definitely an accomplishment," Oriakhi said. "I was happy to be recognized.”


Oriakhi, who is majoring in sociology but may switch to communications, said he learned a lot from one particular teammate the past two seasons.

“Just watching Kemba (Walker), he was definitely a role model, even off the court," Oriakhi noted. "Just to see the kind of student he was. It’s easy for kids not to care about their grades and just go to class, but Kemba definitely excelled in the classroom. He was definitely a role model for me, academically.”

(Beating Marquette may be signature win Huskies need).

With so much scrutiny -- fair or unfair -- on UConn's academics lately (APR, etc.), Oriakhi's good grades are a nice representation for the program right now.

"I definitely am going to work hard, and hopefully my teammates can follow suit and get their grades up," he said, adding that he's not even the lead dog, academically, for the Huskies right now.

"I think Boat (Ryan Boatright) has the highest GPA overall, so now I’ve got to catch up to him.”


Oriakhi is leading the team on the court, as well. His 14-point, 10-rebound effort against DePaul was his second double-double of the season (he had 11 last year), and his oncourt leadership has been noticealbe ever since he called a team meeting a couple of weeks ago.

“I just tell myself when I’m out on the court, ‘Just talk,'" Oriakhi said. "DeAndre said when he hit those two 3’s (vs. DePaul), he heard me cheering for him and it made all the difference for him. When I’m on the court, I’m going to be the loudest guy out there. Even if I’m on the bench, I’m going to be cheering for my teammates."

Said George Blaney: “Since that (team meeting), he has fully committed to being ‘all-in.’ He’s just been great. I love the way he played the other night with the 14 and 10. When he plays with confidence like that, and with that kind of exuberance and energy level, it’s really good for us.”

"He’s the one veteran we’ve had, he’s been through a lot of wars," Blaney added. "He’s put up some incredible numbers against some really, really good basketball teams over the years. That’s what we need from him. The more he does that, the easier it will be for Andre, Tyler and Roscoe to do things, too. Especially with rebounding, defense and scoring inside.”

Elsewhere:

*** Everyone is pretty much healthy for UConn. Both Jeremy Lamb and Andre Drummond are good to go, DeAndre Daniels has been battling a bad back but will play tomorrow, and Roscoe Smith (Achilles) also should be able to play. Smith didn't play at all against DePaul on Wednesday. He could have, if needed, but had missed the prior two practices -- and, as it turned out, UConn did just fine without him.

*** NCAA.org has team pages on every team in the country, focusing on their RPI, strength of schedule, etc., throughout the season. It's alphabetical, so scroll down a short ways to find UConn.

At UConn's press conference today, the moderator ID'd me as "the guy in the pink shirt" before my question to Alex Oriakhi. Kemba Walker found it hilarious, as did my fellow writers, who haven't let me forget about it yet (and probably never will).

For the record, the shirt is really salmon-colored, buddy. But I digress ...

These open practices are really just a formality, a bunch of shooting drills, etc. Here's some video of today's open practice, with Jim Calhoun chatting up Bill Raftery and the Huskies getting in some dunks and drills:



The Huskies held a “real” practice earlier today at 9:15 at Cal State-Fullerton. UConn had also practiced there on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Afterwards, the team went out bowling. Inside sources say that Niels “Twinkletoes” Giffey is the team’s best keggler, followed closely by walk-on Kyle Bailey.

While the media was conducting interviews in the locker room, Roscoe Smith had us all laughing with his impression of Jeremy Lamb. Smith tucked his head inside his t-shirt and put an apple where his head should be. Translation: Lamb has a small head. Maybe you had to be there, but it was pretty funny. Wish I’d had my FlipCam rolling at the time.

Oh, and it's raining in Anaheim, as anyone who's not here probably takes great glee in. Though it is better than snow.

Get yer Husky trivia on at Sporcle, where I never would have thought Kyle Bailey and Benjamin Stewart would be quiz answers.

If there was any doubt that Kemba Walker appears certain to declare for this year's NBA draft, the fact that he'll be participating in Saturday's Senior Day festivities at Gampel Pavilion should erase that doubt.

Walker, a junior, along with seniors Charles Okwandu and Donnell Beverly and head manager Jordan Rich will participate. Walk-on Kyle Bailey is planning to return for another year, and can do so since he did not see any game action in 2007-08.

Don't worry, folks, Jerome Dyson is fine.

Yes, we've heard that before: after he left the Syracuse game last year, we were told there was no structural damage to his right knee. Turns out, he had torn his lateral meniscus and was out for the season.

But this time he's obviously fine, as evidenced by the fact that Dyson returned to the game about 3 1/2 minutes after leaving with what turned out to be a slight groin strain and wound up scoring seven of his 22 points the rest of the way.

He'll probably be sore and won't be able to practice for the next couple of days, but otherwise, nothing to see here. Not that he didn't scare a few people when he slipped on the floor while trying to drive by an opponent out on the perimeter a minute into the latter half of UConn's 92-64 win over BU. Dyson lay motionless, grimacing in apparent pain for several moments before being helped off the floor by trainer James Doran and walk-on Kyle Bailey.

"It was frightening, no question," Jim Calhoun admitted. "It ended up being nothing. He's so strong, that actually saved him. He slipped, did a split and thought he pulled a groin, but said he felt nothing snap."

Added Gavin Edwards: "I was kind of scared, I'm not going to lie. I was just hoping that everything would be alright, and it (was). I just hope Jerome will make a full recovery from anything that's bothering him and be ready to go on Sunday."

Dyson just can't seem to avoid getting banged up. He's missed numerous practices over the years with dings and bruises, and had even left Wednesday's game with 2 1/2 minutes left in the first half after twisting his right ankle.

***Dyson's 22 points led UConn. Stanley Robinson added 16 points and nine rebounds, Kemba Walker had 15 points and 10 assists and Edwards and Jamal Coombs-McDaniel netted 12 apiece. Edwards and freshman center Alex Oriakhi each hauled in nine boards, as well.

Walker's 10 assists were a career-best, topping his previous high of nine set on Friday in the loss to Duke. Still, Calhoun thought it could have been more.

"I think Kemba could have clearly had 15, 16 assists if our big guys hadn't dropped the ball," said the coach.

Coombs-McDaniel, a freshman, added seven rebounds to go with his 12 points – both career bests.

Charles Okwandu, on the other hand, managed to foul out in six minutes of play. Wow.

***The Huskies, who shot a miserable 15-for-28 from the foul line in Friday night's 68-59 loss to No. 6 Duke, hit 30 of 35 from the charity stripe on Wednesday. They also outrebounded the Terriers by a 54-29 margin, by far their most impressive effort off the boards this season, and held BU to 30-percent shooting.

"In the final analysis," Calhoun said, "the stat sheet started to look a little more normal for us, at least."

On the negative side, UConn did commit 17 turnovers -- six of them by Dyson.

***The Huskies didn't commit their first foul of the second half until 13:03 had elapsed.

***Who sang "Slip Kid"?

***UConn took a 52-34 lead into halftime thanks to an odd sequence. Walker was fouled while attempting a 3-pointer at the buzzer. Apparently assuming time had expired, BU players left the court for the locker room. However, after a video review, the officials determined there were 0.2 seconds left on the clock for Walker's three free throws.

The Terriers were called back onto the court to a chorus of boos, and Walker hit all three freebies.

***BU (2-6) was playing without starters Corey Lowe (right foot inflammation) and Valdas Sirutis (left ankle sprain). Scott Brittain, a starter last season, has yet to play this season after suffering a sixth concussion.

As seen in this video, Gavin Edwards and walk-on Kyle Bailey were the top two men's basketball finishers for the second year in a row at the annual Husky Run today. (Along with another non-scholarship player, whose name is unknown)



Edwards and Bailey finished with times of 20:25, topping last year's time of 21:21. Here's how the rest of UConn's players finished:

Alex Hornat, 20:45
Kemba Walker, 22:45
Jamaal Trice, 23:03
Darius Smith, 23:05
Jonathan Mandeldove, 25:25
Donnel Beverly, 31:12
Stanley Robinson, 31:13
Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, 31:14
Alex Oriakhi, 33:00
Charles Okwandu, 33:10

***Ater Majok and Jerome Dyson didn't participate. Majok has a stress fracture in his left tibia and is wearing a protective boot, but should be ready to practice in another 1 1/2-2 weeks. Dyson, who didn't appear for post-race interviews, either, was held out by trainer James Doran as a precaution. Nothing serious.

More to come ...