Price a leader in narrow UConn win

It was obvious at times that A.J. Price was struggling on the court.

He wasn't hitting any 3-pointers, he couldn't seem to get his jump-shot going and he even let a ball slip through his hands for a turnover.

But when Price stepped on the court, none of these things seemed to faze him. Instead, Price slowly turned away from the statistical leader, which he's been of late, and became the emotional and vocal leader, a role that has been five years in the making.

"Even when we weren't going good tonight, [Coach Jim Calhoun] was saying, 'Where's the leadership? Where's the leadership?' and he looked at me," Price said. "I knew it was a subliminal message that I needed to become more vocal and get this team rolling."

Even when Michigan was controlling the tempo and was up by eight in the first half, Price came onto the court with a certain aura around him. He was calling out plays, telling teammates where to go on offense as well as talking to them on the defensive end.

Price was particularly vocal with teammate Jerome Dyson. Price was constantly pointing to Dyson and telling him where to go.

"We are always talking together, no matter what," Dyson said. "We have a great chemistry just between the two of us. We know where each other is out on the floor, but he does that with everybody. If he's not having a good game points wise or stats wise, he's definitely still out there with us, helping everybody out."

With 4.3 seconds left to play in the first half, the Huskies regained the ball off a Wolverine turnover. Calhoun immediately turned to his bench and called Price, who seemed to be sitting out the half, out onto the court.

Price was the one who got the inbounds. Price was the one who dribbled through multiple defenders. Price was the one who took a 40-foot three pointer that missed wide right.

With the missed shot, Price and the Huskies went into halftime down 34-33. But despite the miss and the deficit, UConn had the momentum.

Coming out of halftime, the Huskies went back and forth with Michigan, exchanging baskets and the lead. Once again, Price struggled to find some rhythm but never lost his leadership.

When the Huskies were taking the ball out of bounds, Price turned to Calhoun and made a diamond signal with his hands. Calhoun paused for a moment and shouted out a different play to Price, who then shouted that play to his teammates. The play resulted in a basket.

"We go through that out of bounds scenario like every play; most of the time, [Calhoun] lets me make the call and goes with what I feel," Price said. "But sometimes, like tonight, he saw something different and when he did, that play worked."

Some may say that Price's vocal leadership developed naturally as the point guard of the team. But Price says he was chosen to play this part.

"It's something I think coach almost does a great job of forcing it on certain people in his program," Price said. "More often than not, it's his point guards. He demands that his point guards be leaders."

For Price, this is a role that he's come to embrace and it's a role that he enjoys, he said.

"I think the players respond to me well, for whatever reason that may be," Price said. "As long as we keep winning and I'm doing it, it makes me look good as well."