Hallelujah!! UCONN Men Finally Win

In a very ugly game on Saturday, it took overtime but the UCONN Men halted their 5 game losing skid behind the play of Jeff Adrien and Jerome Dyson. Those two players led UCONN to a 61-50 overtime win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights. Adrien led the way with 19 points and 7 rebounds while Jerome Dyson chipped in 13 points. Craig Austrie added 13 points to the cause as well. For Rutgers, they were led by Jaron Griffin, who scored 18 points. Anthony Farmer added 13 points.

The first half was ugly as both teams struggled to make baskets. Between the two teams, they scored 39 points and had 14 baskets between them. UCONN led 23-16 at the half.

The second half really wasn’t played that much better other than the fact that UCONN took good control of the ball. Rutgers got it down to 2 points at 28-26 before UCONN went on a 10-3 run which you would have thought that the game was out of reach. Unfortunately for UCONN, they weren’t able to make their free throws down the stretch and Rutgers forced overtime.

In the overtime, Rutgers took the lead at 50-49 but couldn’t finish off the Huskies, as UCONN went on a 12-0 run to finish off the Scarlet Knights.

Notes and Observations:

• The starters were Austrie, Dyson, Robinson, Thabeet and Adrien.
• Thabeet played well on both ends of the floor during the game. He was 4 of 6 from the floor and finished with 8 points. He also finished with a team high 11 rebounds and blocked 5 shots.
• Stanley Robinson continues to struggle from the floor. He was 0-6 and only had 1 point.
• UCONN actually didn’t score a basket for the final 9:37 of the game including the 5 minute overtime period.
• UCONN was 24 of 36 from the free throw line during the game including 14 of 16 during overtime.
• Coach Jim Calhoun was not happy with the play of Doug Wiggins and Marcus Johnson and was seen yelling at them on the side of court at different times.
• AJ Price was really a non-factor in this game as well. You have to wonder if the two year layoff from basketball is hurting him right now.
• Jim Calhoun now has 499 career wins and is now one win from 500 career wins at UCONN. Overall, he has 747 wins.

While missed free throws hurt UCONN down the stretch, they were very successful making them in overtime behind Dyson, Adrien, and Austrie who made all 14 of their free throw attempts in overtime. It was an ugly win, but it came at the right time for the Huskies as it kept their hopes alive of making the Big East Tournament in March. It would definitely be strange not to the see the Huskies in the tournament.

With the win, UCONN moves to 14-8 (3-6 in the Big East). Next up for the Huskies is a date against the Orangemen of Syracuse on ESPN’s Big Monday at 7 PM at Gampel Pavilion. The Men’s ‘Huskies of Honor’ will be presented during the first half timeouts and the whole team will be introduced to the crowd at halftime.

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