Richard had two HUGE defensive plays… One was off a gators turnover. Richard got back and not only prevented a transition score, but forced a turnover on the sideline. The second was when he poked the ball away, and got ahead for the dunk with about two minutes left. Monstrous plays.
Yep - w/o the Richard plays, we don't win. And w/o the Clayton shots down the stretch, we don't win. And w/o Martin playing ballz out in the first half, we don't win. Martin had the missed FT dunk at the end, too. These senior guards powered through a huge challenge today. It's why they say guards win in March. Richard was pretty quiet early in the game, but made huge plays down the stretch.
It felt like Richard made the plays to get us in front and then Clayton made the plays to cement the lead. That tip out by Haugh on the missed fee throw that Martin scored on was also huge.
That phase of Richard’s game as been one of the most pleasant surprises this year. It’s also an incredible luxury to have three veteran guards to carry you.
And it was exactly where he was told he needed to improve. Kudos for taking that feedback and absolutely attacking the challenge.
IMO, what separated the win from a loss, besides great shots by UConn going down the stretch, is that Clayton seems to have exorcised his demons of when he was prepared to "shock and awe" and it turned out differently. He bided his time and then took over when it counted. That IS the mark of a champion instead of the "stars" who pad stats but can't seem to find that magic second gear during crunch time. This is fun to watch!
