With their NCAA Tournament hopes fading in the cold of a New England winter, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team were in desperate need of a win. They had lost three straight games and hosted one of the bottom feeders of the Big East in the DePaul Blue Demons on Saturday night.
While it wasn’t pretty, the Huskies held off a Blue Demons comeback at the end in a 64-57 win in front of 10,167 at Gampel Pavilion. The win for the Huskies (14-8, 4-6 Big East) ends a three-game losing streak. They are now 3-3 with head coach Jim Calhoun, who is still out on medical leave but is expected back soon. The Blue Demons fall to 8-15 (1-10) on the season.
Jerome Dyson led the way for the Huskies with 20 points. Stanley Robinson, sporting a new hair cut, added 10 points and led the Huskies with seven rebounds. Gavin Edwards came off the bench to score 10 points. Kemba Walker and Alex Oriakhi both chipped in with nine points while Ater Majok had a career-high five blocked shots to go with his six points and four rebounds.
Will Walker led all scorers with 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting on three-pointers. Mac Koshwal added 12 points and five rebounds while Eric Wallace led the Blue Demons with seven rebounds to go with his six points and four steals.
UConn started out slowly as they trailed by six at 11-5 at the first media timeout. An Edwards layup cut the Blue Demons lead to three points at 15-12 but DePaul followed with the next five points to open their lead up to eight points.
The Huskies then started their comeback as they went on an 11-3 run to tie the game up at 23. They followed that with an 11-4 run to open up a seven point lead at 34-27 heading into the locker room.
UConn built their lead to nine points early in the second half before the Blue Demons started their rally. They worked that nine point lead down over a ten minute span and took an one point lead at 52-51 on a Devin Hill jumper. During the Blue Demons rally, the Huskies went seven minutes without a field goal.
After a Robinson turnover, Walker made a key steal and a layup to give the Huskies the lead for good with 4:54 to play. The Huskies would hold the Blue Demons to just six points the rest of the way as they hit their free throws down the stretch.
A win is a win at this point and a conference win is even much better at this point. The Huskies just don’t look like the team that beat then No. 1 Texas and in their tough losses to Kentucky and Duke.
They once played their hearts out but something is missing. Yes, Calhoun is still out but this team seems to lack the killer instinct. Give credit to DePaul though. They came to play and never gave up.
The Huskies are back in action on Wednesday night when they head to the Carrier Dome to take on No. 3/4 Syracuse Orange. The game is scheduled to start at 7:00 p.m and will be nationally-televised by ESPN as part of Rivalry Week.
Notes and musings:
DePaul Blue Demons @ UConn Huskies 2.6.10 box score
The starters were Kemba Walker, Jerome Dyson, Stanley Robinson, Ater Majok and Alex Oriakhi.
The Huskies shot 41.6% (19-of-46) from the floor while the Blue Demons shot 43.6% (24-of-55).
UConn had just six assists on their 19 made baskets.
DePaul was of 8-of-16 (50%) on three-pointers while the Huskies were 1-of-7 (14.3%).
The difference in the game was free throws. UConn made 25-of-35 (71.4%) while DePaul was just 1-of-6 (16.7%).
The Huskies won the battle of the boards 36-29.
Both teams scored 26 points in the paint.
UConn turned 15 DePaul turnovers into 17 points while DePaul turned 13 UConn turnovers in 15 points.
The Blue Demons outscored the Huskies 11-6 on the fast break.
