In the first half, it was total domination by the UConn Huskies for the latter part of the half. In the second half, it was all Austin Freeman.
Freeman scored 28 of his 33 points in the second half to help the Georgetown Hoyas come back for a 72-69 win over the Huskies in front of 15,654 at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. on Saturday afternoon.
With the loss, the Huskies fall to 11-4 (2-2 in the Big East). The Hoyas to 12-2 (3-1).
The Huskies held a 15 point lead heading into the second half but they came out flat and couldn’t make a shot. Meanwhile Freeman decided he was going to be a one man wrecking crew for the Hoyas. The Huskies left him wide open and the Hoyas got Freeman and the ball and he took advantage as he scored eight points during a 10-0 run to get his team back in the game.
During the first half, it looked the Hoyas were defeated.
Both teams were going up and down the floor in a style that more suits UConn. Eventually Georgetown looked lost as they were having trouble executing their plays and went cold. The Huskies took advantage of this as they went on a 16-0 run to open up a 19 point lead at 40-21.
The Hoyas would score the last four points of the half to cut UConn’s lead to 15.
After a strong first half that saw him score 12 points including three dunks, Stanley Robinson went ice cold and finished with 16 points. He also had eight rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Jerome Dyson, playing in front of friends and family, had 12 points while his backcourt mate Kemba Walker added 9 points, six assists but had five turnovers.
Alex Oriakhi had a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds while Jamal Coombs-McDaniel came off the bench to spark the Huskies with 11 points. Ater Majok was a non-factor again as he played just eight minutes, picking up two fouls in the process.
Greg Monroe added a double-double of his own for the Hoyas with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Wright had 14 points and four assists.
This was a very disheartening loss for the Huskies who should have seemingly cruised to a victory after a great first half. Instead they now find themselves at 2-2 in the Big East with an improving Pittsburgh squad coming to the XL Center on Wednesday night. That game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.
Notes and musings:
UConn Huskies @ Georgetown Hoyas 1.9.10 box score
The starters were Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson, Ater Majok, Stanley Robinson and Alex Oriakhi.
The Huskies shot 47.5% (28-of-59) from the floor while the Hoyas shot 41.5% (27-of-65).
UConn had 15 assists on their 28 made baskets.
The Huskies won the battle of the boards 38-35.
UConn had 15 turnovers while the Hoyas had 10.
The Huskies outscored the Hoyas 44-30 in the paint.
As I always say, missed free throws will kill your chances of winning. The Huskies missed eight, going 9-of-17 (52.9%).
UConn lost its third straight conference road game and its fourth straight against a ranked opponent, dating back to last season.
It’s the fourth straight win for the Hoyas over UConn who had won the previous eleven before that.
