Asked once about the technical foul he was issued late in UConn’s loss Sunday night at Temple, Christian Vital said he had no comment. Asked twice, he said no comment.
Asked three times, he relented.
“It was a tough night for us,” Vital said. “I take responsibility. I definitely can’t get a tech, even if I feel like I didn’t say anything and it shouldn’t have been a tech, I can’t put myself or the team in that situation and I need to hold myself more accountable as a returning member of the team.”
Vital finished with a team-high 15 points, but he picked up three fouls in the first half, and was stuck on the bench as Temple put together the decisive 20-4 run. Vital also shot 3-for-14 and was issued the late technical, his third of the season.
“CV said he didn’t say nothing to the ref,” coach Kevin Ollie said. “But we have to compose ourselves at those times. We have to make sure we check our emotions. But he said he didn’t say anything to the ref. We’ve definitely got to check our emotions, but he said he didn’t say anything. I believe him.”
Either way, Vital personified UConn’s frustration on a most frustrating night. The Huskies lost by 20-plus points for the sixth time, and Vital and Jalen Adams combined to shoot 5-for-24. Adams had five turnovers and seven points, essentially taken out of the UConn offense by a Temple defense that focused squarely on that goal.
“We’ve got to play a lot tougher on the rebounding side and ... I’ve got to do a way better job of not turning the ball over and making sure we get a shot attempt every time down,” Adams said.
Vital, just a sophomore but clearly a player others look to, is 16-for-51 from the field the past four games.
“Temple played a good game,” Vital said. “Give credit to them. I’ve always been wanting to say that I’ll never take credit away from another person, another team, if they play a good day or night of basketball, and they did tonight. … I told the team in the locker room that I apologize for [three first-half fouls], for putting them in that situation because I’m a part of the team and I help the team on offense and defense, like every player. I just can’t put myself in that situation. If Coach is going to trust me to be out, there I can’t pick up that third foul in the first half.”
Anderson Connects
Antwoine Anderson was 4-for-7 from the field and had 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and three turnovers — a pretty solid performance over 37 minutes. Anderson was 1-for-2 on 3-pointers, connecting for the second game in a row after a streak of missing 20 consecutive attempts.
“It started in practice,” he said. “My teammates started to find me more and just told me to keep shooting the basketball.”
Anderson reached double-digits in scoring for the first time in 13 games. He reached double-digits in seven of the first eight.
“We’ve been telling ‘Twoine, you’re here for a reason,” Vital said. “Everyone goes through [slumps]. At the beginning of the season, I was going through that that spurt. Jalen had a bad night [Sunday] but I know he’s going to regroup. It’s good to see ‘Twoine get going. I need to pick up my play, and we can’t have Jalen have a night like this, but as we know that’s rare. So I’m not really worried about that.” … Ollie on Adams being double-teamed coming off screens: “We’ve just got to do a better job of getting other guys in read positions.” Adams added, “I’ve just got to make better reads, trust my teammates more and get them the ball so that they can make plays.” … Alterique Gilbert had surgery to correct is often-injured left shoulder on Friday. It was performed in Vail, Colo., by Dr. Matthew Provencher, a specialist recommended by James Andrews. Gilbert is still in Colorado to begin his rehab, which is expected to take about six months. … Terry Larrier, still recovering from his nasal surgery, did not make the trip to Philadelphia. The target for his return is Wednesay at Central Florida. He is expected to be on the court working with trainers on Monday. ... The time for UConn’s game at Wichita State on Feb. 10 has been set for 6 p.m. Eastern. … The UConn-Cincinnati game next weekend at Gampel will be televised by ESPN2.
Dom Amore contributed to this report
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