Connecticut head coach Jim Calhoun said today that starting guard Jerome Dyson and reserve guard Doug Wiggins will not play in tomorrow's game against Louisville. The pair were suspended indefinitely on Friday, and did not play in Uconn's upset victory over No. 7 Indiana.
"It obviously isn't something that is making me particularly happy," Calhoun told The Hartford Courant after arriving at the hotel Friday. "This particular suspension is mine, no one else's. I took the action based upon what I felt was in the best interest of our basketball team and the university."
Calhoun said neither player was arrested and the discipline was not related to their grades. A school spokesperson reiterated that this wasn't a legal or academic matter.
Dyson, from Rockville, Md., is the team's second-leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points. He has started all 18 games this season for UConn (13-5, 4-3 Big East). Wiggins, from East Hartford, has come off the bench in all 18 games, averaging 6.6 points.
Regardless of what the team was able to do against Indiana without these two, I think this bodes well for our chances to pull of the big win on the road. Dyson has really played well against athletic teams, scoring 17, 19 and 27 against Memphis, Gonzaga and Seton Hall, respectively, and Wiggins is a player capable of getting hot from the outside, the type of guy liable to have one of those career nights that tends to come against Louisville every other week.
You always want to beat a team at full strength, but given what these guys were able to accomplish on Saturday with the same players that will take the floor tomorrow night, I'd say a win would still be a pretty noteworthy accomplishment.