Episode 7 - The Steal Curtain Arrives

The Huskies are 4-1 heading into the inaugural ACC-Big East Challenge against Maryland. In addition to some non-conference matchups, UConn opens the Big East season as they host Villanova and wrap up the 1980s with the Connecticut Mutual Classic.

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Transcript

Hi and welcome to The Dream Season Podcast, an oral history of the 1989-90 UConn men’s basketball season, also known as, The Dream Season.

This Episode 7, The Steal Curtain Arrives

The Huskies sported a record of 4 and 1 heading into their next game on Monday, December 4th.

UConn would be facing the University of Maryland in the inaugural ACC-Big East Challenge. 

The creation of the Challenge came about in the summer of 1988, in an effort to add some sizzle to the early part of the college basketball season, as well as settle some schoolyard arguments over which conference was superior.

Using the preseason rankings of each conference, the highest-ranked ACC team would face the highest-ranked Big East team, all the way down to the 8th place school. (The 9th ranked Big East school would sit out the event.)

Two games would be held on four consecutive nights, at quote unquote, neutral sites, such as the Greensboro Coliseum, the Brendan Byrne Arena and the Hartford Civic Center. Each nightly doubleheader would also be televised on ESPN.

There was much anticipation surrounding the challenge during this first year. UConn and Maryland were the 8th ranked teams, but there were some marquee matchups near the top of the seedings. The 2 seeds were Syracuse, who was the number 1 nationally ranked team, facing off against #6 Duke and the top-seeded matchup pitted #3 Georgetown against #17 North Carolina.

UConn guard John Gwynn, a native of Hillcrest Heights, Maryland, grew up in ACC country. Said Gwynn, [QUOTE] “All I ever hear about is the ACC. That’s all people talk about down there. It’s a rivalry and personally, I think our conference is better. I went to Maryland this summer to shoot around with a couple of guys I know on their team, Jerrod Mustaf, Tony Massenburg and Walt Williams. They were talking a lot of trash about how good the ACC is.” [END QUOTE]

Mustaf and Massenburg, both forwards, pace the Terrapins in scoring and comprise the strength of the team. Williams starts at guard, but at 6’ 8”, supplements the front line for Maryland.

The Terps were led by first-year coach Gary Williams, who is no stranger to the Huskies and Jim Calhoun. Williams was the head coach at Boston College from 1982 through 1987 and was Ohio State’s head man when the Huskies defeated the Buckeyes to win the 1988 NIT championship.

Maryland’s point guard, Teyon McCoy, was the only true ball handler for Williams’ squad, which also lacked depth.

Coach Calhoun’s plan was to utilize the full-court, 2-2-1 press to negate Maryland’s size advantage, as well put pressure on McCoy and make him work to bring the ball over halfcourt.

After Georgia Tech beat Pittsburgh in the opener in a thriller, thanks to Dennis Scott’s 42 points, including the game-winning shot at the buzzer, UConn, as the road team, were wearing their national flag blue road uniforms on the Civic Center court.

Here’s public address announcer Roger Baker with the Huskies starting lineup:

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UConn’s plan to press didn’t take long to have the effect that Calhoun was hoping for, as the Huskies jumped out to an early 4-0 lead. Tim Brando and Dick Vitale had the call for ESPN:

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After the first three minutes, UConn led 8-6, after which they embarked on a 13-0 run. During that run, Teyon McCoy picked up his third foul with 15 minutes left in the first half. Here are some highlights of that run.

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The Huskies led 21 to 6 with 12:30 left in the first half. Maryland regrouped a bit, went on their own 8-0 run and made it a 10 point game at 36-26 with 5 minutes left in the half.

UConn responded quickly.

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The Huskies forced 16 turnovers in the first half and cruised into the break with a 49-33 lead. Chris Smith went 6 for 11 from the field, with two 3 pointers, for 15 first half points.

There was no letup for UConn coming out of the locker room.

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The Huskies continued the onslaught throughout the second half, never letting the Terps get closer than 16 points. The result was a resounding victory.

The final score was UConn 87, Maryland 65. The Huskies forced 27 turnovers and outrebounded the much taller Terps, 45 to 38.

There were two other seemingly prophetic moments from the broadcast I want to share.

The first is Dicky V sending a warning to the top two teams in the Big East:

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And second, Tim and Dick discuss a new experimental rule change in place for the Big East this season. Instead of each player fouling out after acquiring five personal fouls, the limit would be raised to six for all conference games. 

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For the first time in his college career, Chris Smith broke the 20 point mark, finishing with 22. The fantastic freshmen tandem of Scott Burrell and Nadav Henefeld each scored 11 points and John Gwynn and Rod Sellers both added 10 apiece.

Tate George came into the game needing 6 assists to tie Karl Hobbs’ all-time UConn record of 534 but came up one short.

Coach Calhoun credited the Huskies defensive pressure as the key to the resounding victory. [QUOTE] “If they stood there and pounded it in, it would’ve given us problems. I thought if we didn’t press, we’d be in trouble. We were able to negate Maryland’s size with perimeter defense. It became impossible for them to pass inside when they were being harassed by Chris Smith.” [END QUOTE]

The Hartford Courant’s late, great sports columnist Alan Greenberg, had this to say about the Huskies in the following day’s paper:

“If you have watched University of Connecticut basketball closely in recent years and have grown accustomed to certain things, it is hard not to be a little stunned at the abrupt change Jim Calhoun’ 1989-90 team represents. If Monday night’s mauling of Maryland is even the slightest indication, Huskies fans may be in for a season of nice surprises.”

Greenberg wasn’t the only decorated sportswriter who was intrigued by UConn. Sports Illustrated’s Curry Kirkpatrick wrote the following in his SI column recapping the ACC-Big East Challenge: 

“Similarly, Maryland's Williams is not used to his team being outhustled, but that's what Connecticut did, smothering the Terps' woeful guards under hordes of pressing defenders. Guard Chris Smith is the Huskies' star, but the name to remember may be 6'7" forward Nadav Henefeld of Ramat-Hasharon, Israel, who earlier this season traveled from Storrs, Conn., to Tel Aviv to Anchorage so he could play for both the Israeli national team and UConn in the Great Alaska Shootout. In 24 minutes against Maryland, Henefeld had 11 points, seven rebounds and five steals.”

With the ACC-Big East Challenge behind them, UConn had traversed the toughest part of their non-conference schedule with a record of 5-1. Assuming they don’t trip up against the remaining non-Big East teams on the schedule, they would only need six or seven Big East wins to put them in contention for a coveted NCAA Tournament bid. But that was a thought for another day.

Next on the schedule for the Huskies was another game at the Civic Center, this time a home game, against the University of Hartford on Thursday, December 7.

The Hawks have given the Huskies fits in the three years since Calhoun took over, even beating UConn the first time they squared off in the 1986-87 season. This year, they were led by the confident forward Lamont Middleton, who was not intimidated by the Huskies. Said Middleton prior to the game, “They don't have anything on us. It's going to be a dogfight. I'm going out there & just play hard. It will go down to the wire."

The game started off sloppy, with Hartford turning the ball over on four of its first six possessions. With the score tied at 8 halfway through the first half, the Huskies turned on the pressure and embarked on a 13 to 1 run to go up 21-9 with just over 7 minutes left in the half. 

Middleton, who entered the game averaging 20 points per game, was held to just 4 in the first half. UConn denied him the ball and double-teamed him whenever possible. Said Calhoun, “We tried to double Middleton everytime. The combination of bigger people and Lyman Depriest putting on a clinic every time on post-up defense limited his shots.”

The Hawks cut the Husky lead to 28-21 with 2:24 left in the first half, but UConn scored the last seven points of the half to take a 35-21 lead into the locker room.

Hartford turned the ball over 17 times in the first half, but UConn didn’t exactly play efficiently either, adding 12 turnovers of their own. “With all of those loose balls, it looked like we were playing rugby” said Calhoun after the game.

When the second half began, Nadav Henefeld scored two quick baskets, pushing the lead to 39-21. Hartford eventually cut the deficit to 40-27, but that was as close as they would get the rest of the game. UConn eventually went up by 30 and won the game 79 to 54.

As has been the case the past few games, defense led the way for the Huskies. They scored 30 points on 28 Hartford turnovers. Calhoun was a bit concerned. [QUOTE] “I don’t think we’ve played a good offensive game since the first half of the Florida State game. We’re creating all of our offense on defense. The problem with that is we can’t do it every night. There’s going to be a team that handles the ball better against our pressure.” [END QUOTE]

After the game, Tate George commented on Middleton’s pre-game statement. Said Tate, “I think his comments fired the team up. I think all of their mouthing off took away from what they wanted to accomplish.”

Rod Sellers concurred. “We wanted to show him they had never played on a level this high. We showed them how we play with intensity and they went home the losers.”

George entered the game needing one assist to tie Karl Hobbs’ UConn career record. He tied the mark early in the first half and broke it with an assist on a John Gwynn 3 pointer a few minutes later. Tate was proud of his accomplishment, saying “I’m not flashy but I’ll go down as UConn’s top assist man ever and one of UConn’s best guards.”

Said Calhoun [QUOTE] “I’m really glad he got it. Honestly, if he can put up with me for 3 and a half years, he’s a great kid. I never met a kid I enjoy yelling at more than him but he can take it. He’s playing for a coach who demands excellence on every play, especially him, since he’s the quarterback.” [END QUOTE]

George finished the game with 12 points and six assists, while Chris Smith added 16, Rod Sellers had 14 points and 6 rebounds and John Gwynn had 11 points off the bench. 

Lyman Depriest had 5 steals and George, Henefeld and Smith each had 4. The team recorded 24, which not only set a school record for most steals in a game, but remains the record 32 years later.

After a day off, UConn returned to action on Saturday, December 9, as they hosted the University of Maine at the Field House.

Another game, another UConn defensive clinic.

The Huskies picked up right where they left off in the Hartford game, taking control of the game in the first half and never relenting until the final horn sounded.

UConn led early, 14-9 with 16:12 left in the first half. Over the next 8 minutes and 48 seconds, the Black Bears didn’t manage one field goal, while the Huskies increased their lead to 27-13. 

Maine turned the ball over 11 times in the first 14 minutes of the game, which included nine steals by UConn. The Huskies outscored Maine 21-9 over the final nine minutes of the first half to take a 44-22 halftime lead, their largest of the season.

There was no letdown by UConn and no extended runs by Maine in the second half. Calhoun used all 13 players in the game and all but Tim Pikiell managed to score. The final score was UConn 95, Maine 55.

Rod Sellers led the Huskies with a career-high 22 points, with 14 coming in the first half. Chris Smith had 14 points and 7 assists and Nadav Henefeld chipped in with the first double-double of the season for the Huskies, with 12 points, 11 rebounds and 4 steals.

UConn outrebounded Maine 51-32, had a season-high 27 assists and a season-low 11 turnovers.

Calhoun instructed the team to push the ball offensively, saying [QUOTE] “If you don’t fast break, you’re coming out of the game.” [END QUOTE]

Chris Smith took those words to heart. Smith after the game said “Coach wanted me to penetrate. He was teasing me all day in practice, saying the only reason I get to the foul line is to shoot technicals. I found myself getting a lot of easy shots as I penetrated.”

UConn now sported a 7-1 record and the win over Maine marked the longest winning streak in Jim Calhoun’s four seasons as head coach.

Murray Williams suited up for the game, but did not play. He has been cleared to practice, but isn’t expected to play again until the end of December.

Coach Calhoun was happy with the progress the team has made over the past three weeks. Said Calhoun [QUOTE] “Obviously we wanted to be 8-0 but we thought that 7-1 would be great and we’re happy. We haven’t stubbed our toe yet and now we’re into our first Big East game on Tuesday. I have to be happy with the fact that we’ve worked hard.” [END QUOTE]

The Huskies were focused on the Villanova game in three days. Said Tate George after the game, “The first thing I said when we came in the locker room, was it’s time to get ready for Tuesday. If we can win that, we’ll really be on a roll.”

Coach Calhoun’s fears about UConn’s offense sputtering would soon become a harsh reality.

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The Huskies smothering full-court pressure defense has been dubbed The Steal Curtain (S-T-E-A-L) by the Hartford Courant’s Ken Davis, an homage to the Pittsburgh Steelers’s dominating defense from the 1970’s, which was known as The Steel Curtain (S-T-E-E-L). 

UConn has 114 steals in 8 games, a 14.3 steal per game average. That is a record-setting pace if that continues for the season.

The catalyst for the Huskies defensive prosperity has been the freshman, Nadav Henefeld. Nadav is averaging four steals per game, which leads the Big East and is well ahead of second place Eric Murdock of Providence. Calhoun summed up Henefeld’s impact, [QUOTE] “I hate to credit one guy, but it’s obvious to all of us, no matter what you put down for steals, that he touches everything. It seems to me that he touches the ball 50 times a game.” [END QUOTE]

The Villanova game would be held at the Hartford Civic Center on Tuesday, December 12. As with the Maryland game the previous week, the game would be televised on ESPN.

UConn has not fared well against Villanova under Calhoun. They’re 1-5, with the lone win coming the previous season, also at the Civic Center, on Murray Williams’ coast to coast layup with 6 seconds remaining.

Former Norwich Bulletin UConn beat reporter Pete Abraham, recalls how Villanova was a thorn in UConn’s side for awhile:

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In addition to being the first Big East game of the season for both schools, this would be the first official game with the experimental six foul rule. The rule has been dubbed “The Tom Gries Rule” after Villanova’s 7’3” senior center. The physical play of the conference over the previous season led to the passing of the rule, which theoretically will help bigger players who are prone to foul trouble, such as Georgetown’s Alonzo Mourning and Dikembe Mutombo, as well as Greis.

UConn went with the same starting five as the previous eight games of George, Smith, Burrell, Sellers and Cyrulik.

Things were going fine for the Huskies for the first five and a half minutes. They trailed 10-8 with 14 and a half minutes left in the first half. After a Villanova shot clock violation, UConn had the ball with the crowd stirring but Dan Cyrulik was called for offensive interference to negate a Chris Smith bucket. Things went downhill quickly after that.

Nova’s Greg Woodard promptly hit a three pointer to trigger an 11-0 Villanova run.

The Wildcats slowed the tempo of the game, milking the shot clock, while the Huskies cold night shooting prevented them from setting up the full-court press.

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As the Huskies struggled to score points, the Civic Center crowd turned restless.

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With just under five minutes left in the half, with UConn trailing 27-13, Steve Pikiell checked in.

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Burrell’s 3 pointer (giving him 9 points for the half), would be the last points the Huskies would score in the first half.

After a dismal showing, UConn headed to the locker room down 31-16, as boos rained down from the Civic Center crowd:

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The ugly numbers don’t accurately describe how poorly UConn played in the first half. They shot 7 of 34 from the field, a 20.6% clip, and missed 17 of their first 21 shots. They were also 1 of 8 from the free throw line. The Huskies were outrebounded only 23-19 but Nova limited UConn’s second-chance opportunities, grabbing 21 defensive boards.

The shots UConn were missing weren’t difficult shots. They were 1 of 10 from beyond the arc, but they missed countless putbacks and layups. It was not pretty.

The second half began as the first half ended, with Greg Woodard knocking down an 18 foot jump shot to push the Wildcats lead to 33-16.

But then the Huskies went on a run of their own.

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All told, it was a 14-2 run that brought UConn to within 4, 35-31, with 12:50 left in the game.

Villanova responded with a 11-2 run of their own to push their lead to 46-33 with under 10 minutes to play.

A Scott Burrell 3 pointer would cut the lead to 5 with 3 minutes left, but once again, the Wildcats responded and led 60-51 with 33 seconds left.

A Dan Cyrulik (!) 3 pointer, cut the lead to 6 and UConn promptly fouled Villanova’s Rodney Taylor, sending him to the line for a one and one with 22.3 seconds left on the clock.

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Henefeld’s three made it a one possession game with 9.2 seconds left, but Villanova made four free throws to ice the game, handing UConn a loss in their first Big East game of the season, 64-57.

Scott Burrell led the way for the Huskies with 18 points and 8 rebounds, while Dan Cyrulik had 13 and 7. Chris Smith had 12 points, but was 5 of 16 from the field, including 0 for 6 from 3 point range. Tate George (6 points), Nadav Henefeld (3) and John Gwynn (2 points on 1 of 8 shooting) struggled mightily.

Coach Calhoun took the loss in stride. [QUOTE]: “We as a team on the perimeter did not play well. But I don’t think we should be discouraged on December 12. Six weeks ago, I told you about a young team which will have its ups and downs. This was a down.” [END QUOTE]

UConn radio play by play announcer Bob Huessler recalls the the crowd at his first Big East game on the mic at the Civic Center:

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The Huskies would have some time to lick their wounds and regroup. Their next game was 11 days away thanks to a break for final exams. Their next opponent was also a break from Villanova, as UConn hosted Division II Southern Connecticut State University at the Field House on Saturday, December 23rd.

The Owls were led by future UConn Avery Point men’s basketball head coach Rich Radicioni, who would eventually be SCSU’s all-time leading scorer when he graduated.

There was zero drama to this one. UConn won 100-37, their largest margin of victory since the 1919-20 season, when they defeated the Wentworth Institute, 71-6. SCSU’s 37 points were the fewest allowed by a UConn team since they defeated URI in the legendary slowdown game in the 1969-70 season, 35-32.

UConn set a mark for the most three-pointers made with 11 and Calhoun said after the game that he set a record for the longest time he’s spent sitting down in a game.

Chris Smith led the Huskies with 20 points, John Gwynn had a career-high 16, Tate George had 12 points and 9 assists and Nadav Henefeld flirted with a quadruple double, notching 9 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 6 steals in just 23 minutes.

Murray Williams made his return from the knee injury he suffered way back in the Auburn game in November, playing 16 minutes and scoring 7 points. Freshman Toraino Walker had his most productive game as a Husky, grabbing 10 rebounds.

Lyman Depriest was not in uniform, as Calhoun allowed him to fly home to Detroit early for Christmas break. Said Calhoun after the game, “I’m going to call him right now and tell him that if he had been here, it might have been a closer game.”

UConn would be back in action in less than a week for the Connecticut Mutual Classic. The Classic was an annual four team holiday tournament hosted by UConn which began in 1978. The winners of the two games on Friday meet in the championship game on Saturday, with the Friday losers playing in the consolation game. The Huskies had won the event the previous two seasons.

UConn’s opponent on Friday was St. Joseph’s, who entered the game with a 1-5 record, while the other game featured Delaware vs. Mississippi State.

Coach Calhoun was hoping to use the two CMC games as an opportunity to improve the Huskies struggling half court offense. Part of his plan was to start Nadav Henefeld in place of Dan Cyrulik. Said Calhoun [QUOTE]: “We know we’ve got to get the ball moving and get our offense going. I can’t tell if it has improved, but Nadav will touch the ball more. He gets the ball moving and that became evident in the second half against Southern. If that happens, I think our offense will be better.” [END QUOTE]

Once again, UConn’s defense dominated a weaker opponent, as the Huskies cruised to a 83-58 win. UConn forced 21 turnovers, including 14 steals (5 by Henefeld) and held the Hawks to 30.2% shooting for the game.

The Huskies blew the game open in the final 10 minutes of the first half, stretching an 18-16 lead to 43-24 heading into halftime. The flow of the game created problems for Calhoun’s plan to focus on the halfcourt offense.

Said Calhoun, “Our defense and quickness got us there again. It gets us to a point where we’re about 25 points up. The fans want me to sub. I want to run the halfcourt offense. So we slow up the game and we look lousy for the last 10 minutes. It’s a pattern that’s starting to develop. The crowd wants Marc Suhr in the game and I want to run a halfcourt offense. They’re not happy and I’m not happy.”

Chris Smith paced UConn with 19 points, while Tate George had his best all-around game of the season, with 14 points, 6 assists and only 2 turnovers.

Calhoun praised his senior guard saying “Tate played really, really terrific tonight. Put it in headlines because he won’t believe I said it. He really directed the team. He ignited us.”

Tate’s response? “I don’t want to hear that. Tomorrow he’ll tell me I’m spending too much time reading my press clippings.”

The Huskies opponent the following night would be 7-1 Mississippi State, who defeated Delaware on a free throw by Todd Merritt with one tenth of a second left, 66-65.

For the second consecutive game, Henefeld was in the starting lineup in place of Dan Cyrulik, as Calhoun continued to focus on UConn improving on the offensive side of the ball.

Calhoun’s wish finally came true. UConn’s ball movement was greatly improved, as the Huskies shot a season-high 54.7% in an 84-68 victory.

The Huskies led 46-29 at halftime and had stretched the lead to 56-36 with 14 minutes left in the game. The Bulldogs quickly cut the deficit to 11 with just under 12 minutes remaining when Henefeld hit two straight buckets and with 9 minutes left, UConn left by 19, effectively ending the game.

Henefeld, who was named MVP of the tournament, finished with 17 points, 6 rebounds, 6 steals and 3 assists. Chris Smith (14 points) and Tate George (13 points and 8 assists) were also named to the all-tournament team.

Said Calhoun, [QUOTE] “We played our best basketball of the year. We came out and played about 12 minutes of defense that I’d like to put into a bottle and keep with us the rest of the season. Then we just got a tremendous team performance. I told the kids I was very proud of the way we played.” [END QUOTE]

Murray Williams continued to see his minutes increase, which gives Calhoun flexibility to pair him with Burrell and Henefeld in the frontcourt to help increase offensive efficiency. Said Calhoun, “It’s like having five guards on the floor. It’s really nice to see.”

The players were feeling confident following the win. Said John Gwynn, “If we keep doing that, we’re going to win a whole lot of basketball games this year. A whole lot.” 

Chris Smith, [QUOTE] “We worked on making the extra pass in practice and it was good. We got layups and easy shots. We’ve been blowing teams out and they have forced us to take quick shots. They gave them to us. Tonight we had to make the extra pass and that’s what we did. I think we’re ready for the Big East. I know we’re capable of playing anybody in the country now.” [END QUOTE]

At 10-2, UConn ended December on a high note. The calendar and the UConn program were about to turn the page to a new year, a new decade and new heights. But the journey would be far from smooth. 

Coming up on the next episode of The Dream Season Podcast, UConn travels to St. John’s for their first Big East road game of the season.

The Dream Season Podcast is researched, written & produced by me, Matt Edwards. 

Written sources for this episode are the Hartford Courant archives and SI Vault. 

You can connect with the show via Twitter and Instagram at DREAMSEASONPOD

If you have any memories to share about anything I just mentioned, want to correct me on something I screwed up or just have general feedback to give, send me an email at dreamseasonpodATgmail.com or call and leave me a message at (903) 884 - EIGHTY NINE NINETY. 

After I’m done with the regular episodes of the show, I’d love to have an episode that consists entirely of your memories of the Dream Season. Either leave a message at the above number or email me with an audio recording of your recollections, along with your name and location, and I will include them in that episode. Thank you Mike for submitting the first one! 

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As always, thank you so much for listening!!