A sudden ending

No one on the Huskies saw this coming, the ending or how it happened. But with its stunning 70-69 overtime loss to 13th-seeded San Diego Friday, the Huskies are going home after the first round of the NCAA tournament for the first time in Calhoun's tenure. Here are some notes and quotes from a game no could have predicted.

(1) It's the lowest seeded team Calhoun has ever lost to while at UConn. He's now 14-1 in first-round games.
(2) Gyno Pomare scored 22 points, outpacing both Jeff Adrien (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Hasheem Thabeet (14, 6, four blocks). Outside of De'Jon Jackson's fallways game-winner, that may be the most surprising aspect of the Huskies' loss considering, their size advantage.
(3) On Thursday, Calhoun said he had lied when he told reporters after the Huskies' Big East tournament loss that he had a good handle on the Huskies. It's safe to say this game only left him more confused. He used words like "mystified" Friday in explaining the Huskies' lack of defensive effort.
(4) A.J. Price, who left the game midway through the first half with what was initially diagnosed as a sprained left knee, went to the hospital for an MRI following the game, and Calhoun said "they're looking into an ACL" injury. The results, however, aren't expected to be released tonight.

Here are some quotes from Price, who spoke to a pool reporter before heading off to a nearby hospital for the MRI:

On injuring his knee;
"I made a tough move to the basket and as I was pushing off to go up I just felt everything go wrong in my knee, and I took pressure off of it as fast as I could. I was thinking about giving it a go, at one point I felt like I could, but when I did some warm-up stuff in the locker room, I just didn't think I could go. I'll have an MRI tonight to see what the story is."

On watching the rest of the game from the bench:
"I was saying all week how excited I was to play in my first (NCAA) tournament, and knowing that my team needed me tonight, it was extremely difficult to watch. But all in all, I was proud of these guys coming back and getting themselves back in the game. It was very hard to see my team lose with that last shot."

On giving his team advice:
"I was giving the team everything I could as far as knowledge. I told Jerome Dyson that I needed him to go back to the scorer that he was. I knew he was capable of being there."

On the conclusion of UConn's season:
"It's very difficult to deal with. We had a good season, not a great season, a good season, especially after the year we had last year. We showed a lot of people that this team is good; same players, same core. We came back and put together 24 wins. To end this way is very difficult, knowing we should be moving on. I feel like we had a great chance of winning on Sunday as well, so it's very tough."

(5) Calhoun said he would have considered this season very successful if the Huskies (24-9) had made it to Phoenix for the Sweet 16. Instead, he and his players will most likely look back at this year with mixed feelings. It's had to say this upset loss to San Diego was bigger than the one to George Mason two years ago, but it certainly sours what had the potential for being a special season.

(6) Some reaction from Jackson's 17-footer with 1.2 seconds left that won San Diego its first NCAA tournament game:

Calhoun: "I'm sure he's going to remember that the rest of his life, as well he should. It's a hell of a play."

Jackson, himself: "That's the way coach drew the play up for me, to come off the double (screen). And while I was under the rim, I think it was (Stanley Robinson) who said, 'He's coming out the top.' I was like, 'Dang, they know the play,' so I was like whatever, I'll just do it. So I went off the double and saw the opening, and Coach said, just drive it to the right. I drove it to the right, stepped back and it went in.

San Diego coach Bill Grier: Just like we drew it up.

Jackson said he had hit a game-winning shot before, a halfcourt heave at the buzzer in high school that sent his team to a championship (state or conference or county, I'm not sure).

"But this is on a way bigger stage," he said. "So this feeling right now, I can't even explain right now. It's like the best feeling I've ever had in my life. It's a good feeling."

(7) Calhoun said he wanted to strip San Diego of the belief they could match up with the Huskies. But UConn's slow start gave the Toreros confidence that they never lost.

"I don't know if you noticed; I did, but on the opening introductions when the kid (Jackson) went out to shake (Hasheem Thabeet's) hand, the little point guard and looked up at Hasheem, he started laughing," Calhoun said. "And I saw it as a comical moment. So they were going to try us out. When they tried us out, they didn't maybe find what they probably expected. In the last ten minutes that's what they expected. A tough team, and a tough game. But we had given them too much confidence by that time."

Some key stats:
(1) San Diego shot better than 47 percent from the floor. For the season, UConn held its opponents to 38 percent.
(2) UConn outrebounded San Diego, 41-31 for the game, but the battle was tied 16-16 at the half.
(3) Jerome Dyson had 14 points, and took over the offensive load in the final minutes of both regulation and overtime. He looked like he was the hero after sending it into the extra frame with two free throws and hitting two more for a 69-68 lead with nine seconds to play in overtime. But then Jackson happened.
(4) UConn had more turnovers (15) than assists (14). A lot of the Huskies' troubles could be tied to the loss of Price, which Dyson called devastating.

I'll have the links to all the stories from today's game posted up tomorrow morning. After that, you can expect at least one follow-up story for the next day, looking back at the Huskies' final game, it's season and where it goes from here. At some point, I'll have a blog post looking back at my own experience covering this team for the first time, and some observations of the year in general, the team and all the people involved. It's strange to think it's over -- and I'm sure for the players and coaches its 10-fold -- but don't expect the news to stop. There is still a lot more to come.