Jerome Dyson led 5 Huskies in double figures as UConn defeated the Seton Hall Pirates 98-86 at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ in the Big East season opener for both teams.
Dyson tied his career-high with 27 points, including 5-of-7 from 3-pt land. A.J Price had 16 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. Hasheem Thabeet had a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds while Jeff Adrien had 13 points. Stanley Robinson chipped in with 11 points to close out the Huskies in double figures.
Jeremy Hazell led the Pirates (9-4, 0-1) with a career-high 28 points. Larry Davis added 13 points off the bench. Eugene Harvey and Paul Gause chipped in with 11 points each. The Big East’s leading scorer Brian Laing was held to just 8 points on 3-of-14 shooting.
The first half was a little like a tennis match with the score. Back and forth, back and forth. UConn’s biggest lead was 3 points while Seton Hall enjoyed a 6 point margin at one point. The Huskies shot the ball well in the first half as they shot 58% from the floor. However, it was Hazell’s 16 points and the Pirates’ seven 3-pointers made which gave them a 48-47 lead at the half, not a score you expect in the first half of a Big East contest.
UConn’s (10-2, 1-0) defense came to play in the second half and they opened up the half on a 12-6 run to give themselves a 5 point lead. The Huskies then went on a 14-2 run, led by Dyson’s 8 consecutive points to go up by 11 points. Seton Hall was unable to cut into the lead that much as the Huskies made most of their free throws down the stretch to come out with an 11 point victory.
Next up for the Huskies is a trip to South Bend, IN to face Notre Dame on Saturday night at 9 PM. The game will be carried nationally on ESPN.
Notes and Observations:
The starters were A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet.
Those five starters came into the game averaging double digits points per game and they all were in double figures tonight.
Free throws were the major difference in the game as the Huskies got to the line 48 times while the Pirates got there 12 times. UConn was 34-of-48 (70.8%) while Seton Hall was 9-of-12 (75%).
The reason why UConn shot so many free throws was due to 31 fouls committed by the Pirates. The Huskies only committed 13 in the game.
The Pirates were 11-of-33 (33.3%) from 3-point land while the Huskies were 6-of-13 (46.2%).
UConn blocked 9 shots in the game. Thabeet and Robinson were each credited with 3 blocks.
UConn finished the game shooting 50.9% (29-57) while Seton Hall shot 39.3% (33-84).
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