March has traditionally been UConn’s time of the year.
 
Jim Calhoun started the tradition when he coached the Huskies to NCAA championships in 1999, 2004 and 2011, turning them into a storied program. Now Kevin Ollie, who won a title himself in 2014, is attempting to continue it.
 
The Huskies, who finished in fifth-place in the American regular season, have come to life in dramatic fashion this week in the quarterfinals of The American Championship – first with a dramatic four-overtime marathon victory against Cincinnati and an impressive 77-62 victory over top seeded, regular-season champion Temple in Saturday's semifinals at the Amway Center to advance to the championship game for a third straight year.
 
“I wouldn't have it any other way,” Ollie said. “We beat a good Cincinnati team that beat us twice in the regular season and a good Temple team that beat us twice. So we want to save this, then go back to the hotel and relax and get ready for the championship game.”
 
The victory likely locked up an NCAA tournament bid for the Huskies (23-10), whether they win the championship or not. The Huskies are peaking at the right moment, shooting 52.6 percent and shutting down Temple's dangerous three point shooters defensively. 
 
The Owls (21-11) are hoping for the best when the committee announces its 68-team field. “We hope so, but it's not in our hands” Temple guard Josh Brown said. “We just pray tomorrow on Selection Sunday that we hear our names called.” 
 
UConn forward Daniel Hamilton, whose personal season has mirrored some of the peaks of valleys of this team, has started to become the prime-time player he was projected to be when he was a McDonald's All American from Crenshaw High in Los Angeles, Ollie's alma mater. The 6-7 sophomore had 32 points and 12 rebounds in the win over Cincinnati, then followed it up with a 19-point, 11-rebound performance against Temple. 
 
“Calm, calm, calm,” Ollie said of his sophomore sensation. “Understanding what he has to do on the offensive end, the defensive end. Daniel, he sometimes goes through those valleys, where he loses a sight of his man or has lapses. I just think he's been mentally strong and focused and determined to get the job done and it's starting with his defense. He's really stepping up, and this is what I always talk about. I always say coaching is very, very overrated. Players make plays this time of the year. You can draw up something, but they’ve got to go make the plays, and Daniel is doing a great job of that.”
 
With Hamilton, it was just a matter of faith. “I've been struggling all season pretty much, and I've been up and down” he said. “So my family has been sending me good scriptures, like let your light shine before man, that they may see your good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven. I want to glorify God and I think He's a big contributor to how I'm playing. And I want to continue building off that and get that shots I like on the court.”
 
Fifth year senior forward Shonn Miller, a transfer from Cornell, also scored 19 points for the Huskies and freshman guard Jalen Adams added 11.
 
By all rights, UConn should have been exhausted after playing a seemingly never-ending game against a physical Cincinnati team. Instead, they never let their fatigue show and used the experience to fuel their momentum.
 
“We were definitely confident,” Hamilton said. “After a win like that, with the shot that Jalen (Adams) made (a three-quarter court banker that was just before the buzzer of the third overtime that tied the game), it's was a real confidence builder. So wanted to come out here and build off that game and then come out with more intensity, like we did, and just continue to keep building from there, especially going into the tournament.”
 
Hamilton has become a much more efficient shooter by not just settling for 3s and working on his in-between game. “I want to get in between,” he said. “Once I do that, if the 3’s open, I'll take it. But I just want to get into the lane, shoot my floaters and shoot my one or two dribble pull-ups.”
 
The Huskies played so much more efficiently on defense against the Owls than earlier in the season when they gave up a 12-point lead in the final four minutes of a 63-58 loss in Philly. “Everybody remembers that game,” Ollie said. “Up 12 and they hit three 3s in a row.
 
“Temple has been making nine 3s a game. That leads our conference. They can really get hot. Devin Coleman comes in and gets hot. We wanted to be very cautious of that. Run them off the 3-point line and make them take contested 2s.”
 
Connecticut limited the Owls to just 4-for-20 from beyond the arc and held Temple to just 35.4-percent shooting for the game. Hamilton and 6-4 junior guard Rodney Purvis combined to neutralize Temple's 6-5 first team all-league guard Quenton DeCosey, holding him to 14 points on 4-for-17 shooting.
 
Temple jumped out to a 12-4 lead before Connecticut got its second wind. ”They kind of played with a little more edge (than the team's first two meetings) I guess, coming off that four-overtime win,” Josh Brown said. “We thought we jumped on them early. But they had kind of a different look coming out of the the first timeout. So they threw the next punch and we weren't able to bounce back from that until the second half. They just played with more grit.”
 
The Huskies have as much talent as anyone in the conference. It is finally starting to show.