NEW YORK – When DeAndre Daniels hit his third consecutive shot to open the second half and give Connecticut a 14-point lead, Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg felt compelled to use a timeout. When Daniels took a feed from Shabazz Napier and hit a three-pointer four minutes later to extend the lead to 17, it was time for the Cyclones to burn another TO.
And this time, every one of Daniels’ teammates sought him out for a high-five or fist bump. The lanky junior forward had taken over the game, scoring 11 of UConn’s first 13 points in the half and sparking an 81-76 win Friday night at Madison Square Garden that lifted the Huskies within one victory of the Final Four.
“Once he hit the first jump shot, we knew that we were going to try to get him another easy basket,” guard Ryan Boatright said. “And once he got that easy basket, we were going to keep going to him until he missed. And he did a tremendous job with his shot selection and knocking down his shots.”
Daniels hit 10 of 15 shots overall, finished with 27 points, 10 rebounds and two blocked shots as UConn advanced to the Elite Eight for the seventh time since 1999. Napier scored 19, Boatright added 16 and freshman Terrence Samuel came off the bench for 10 points as the Huskies held off a late surge by the Big 12 tournament champions.
UConn (29-8) will play No. 4 seed Michigan State in the East Region championship game Sunday (2:20 p.m., CBS). The Spartans defeated No. 1 seed Virginia 61-59 in Friday’s other semifinal at Madison Square Garden.
If Friday night was any indication, UConn fans will turn Sunday’s contest into another virtual home game for the Huskies with vocal support that created an unusual environment for an NCAA tournament game.
“When you have that crowd behind you, pushing you, good things will happen,” Napier said. “That’s what happened today.”
It’s one thing to talk about the matchup problems Daniels can create on a basketball court. It’s quite another to witness it when Daniels is aggressive, pounds the boards, blocks shots, moves without the basketball on offense, and his teammates are locating him.
“He was unbelievable tonight,” Hoiberg said of Daniels. “Shabazz and Boatright were really good knocking down shots for them and then Daniels went through that stretch in the second half where they really went to him. He was hitting mid-range shots over extended hands, and got free for a couple threes where I didn’t think we went out there and got a hand up – even though we were in the area.
“They did a good job going to him. Give Kevin [Ollie] credit for continuing to feed the hot hand.”
“You go through ups and downs,” Ollie said. “You’ve got to understand they’re still young men. They’re trying to develop and grow.There’s a lot of different things. It’s not just basketball. He’s had life issues and he’s always worked through them. DeAndre has been hurting sometimes, but he’s still here. He’s still fighting for our team.”
Ollie is the first to admit Daniels doesn’t always play to his ability. That isn’t a secret. Ollie said Friday night was an example of the mental toughness Daniels has developed over time.
“But at the end of the day you can always be a great teammate,” Ollie said. “He’s an inside-outside threat. I’ve got two great point guards who find him in the sweet spot and throw and deliver the ball on time and on target. He did a great job tonight staying with it. He could have easily hung his head but he stayed with it. He pushed us over the top in the second half.”
Iowa State (28-8) was led by Dustin Hogue’s 34 points. DeAndre Kane had 16 points and nine assists in 40 minutes but needed 18 shots to hit six. The Cyclones cut UConn’s lead to five on five occasions in the final 1:35, but the Huskies sealed the deal by hitting 20 of 22 free throws.
“Coach is on us all the time about making free throws,” Boatright said.
Napier said all the free throws the Huskies take in practice have paid off.
“We like to being in that position,” said Napier, who made 5 of 6. “We feel like we have enough confidence to take our time and make the shot.”
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