Throughout the week, we’ve stated our case for each of the Final Four teams to win the national championship. We conclude the series today with Connecticut.

There are reasons to like Connecticut to win it all beyond the fact that they’re coming out of the West Regional, like they did during championship runs in 1999 and 2004. First, the gentleman to the right has the ability to shut down the interior. And since the only guy who figured out a way to get the best of Hasheem Thabeet this season, Pittsburgh’s DeJuan Blair, is out of the tournament, I’m liking his chances to control the lane in Detroit.

But it’s far from a one man show for the Huskies. With Thabeet, Stanley Robinson and Jeff Adrien,  UConn has the best front court remaining in the tournament. The season ending injury to Jerome Dyson raised some questions about this team’s ability to advance deep into the tournament, but A.J. Price has taken on more of a scorer’s mentality and it’s working out beautifully. And it doesn’t hurt that freshman Kemba Walker and Craig Austrie have filled in admirably for Dyson down the stretch.

Another factor, which hasn’t been much of a factor at all, is the Yahoo! story accusing Connecticut of serious NCAA violations. Could Jim Calhoun be using a negative and turning it into a positive to motivate his troops? It sure seems like it. Often times when a coach says an off the court story won’t be a distraction, it manages to find its way onto the court. But the early results look promising in this department for Calhoun. And who doesn’t believe that he’d love to win his third championship and then walk away from potential sanctions?

Darius Smith, a 6-2 point guard from Marshall high school in Chicago, has committed to Jim Calhoun and the Connecticut Huskies. Indiana hoped to add Smith during the spring signing period, but the opening at point guard created by the departure of A.J. Price was the selling point for the Huskies.

Here’s what Smith told The Chicago Tribune about the decision:

“UConn’s style of play is my style of play–up and down the court. With A.J. Price a senior, this was a good fit for them and for me. I pride myself on doing it at both ends of the court, just like him. I like the program and get along real well with the coaching staff. I will be a true point guard there.”

Indiana won’t be affected much, if at all, by this decision because the Hoosiers have three solid point guards on next year’s roster. And barring an unforeseen development, Smith’s commitment likely signals the end of IU’s recruiting for the 2009 class.

No Jerome Dyson. No Doug Wiggins. No problem for Jim Calhoun and the Connecticut Huskies.

After announcing indefinite suspensions to both players on Friday night, Calhoun’s club dominated No. 7 Indiana on the glass and stunned the Hoosiers 68-63 in Assembly Hall.

The loss snapped Indiana’s 29-game home court winning streak and moved Kelvin Sampson to 27-1 at home as Indiana’s head coach.

“Today, the toughest team won,” Indiana coach Kelvin Sampson said. “Connecticut was just tougher than we were.”

The Hoosiers were out-rebounded 44-28 and shot just 37 percent from the field.

Indiana (17-2) opened the game on a 9-0 run on three-pointers by Eric Gordon, Armon Bassett and Jamarcus Ellis and looked like a team on a 13-game winning streak.

UConn (14-5), however, battled back and took their first lead at 17-16 on a three by A.J. Price. By halftime, the Huskies had built a 29-24 lead and led the rest of the way.

Craig Austrie led five Connecticut players in double figures with 15 points. Jeff Adrien and Stanley Robinson added 11 points and 11 rebounds each.

Armon Bassett led Indiana with 18 points (six three-pointers) and D.J. White collected a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Eric Gordon scored 16 points, but shot just 5 of 16 from the field and committed four turnovers.

The Hoosiers will return to action on Thursday night with a Big Ten road game against Wisconsin at 9 p.m.

Related:

• Box score

Opponent: Connecticut

Date: Saturday, January 26, 2008 | 1:05 p.m. EST

Arena: Assembly Hall (17,357) – Bloomington, Indiana

Line: Indiana by 9.5

All-time series: Connecticut leads 4-3

Previous meeting: Indiana won 77-73 on Jan 20, 2007

TV: CBS (Verne Lundquist and Billy Packer)

Radio: IU Radio Network (Don Fischer, Todd Leary and Joe Smith)

Probable Starters:

• Connecticut (13-5, 4-3 Big East): A.J. Price, Stanley Robinson, Craig Austrie, Jeff Adrien, Hasheem Thabeet
• Indiana (17-1, 6-0 Big Ten): Armon Bassett, Eric Gordon, Jamarcus Ellis, DeAndre Thomas, D.J. White

Game Notes (Adobe Reader required to view):

• Indiana

Gameday reading:

• Dyson and Wiggins suspended indefinitely (UConn press release)
• Calhoun suspends Dyson, Wiggins (Connecticut Post)
• UConn’s Thabeet impresses Indiana (Connecticut Post)
• Hoosiers look to join elite company (Indiana Daily Student)
• Party’s over (Indianapolis Star)

As always, your predictions, analysis and comments are welcome in the game thread.

A couple of notes today from IU Media Relations:

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – On Saturday, Jan. 26, against non-conference foe Connecticut, the Indiana men’s basketball team will welcome its second and final “White Out” this season. All fans are encouraged to wear white to the game, which will be televised by CBS at 1 p.m. EST.

Also, Coach Kelvin Sampson addressed the media to talk about the UConn game, A.J. Ratliff and more:

On what to expect from Connecticut:

“Speed, rebounding. Their size, obviously, with (Hasheem) Thabeet inside. They’re just a much more mature team than when we played them last year. They’ve grown up and (A.J.) Price is what Jim (Calhoun) thought he’d be. He’s really good. Price, (Jerome) Dyson, those two guards have great quickness. They play in great bursts. Thabeet I think has improved in every area. He’s 70-for-100 free throws. I think that is significant. I don’t have his stats from last year right in front of me, but I know that is just an example of how he’s improved. He’s more comfortable. I think he see himself as a great low post player now. Whether he has the ball or not he controls the lane defensively. (Jeff) Adrien is just a tough kid. He’s a warrior. And they are playing good now. I think early in the year…we all are what we are early in the year. The win over Marquette and they went in a won a great road game last night where just about everybody struggles is at Cincinnati. They will come in here with a lot of confidence.”

On the play of A.J. Ratliff:

“I think with A.J. it is just finding his niche. Missing all the games he did, he’s behind when he started. We’re not playing games where I have the luxury of giving him 10-20 minutes so he can get his confidence back. These are games that when you get in the conference season or you are playing against a great nonconference opponent like Connecticut, my emphasis is to put in the kids I’ve got that I think we can win with.”

A full transcript is available here.