The Delaware State Hornets came into their matchup with the No. 1 UConn Huskies at a serious disadvantage in just about all areas of the game. And to make matters worse, one of their top players, Arturo Dubois, sat out the game for disciplinary reasons.
The Hornets did their best to try and stay in the game early on but the Huskies were able to use their height to their advantage in a 79-49 win in front of 9,734 at Gampel Pavilion.
Gavin Edwards came off the bench to lead the Huskies (7-0) with a career-high 17 points. Jerome Dyson added 15 points and Jeff Adrien chipped in with 12 points and 6 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet added another double-double as he had 10 points and tied his career-high of 17 rebounds. He also blocked 4 shots. Kemba Walker just missed double digits with 9 points and added 4 assists. A.J. Price had an off night with just 3 points but added a team-high 5 assists.
The Hornets (1-9) were led by Donald Johnson’s game-high 25 points on 6-of-11 shooting from 3-point land. He was the only one in double figures for Delaware State. Frisco Sandidge added 6 points and 9 rebounds before fouling out.
Johnson did everything he could to keep the Hornets close in the 1st half as his third 3-pointer of the night cut the UConn lead to 14-11. Then the game really changed in Huskies favor as they went on a 26-5 run and next thing you know it was 40-16 Huskies. Adrien finished off the first half with a nasty dunk to give UConn a 44-18 lead. By the way, Johnson had 16 of the Hornets 18 points.
Delaware State started the second half with a 9-2 run led by Johnson and actually held UConn without a field goal until Thabeet threw down an alley-oop with 15:29 to go in the game. The Huskies continued to dominate as the Hornets tried to slow the game down and also packed their zone in but it didn’t work. A 14-4 run would give UConn a 27 point lead at 69-42 with 3:38 to go in the game.
Next up for the Huskies is their first road game of the season as they head to beautiful Buffalo, NY on Thursday night to take on the Buffalo Bulls. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 PM and the game will be covered locally on My-TV9. It will be the Huskies final game before they take an 11-day break for final exams.
Notes and musings:
Delaware State Hornets @ UConn Huskies 12.1.08 box score
The starters were the usual suspects of A.J. Price, Craig Austrie, Jerome Dyson, Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet.
UConn has won 92 consecutive regular-season games in Storrs in November and December.
The Huskies have a record of 120-17 in Gampel Pavilion, 57-4 against non-conference opponents.
Jim Calhoun is now in 8th place all-time by himself with 781 wins, 533 of those have come with UConn.
Delaware State didn’t attempt a free throw in the first half and didn’t get to the line until late in the second half.
The Huskies shot 49.1% (26-53) from the floor while holding the Hornets to 31.3% (20-64).
UConn was 6-of-14 (42.9%) from 3-point land while Delaware State was 7-of-29 (24.1%). Johnson made six 3’s.
I’m happy to report that the Huskies had a good night at the charity stripe as they were 21-of-25 (84%). Ideally, we’d like to see this number all season long but even I know that’s not going to happen.
UConn won the battle of the boards 40-34.
Delaware State committed 14 turnovers while the Huskies had 10.
