Providence used a 37-12 run in the second half to overtake the Huskies and defeat them 84-72 on Saturday afternoon at the Hartford Civic Center. Providence was led by Herbert Hill and Weyinmi Efejuku who both scored 19 pts. Hill also added 11 rebounds. For UCONN, they were led by Jeff Adrien’s 10th double-double of the season, 18 pts and 10 rebounds. Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins finished off the Huskies in double figures with 10 pts each.

UCONN got down 4-0 early in the first half but a Stanley Robinson 3 point shot, Jeff Adrien jumper, Jerome Dyson 3 pointer and another Stanley Robinson 3 pointer got UCONN out to a 11-6 lead and never looked back in the first half, on their way to a 45-34 lead at half. UCONN had come into the game 309th in the country in 3 point field goals made but at halftime they were 7 of 12 (58%) from 3 point land.

Providence started out the 2nd half with a 16-0 run that ended on Jerome Dyson’s two free throws. The run eventually became a 37-12 run that put the game out of reach.

Notes and Observations:

  • I am going to stay away from the we suck rant and rave today. Well, I will try to.
  • The starters were Price, Dyson, Robinson, Thabeet, and Adrien
  • Stanley Robinson, who was coming off a zero point effort at Louisville earlier this week, ended up scoring 9 pts and pulling down a career high 13 rebounds.
  • Jeff Adrien’s 10th double-double of the season in this game was the third straight one for him.
  • Hasheem Thabeet only played 15 minutes because of foul trouble. In his time on the court, he was non-existant on the offensive end. He only took one shot and missed it. He did block 5 shots though.
  • The starting backcourt of Price and Dyson were a combined 6 of 24 from the floor. Price finished with 7 points and Dyson had 10 points.
  • UCONN was 12 of 17 ( 70.6%) from the free throw lane. A little improvement from past games but it didn’t matter as they were getting smoked in the second half.
  • UCONN was outscored by 26 points (48-22) in the lane during the game.
  • Providence used 7 players in the game and 6 of them were in double figures.

I don’t know what to say about the game or the team right now. It’s funny because I text messaged my father who was at the game at halftime to say “Good game so far”. I guess that was the kiss of death. UCONN was able to get out to their lead in the first half because they were making their shots against Providence’s 2-3 zone. In the second half when the shots weren’t falling, UCONN simply could not execute in the half court sets. A very frustrating loss for the Huskies and it’s fans.

With their 4th consecutive loss and 7th in their past nine games, UCONN falls to 13-7 (2-5 in the Big East). Next up for the Huskies is a date in Chicago on Wednesday night against the DePaul Blue Demons. Game time is 9 EST and the game will be broadcast locally on CW20.