Subscribe
Follow Us
Top-seeded UConn basketball is set to take on Alabama in their Final Four matchup on Saturday, but their schedule has been thrown off thanks to some brutal travel issues.
The Huskies had issues getting a flight to Arizona, according to Matt Norlander of CBS Sports in a series of posts on X.
“BREAKING: UConn does not have a plane to fly to Arizona at the moment, Dan Hurley tells @CBSSports. Was supposed to take off at 6 ET, logistical/mechanical issues with the plane coming in from Kansas City forced significant delays. NCAA handles all trace for NCAAT. More …”
The issue for UConn (among many) is crew flying plane from KC would be over their FAA hours and can’t fly UConn immediately to Arizona. UConn’s earliest option is to get a smaller plane via Cincinnati that won’t take off until 12:45 am ET and not land until nearly 5 am ET/2 am PT
The plane from Cincinnati would require a fuel stop because it’s smaller. The Huskies are going to get to Arizona with hours to spare before Thursday media availability. They have tried for an hour working every charter possible, but nothing is available for the next five hours.”
UConn coach Dan Hurley was clearly getting impatient as the hours went by: “Wheels not up,” he posted at 1:05 a.m. ET.
The Huskies finally got in the air and got into Arizona at 3:14 a.m. local time, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.
The Huskies are Here! #MFinalFour 🏀🌵 pic.twitter.com/PdiGjjpC87
— NCAA Men's Final Four (@MFinalFour) April 4, 2024
Thamel later noted that UConn is working with the NCAA to adjust their schedules for practice and media availability.
UConn basketball vs. Alabama
Alabama started things off in the first round with a shootout win against No. 13 seed Charleston. They then beat No. 12 seed Grand Canyon fairly easily and coasted to a Sweet 16 berth.
The Sweet 16 was difficult and also proved that Alabama is as legit as they come. The Crimson Tide took down No. 1 seed North Carolina by two points to punch their ticket to the Elite Eight, and then they beat a scrappy sixth-seeded Clemson team to earn their first-ever trip to the Final Four. The road will get tougher as UConn basketball awaits.
However, UConn basketball is going to beat Alabama because of two things: Donovan Clingan and defense.
First, Donovan Clingan. He has been one of the best players in the NCAA Tournament so far, and no one seems to have an answer for him. He is big, athletic and he is projected to be a very early pick in the NBA Draft. So far in the tournament, he has scored 19 points against Stetson, 14 points against Northwestern, eight points against San Diego State and 22 points against Illinois.
The 7'2″ sophomore has been sensational, and the Crimson Tide aren't going to be able to match up well against him as everyone on the team is at least three inches shorter than him, and they aren't a good defensive team in the first place.
Defense for the Huskies is another key in the game. Alabama can shoot it, and when they're on, they can keep up with anybody because of it. However, this UConn team just went on a 30-0 run against Illinois and held them to zero points for over nine minutes. The Crimson Tide will need to have their best shooting performance of maybe the season to win this one, but UConn is going to make that very difficult.
UConn basketball takes on Alabama on Saturday with a trip to the National Championship Game on the line.
