University of Connecticut Athletics
As usual, UConn's Game Plan Starts With Defense
4/7/2024 8:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
By PHIL CHARDIS
Special to uconnhuskies.com
GLENDALE, Ariz. – Do you know how many times a five-star basketball recruit coming into college is talked about because of his defense?
Never. Well … almost never.
It's always about how many points he can score, how many rebounds will he get, or how many acrobatic dunks will he produce for Sports Center highlights.
But from the time Stephon Castle made his commitment to UConn, the UConn coaching staff was pontificating about what a lockdown defender he could be, how he could effectively guard positions 1-4 and what a luxury it will be to have him on the defensive end.
Thirty-nine games later, how right they have proven to be.
It is a testament to Castle's defensive prowess that despite continually having to guard the opposing team's best player/highest scorer, he rarely is in foul trouble. He has fouled out of only one game this season, the first encounter against Providence, and that was only after he had already played 31 minutes and scored 20 points.
Saturday, however, in the National Semifinal against Alabama, Castle ran into one of those rare occasions – picking up his fourth foul and forced to the bench with 6:35 remaining and the Huskies clinging to an eight-point lead.
The reaction from his teammates? A collective shrug, as in – "Don't worry, Steph, we got you. You've already done plenty" – which also included a career-high tying 21 points and five rebounds.
This UConn team is so confident in itself as a unit, that adversity never seems to have an impact.
"Clearly, I didn't want to sit out," Castle said later, "but I believe in the depth of our team. I wasn't worried at all."
By the time Castle went back in, the lead had grown to 14, the game was over and with its 86-72 win, the Huskies (36-3) were on their way to Monday's National Championship game against Purdue looking to become the first back-to-back national champions in 17 years.
The way Castle plays is a microcosm of how the Huskies play as a team – make sure to take care of the defense first. Sooner or later, the offense will come. Which is why when Alabama's three-point machine was in high gear throughout the first half on Saturday, allowing the Tide to stay within four points at halftime, that was the area that commanded UConn's attention. Allowing teams to shoot 72.7 percent from three-point range and 50 percent overall is not UConn's identity.
"We were getting lost in the first half on the three-point line," sophomore Alex Karaban said. "We were giving them open shots. We weren't really locked on them personnel-wise. In second half, we did a great job of making sure we contested threes. We did a good job of limiting the attempts, but we just had to make them miss and we did a great job on that in the second half."
Center Donovan Clingan said the Huskies knew what the problem was.
"The first half, we were dying on screens and letting them come off screens and get open shots," he said. "The second half, we were more aggressive, we played a lot more high hand, running them off the three-point line and I was telling everyone to try to  force them into me and I'll protect the rim and put an umbrella around the three-point line."
Problem solved. Alabama's second-half three-point shooting plummeted to 25 percent (3-12), taking away the Tide's main strength. Meanwhile, as expected, UConn's offense showed up in a big way, shooting 53.1 percent overall, 50.0 percent from three and steadily widening the gap until it was insurmountable.
"We feel that if we focus on the defense and the rebounding, everything else can go our way," Karaban said.
"Our identity is to be pretty relentless," UConn Coach Dan Hurley said. "We might not break you for 18 minutes, 25 minutes, but at some point, if what we're doing at both ends and on the backboard is at a high level, it just becomes hard for the other team to sustain it."
Castle and the Huskies figure to be tested in a different way Monday night against Purdue with the National Championship on the line. But with this UConn team, one thing will remain constant – its plan will start with defense.
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