No .5 UConn Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun said that he expected all 18 games in the Big East to be “wars”. So far we’ve seen 2½ wars in the Big East after tonight’s battle in Morgantown, WV with the No.22/25 West Virginia Mountaineers.

Jeff Adrien took over in the second half with 13 of his 17 points as the Huskies were able to hold on and beat the Mountaineers 61-55 in front of 13,920 at WVU Coliseum.

UConn moves to 13-1 (2-1 Big East) while West Virginia falls to 11-3 (1-1).

Jerome Dyson hit three free throws to start a 7-0 run to give the Huskies the lead for good at 52-47. After an Alex Ruoff basket, Kemba Walker put the lead back at 5 points with a layup. Ruoff made two free throws and then Adrien added a layup to keep the lead at 5 points before a 4-0 run by West Virginia cut the Huskies lead to 1 point at 56-55.  Walker then made a free throw and Dyson scored final 4 points to give UConn the win.

Besides Adrien’s 17 points and 7 rebounds, Hasheem Thabeet had his 7th double-double of the season with 13 points and 13 rebounds and added 3 blocks. Dyson added 11 points and Walker had 10 points and 8 rebounds. Stanley Robinson’s good play since returning to the team continued as he had 7 points, 15 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocked shots.

Da’Sean Butler and Ruoff paced the Mountaineers with 13 points each with Ruoff pulling down 7 boards. Daryl Bryant added 11 points and 7 assists while Wellington Smith had 9 points and 8 rebounds for coach Bob Huggins.

The road trip continues for the Huskies as they are back in action on Saturday afternoon when they will take on the Cincinnati Bearcats at 4:30 PM. The game will be broadcast locally on My-TV9 here in Connecticut.

Notes and musings:

UConn Huskies @ West Virginia Mountaineers 1.6.09 box score

With the win tonight, Jim Calhoun moves into 7th place all-time with 787 career wins.

UConn shot just 39.6% (21-53) while West Virginia shot 30.3% (20-66).

The Huskies dominated the glass tonight to a 52-33 advantage.

UConn was just 1-of-8 (12.5%) from 3-point land.

The Huskies were 18-of-27 (66.7%) from the charity stripe while WVU was 9-of-12 (75%).

UConn outscored WVU 38-20 in the paint.

The Huskies had 18 turnovers while WVU took good care of the ball with just 8 turnovers.

Both teams had 6 points on the fastbreak.