Eric Musselman shares impressions of Jordan Hawkins

Adama Sanogo garners plenty of attention for UConn — and rightfully so — but sharpshooter Jordan Hawkins also poses a big threat for opposing teams. The Huskies’ leading three-point shooter, he’s another key weapon on offense, and Arkansas will have its hands full containing both him and Sonogo.

Eric Musselman knows exactly what his team is up against.

“One of the best pure shooters in college basketball,” Musselman said of Hawkins. “He’s got a quick release. He’s got a competent release. Doesn’t need a bunch of dribbles, can catch and shoot, can also create a little off the bounce. You can’t let him have separation. You’ve got to ID him as early as possible and try to not let him get any catch-and-shoot-right-away shots.

“Coach Hurley does a great job of running multiple things for him off baseline, out-of-bound triple screens, staggered wheel action stuff. And the thing is he does a great job of constant moving. He’s not a guy that’s stationary. When the ball moves, he moves. So, he’s a difficult cover because of all those reasons.”

Hawkins ranks second on the UConn roster in scoring with 15.9 points per game, but shoots at a 37.8% clip from three-point territory. He’s a big reason why the Huskies are in the Sweet Sixteen, taking on an Arkansas team loaded with NBA talent.

Stopping the UConn offense is one challenge, though. Arkansas has to keep the Huskies off the glass considering they average almost 39 rebounds per game. Musselman spoke at length about that aspect of UConn’s game and said that’s a focal point for his team.

“They’re relentless on the glass, for sure,” Musselman said. “I think that our team’s had nights where we’re really, really good defensive rebounding because that’s obviously the key is to try to keep them off the offensive glass. That’s one of the defensive themes that we’re trying to create with our team. So you’ve got to be physical. They’re a physical team. They send four to the glass almost every time. A lot of teams will send three to the glass and two back. But they, almost every possession they’re sending four to the glass.

“We’ve got to do a good job defensive rebounding, and then we’ll see how that affects our transition offense as well. But obviously they’re the best rebounding team we played all year and we played against some really good rebounding teams. … But everyone says UConn is the best rebounding team in the country. And they have two centers that, in my opinion, is the best center combination basically in all of basketball. They basically have a backup that’s a starter on almost every team in a country and is a freshman and had a great year.”