Omar Calhoun

CINCINNATI — This was a UConn team held together by duct tape, bandages and lots and lots of heart. If any UConn fan wants to stop here, wants to chalk up this game without Shabazz Napier as proof positive that these Huskies always play with...

Shabazz Napier had never missed a game at UConn, played 102 in a row through various foot and shoulder injuries. But that streak came to end Saturday, when the pain in his right foot had the deciding vote. "I woke up today and I didn't feel 100...

As Shabazz Napier walked through the lobby of the team hotel, the cumbersome boot was still on his right foot, but he was smiling. "I'm always smiling," he said. "Got to have a smile on your face every day." Trust that Napier's smile will be wider on...

A good night's sleep, for those UConn players who were able to get it, probably didn't help. In the aftermath of the Huskies' double-overtime loss to Georgetown, Shabazz Napier, for one, was not looking forward to the replay. "You've got to come in...

STORRS — It was a night, a crazy, nutty, heart-pounding night, when we found out again how good Otto Porter Jr. is. It also was a night, a crazy, nutty, heart-pounding, double-overtime night, when we found out how good DeAndre Daniels can be....

Shabazz Napier's right foot has become an issue again. "I just tweaked it," said Napier, who was in a walking boot following UConn's double-overtime loss to Georgetown. "I got out there and played and gave it my best." The foot was a problem much of...

Not many opponents get the last chuckle at the Carrier Dome, but Otto Porter left his calling card all over that building. Last Saturday, in Georgetown's final game at Syracuse as a Big East opponent, Porter had 33 points and eight rebounds to lead the...

Niels Giffey wasn't counting on playing much at the center position when he came to UConn, but that is where he is needed now and he's pitching in. "Usually, I'm in there together with DeAndre [Daniels]," Giffey said, "it's more like having two fours...

ROSEMONT, Ill. — Only 1 minute, 11 seconds had expired, and DeAndre Daniels was headed for the bench. "Coach [Kevin Ollie] took me out because he had just drawn up a play and I went to the wrong side of the court," Daniels said. "So he took me...

One frustrating, fruitless possession after another had left the UConn men's basketball team scoreless for nearly nine minutes. Their slim lead had evaporated, though slowly, and a restlessness had settled over the arena. It was a stretch that, for many...

There is a certain, unmistakable joy that Shabazz Napier has brought to this UConn basketball season. During what could have been a dour year when the Huskies play for nothing more tangible than a strong regular season record, Napier has played as if...

Visit courant.com/ucnova for more photos. The nutshell play came with 5:16 to go. Villanova's JayVaughn Pinkston missed a second free throw, but UConn could not find a way to wrest the ball away. It ended up out on the perimeter, James Bell hit a...