Yesterday when the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team blew a 17 point lead and lost to UCF, we were left to wonder how they would respond in the third place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis against Florida State.

Well they came out against the Seminoles and played well until they blew a 10 point lead in the second half. But this time there was a different result.

It took three late free throws from Ryan Boatright to force overtime and from there Shabazz Napier took over as the Huskies would squeak out a 78-76 win over the Seminoles to win the third place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Arena at Atlantis in the Bahamas.

The No. 4 Huskies improve to 6-1 while the No. 22 Seminoles fall to 5-2.

Boatright came up huge for the Huskies late in his first collegiate game after missing the first six games due to suspension by the NCAA.

With the Huskies trailing by three, Napier missed a three pointer and got his own rebound. He dished it off to Boatright who was fouled on his three point attempt with seven seconds left.

Despite the high pressure of the situation, Boatright calmly hit all three free throws to knot the game up at 71. The Huskies withstood a last second chance from the Noles and went to overtime.

Trailing by one with just over a minute to go, Napier nailed a three-pointer that turned out to be the game-winner.  Luke Loucks missed two free throws that would have tied the game up with 45 seconds and after a missed three attempt at the buzzer, the Huskies escaped Atlantis with the two point win.

Napier led four Huskies in double figures with 26 points and had four rebounds and five assists. He did turn the ball over six times though. Jeremy Lamb had a nice shooting night from the floor going 7-of-9 to finish with 19 points. Boatright’s ended his first game with 14 points and three assists. He also hit all five of his free throws in the game, including the big three at the end of regulation.

Andre Drummond played well again as he finished with a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds. He also had seven blocked shots and three steals as well as altering other plays as well.

Michael Snaer led the Seminoles with 20 points while Devidas Dulkys had 14 points. Bernard James had a double-double of his own for FSU with 11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.

When faced with adversity this time, the Huskies responded. It did look at times like they might not and surprisingly it was Boatright who kept them calm despite making some silly mistakes. Shabazz definitely played better than the upset loss on Friday where he admitted he basically sucked.

You have to wonder if it was the presence of Boatright that pushed Shabazz to play better. It was surprising to see that Jim Calhoun used Boatright, Lamb and Napier all at the same time. Personally I thought Boatright would spell Napier. But it did bring a different dynamic to the Huskies, one that I’m sure Calhoun will use again at points during the rest of the season.

But for now, the Huskies get some time to rest before hitting the court again. They’re off until next Saturday when they’ll host the Arkansas Razorbacks in the SEC/Big East Challenge at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 3:15 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN.

To continue reading the Florida State Seminoles vs UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

Florida State Seminoles vs UConn Huskies 11.26.11 Battle 4 Atlantis box score

The starters for UConn were Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels, Tyler Olander and Andre Drummond.

The Huskies shot 48.1% (26-54) from the floor while the Noles shot 43.3% (26-60).

UConn had 14 assists on their 26 made baskets.

The Huskies were 11-of-25 (44%) on threes while FSU was 9-of-19 (47.4%).

UConn wasn’t all that bad at the charity stripe as they were 15-of-22 (68.2%). Napier did have a key miss late in the game as did Olander at the line.

The Huskies barely won the battle of the boards, outrebounding the Noles 36-34.

UConn had 12 points off of 16 FSU turnovers. The Noles had 11 points off of 19 Huskies turnovers. The Huskies definitely need to take better care of the ball. Big East teams will eat them up.

Florida State outscored UConn 31-28 in the paint and 11-0 on the fast break. They also had 13 second chance points to 8 for UConn.

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Photo credit: Getty Images (No. 6 in gallery)

The Rutgers Scarlet Knights came into this game looking to secure a share of the Big East title and a possible BCS bid. The UConn Huskies were looking to salvage their season and get closer to becoming bowl-eligible as well as sending off the seniors with a final home win.

The Huskies were able to take advantage of some early Rutgers turnovers and good field position on their way to a 40-22 win over the Scarlet Knights in front of 37,857 on Senior Day at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT on Saturday afternoon.

The Huskies improve to 5-6 (3-3 Big East) while the Scarlet Knights finish their regular season at 8-4 (4-3).

Last week, the Huskies allowed the Louisville Cardinals to take the opening kickoff back for a touchdown and that essentially took themselves out of the ball game. Saturday was a different story as the opening kickoff went out of the end zone.

The Huskies quickly turned the tables on Rutgers when Sio Moore forced a fumble by Rutgers RB Jawan Jamison that was recovered at RU’s 24 by Jesse Joseph. Just two plays after the recovery, Lyle McCombs punched it in the end zone to put UConn out front.

UConn would force another turnover on Rutgers’ next possession when Ty-Meer Brown picked off Chas Dodd at the RU 44 and returned it four yards. During the ensuing drive on 3rd and 13 at the 22, UConn QB Johnny McEntee hit senior WR Kashif Moore for 14 yards. Two plays later, Scott McCummings got it into the end zone to put UConn up 14-0.

UConn’s defense helped out things in the second quarter when senior Kendall Reyes picked up a fumble on the snap and returned it nine yards for a touchdown to push UConn’s lead to 21-3.

Nick Williams, who had an outstanding day on special teams returning the ball, set up UConn’s score in the 3rd quarter when he returned the opening kickoff 54 yards to the Rutgers 41 yard line. It would take McCombs just three plays to get in the end zone running all 41 yards to put UConn up 31-10.

UConn forced Rutgers to punt on the next possession and once again it was Williams who set up the Huskies with good field position by returning the punt 30 yards to Rutgers 34 yard line. They also got some help from the Scarlet Knights defense when Justin Francis was called for roughing the passer on 3rd and 3. This gave UConn the ball at RU 14 and McCummings took just one play to get in the back of the end zone to ensure the rout for the Huskies despite the extra point being blocked.

It was the first time in Dave Teggart’s career that he missed an extra point and oddly enough it came on senior day where he was honored before the game.

What I wonder is where was the UConn team all year? For the first time this year as far as I can remember, they took advantage of the other teams mistakes. They got great play from the defense and the offense did what it needed to do.

It makes you think where they might be had they been able to put a consistent effort in their other games like they did on Saturday.

Now they’ll prepare themselves to play spoiler again as Cincinnati has an outside chance of a share of the Big East title. The Huskies will also look to become bowl-eligible in their final game of 2011.

Scoring:

1st quarter

CON – 12:51 – Lyle McCombs 10 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick)

CON – 07:16 – Scott McCummings 5 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick)

2nd quarter

RU – 13:01 – San San Te 25 Yd Field Goal

CON – 07:39 – Kendall Reyes 9 Yd Fumble Return (Dave Teggart Kick)

RU – 04:05 – Jawan Jamison 1 Yd Run (San San Te Kick)

CON – 00:01 – Dave Teggart 33 Yd Field Goal

3rd quarter

CON – 13:36 – Lyle McCombs 4 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick)

CON – 10:13 – Scott McCummings 14 Yd Run (Pat Blocked)

CON – 02:43 – Dave Teggart 47 Yd Field Goal

4th quarter

RU – 07:57 – Brandon Coleman 17 Yd Pass From Gary Nova (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)

RU – 02:15 – Brandon Coleman 92 Yd Pass From Gary Nova (Two-Point Pass Conversion Failed)

To continue reading, the Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Offensive Player of the Game:

It’s hard to overlook what Nick Williams did on special teams. He had two key returns in the third quarter that set up two touchdowns. He also had a nice return early in the game that Huskies were unable to take advantage of.

Defensive Player of the Game:

Trevardo Williams was the man on defense. He had six tackles, a forced fumble and four sacks. His four sacks went for losses of 30 yards total.

Turning Point(s) of the Game:

After getting a field goal to end the first half, UConn came out and scored on their first two possessions thanks to some great returns by Nick Williams. For me this was the difference in the game.

Offensive Notes:

Johnny McEntee was 10-of-16 for 90 yards. Scott McCummings was 1-of-1 for 22 yards and had 10 rushes for 47 yards and two touchdowns. Lyle McCombs had 20 carries for 95 yards and two touchdowns with four catches for 30 yards. Jonathan Jean-Louis added 10 carries for 42 yards. Kashif Moore had three catches for 34 yards while Ryan Griffin had three catches for 31 yards.

Defensive Notes:

Jory Johnson led the Huskies with eight tackles (four solo, four assisted). Blidi Wreh-Wilson had seven tackles (four solo, three assisted), two pass breakups, a half sack and an interception. Trevardo Williams had six tackles, a forced fumble and four sacks. His four sacks went for losses of 30 yards total. Byron Jones, Sio Moore and Yawin Smallwood all had six tackles. Moore also forced a fumble, a sack and had an interception while Smallwood had a fumble recovery. Twyon Martin picked up a half sack while Kendall Reyes had a fumble recovery that he returned for a touchdown. Jesse Joseph also had a fumble recovery.

Special Teams Notes:

Nick Williams had three kick returns for 128 yards with a long of 54. His only punt return went for 30 yards. Cole Wagner punted the ball four times for 170 yards with a long of 50 and two downed inside the 20. Of Chad Christen’s eight kickoffs, four of them went for touchbacks. He also kicked one out of bounds which is inexcusable.

Injuries:

David Kenney suffered an undisclosed injury on special teams.

Moe Petrus suffered an undisclosed injury and did return the game two plays later.

Officials:

Referee: Jeff Maconaghy; Umpire: Jim Eckl; Linesman: Tommy Walsh; Line judge: Todd LaPenta; Back judge: Bryan Platt; Field judge: Rick Santilli; Side judge: George Liotus;

Game Notes:

Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ UConn Huskies 11-26-11 box score

The postgame quotes will be added once they become available.

Here are the starters for the Huskies:

OFFENSE
TE 81 Manning, Corey
TE 94 Griffin, Ryan
LT 71 Ryan, Mike
LG 69 Greene, Steve
C 57 Petrus, Moe
RG 63 Masters, Adam
RT 77 Friend, Kevin
QB 18 McEntee, Johnny
TB 43 McCombs, Lyle
FB 39 Hinkley, Mark
WR 83 Moore, Isiah

DEFENSE
CB 21 Wilburn, Gary
DT 4 Martin, Tywon
DT 99 Reyes, Kendall
DE 91 Joseph, Jesse
SLB 3 Moore, Sio
MLB 33 Smallwood, Yawin
WLB 28 Johnson, Jory
CB 7 Gratz, Dwayne
S 40 Brown, Ty-Meer
S 16 Jones, Byron
CB 5 Wreh-Wilson, Blidi

Big East Games and Results:

Friday, November 25, 2011

Louisville 34
USF 24

Pittsburgh 20
West Virginia 21

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Cincinnati 30
Syracuse 13

Things to Work On:

Honestly at this point, they just really need to take the good from this game and continue it next week.

Up Next:

The Huskies will look to become bowl-eligible in their final game of the 2011 season when they travel to Nippert Stadium to take on the Cincinnati Bearcats next Saturday at noon.

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Photo credit: US Presswire (No. 14, No. 5 in gallery)

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men’s basketball and women’s basketball teams as well as some of the other sports. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.

It’s a very busy Saturday to be a fan of UConn Huskies athletics.

The UConn football team is action at 12 p.m. when they’ll host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Senior Day at Rentschler Field. The game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. If you missed my Rutgers vs UConn preview, be sure to check that out.

After being upset yesterday by UCF, the UConn men’s basketball team will take on the Florida State Seminoles in the third place game at the Battle 4 Atlantis at 2 p.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on Versus.

The UConn women will also be on the basketball court as they’ll host the Buffalo Bulls at the World Vision Classic at Gampel Pavilion on campus in Storrs, CT. That game is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

To open the links up in a new tab or window, use Control+click

UConn Football links

Preview: Key game for Huskies [Lee Lewis – The Republican-American]

UConn out to deny Rutgers share of Big East title [CT Post]

For UConn’s Seniors, Last Chance To Beat Rutgers [Hartford Courant]

UConn football eager to ruin Rutgers’ holiday [Journal Inquirer]

Huskies must pass a test vs. Rutgers [New Haven Register]

Huskies can spoil Rutgers’ day [The Day]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Central Florida 68, UConn 63: Getting UConn Out of a Comfort Zone [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

VIDEO: Central Florida 68, UConn 63: Jim Calhoun’s Take [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Central Florida 68, UConn 63: Wrapping things up [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Sellers still connected to UConn [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Notes/Quotes from UCF: “I didn’t keep my guys poised…and I lost the game.” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

UConn vs. Florida State Preview [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Paradise Lost [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn loses to Central Florida 68-63 [CT Post]

Central Florida 68, UConn 63: What we learned [CT Post]

UCF Erases 17-Point Deficit, Beats UConn Men [Hartford Courant]

Oriakhi Won’t Back Down On His Campaign To Start [Hartford Courant]

Discomfort zone [Journal Inquirer]

With Boatright on board, Napier can catch his breath [Journal Inquirer]

Fourth-ranked Huskies upset by Central Florida [New Haven Register]

Weekend Look Ahead: Losers highlight Bahamas tournament [CBSSports.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno not happy despite 46-point win [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Traveling On Private Planes Not An Option For Auriemma [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Auriemma Not Pleased At All With 74-28 Win [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Auriemma Hardly Pleased As Huskies Roll Past FDU [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn women thrash FDU [CT Post]

UConn women: What we learned [CT Post]

Huskies Demolish Sleepwalking Knights [Hartford Courant]

Buffalo Nervous Over UConn Game, But Won’t Back Down, Coach Says [Hartford Courant]

Un-Fairleigh matched [Journal Inquirer]

Huskies crush Fairleigh Dickinson [New Haven Register]

Other UConn related links

M. Soccer. Huskies Set For NCAA Third Round vs. James Madison [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Ice Hockey. Late Goals Prove Costly for UConn in Nutmeg Classic Opener vs. Quinnipiac [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Huskies Drop 3-1 Result At Air Force [UConnHuskies.com]

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Coming off of an emotional and physical win over the Stanford Cardinal on Monday night, you weren’t sure how the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team was going to respond in their game on Friday night.

Now, folks, there’s a reason why they’ve won seven national titles. Head coach Geno Auriemma knows how to prepare his players for any opponent whether tough or easy.

He really didn’t have too much to worry about on Friday night though as freshman Brianna Banks led a balanced effort from the Huskies with 17 points in their 74-28 win over the Farleigh Dickinson Knights in front of 6,047 at Gampel Pavilion on campus in Storrs, CT in the World Vision Classic.

The No. 2/2 Huskies improve to 4-0 on the young season while FDU falls to 1-4.

Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis was the only other Husky in double figures with 11 points. She just missed a double-double with nine rebounds. Tiffany Hayes added nine points and seven rebounds while freshman Kia Stokes had a nice game with nine points, 11 rebounds and five blocked shots. Stefanie Dolson chipped in with eight points and six rebounds while Bria Hartley had eight points and five assists.

The only Huskies not to score were Kelly Faris and Laura Englen as all 11 members of the team saw action in the game.

FDU, who were playing without two players due to injuries, were led by Erika Livermore and Stephanie Issacs who both had six points. Livermore led the Knights with nine rebounds.

This one was pretty much over from the opening tip.

The Huskies started out the game on an 9-0 run before FDU got on the board with a free throw. From there, UConn rattled off a 20-0 run before the Knights finally got their first basket of the half from Mariyah Laurey with 6:40 to go in the first half.

UConn would close out the half on a 15-2 run to take a 44-5 lead into the locker room. The five points allowed in the first half is the lowest amount ever scored by an opponent in UConn women’s basketball history. The previous low before that was six by Providence back in 2005.

FDU did play better in the second half but it didn’t really matter as far as this game was concerned.

Both teams will be back in action tomorrow in the next phase of round robin games during the World Vision Classic. The Huskies will take on the Buffalo Bulls at 7:30 p.m. while the Knights will play the Dayton Flyers at 4:30 p.m.

To continue reading the FDU Knights @ UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

Farleigh Dickinson Knights @ UConn Huskies 11-25-11 World Vision Classic box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Geno Auriemma and FDU head coach Peter Cinella.

This was the 87th straight home win for the Huskies.

They have won 160 consecutive games at home against teams outside of the top 25 and 253 straight against unranked teams at home.

The starters for UConn were Bria Hartley, Caroline Doty, Tiffany Hayes, Kelly Faris and Stefanie Dolson.

The Huskies shot 42.1% (32-76) from the floor while the Knights shot 16.4% (9-55).

UConn had 18 assists on their 32 made baskets.

The Huskies were just 2-of-13 (15.4%) on threes. FDU wasn’t much better as they were 4-of-19 (21.1%).

UConn was uncharacteristically awful from the free throw line as they were just 8-of-19 (42.1%).

The Huskies dominated the glass, outrebounding the Knights 63-39.

UConn had 20 points off of 17 FDU turnovers. The Knights had just one point off of seven UConn turnovers.

The Huskies outscored the Knights 56-4 in the paint and 28-0 on the fast break.

UConn had 17 second chance points to just four for FDU.

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Photo credit: Bettina Hansen – Hartford Courant (No. 5 in gallery)

Last season when the UConn Huskies went to Maui for the EA Sports Invitational, we caught a glimpse of how good they might be. This year, while in the Bahamas for the Battle 4 Atlantis, we were hoping for the same thing.

Instead, we are now left wondering how the team will respond as Marcus Jordan, yes the son of Michael Jordan, put his UCF Knights team on his back in the second half and led them to a 68-63 upset win over UConn in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Imperial Arena at Atlantis in the Bahamas.

The No. 4 Huskies, who fall to 5-1 on the season and see their 16-game winning streak snapped, will take on the No. 21 Florida State Seminoles for third place on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m. UCF improves to 4-1 and will play the Harvard Crimson for the title at 4:30 p.m. Both of those games will be televised on Versus.

M. Jordan had 20 points and led his team with seven rebounds and seven assists while Keith Clanton also added 20 points and six rebounds. Isaiah Sykes added 10 points. The other son of the MJ, Jeff, had just two points in 21 minutes of action.

The Huskies were led in scoring by Jeremy Lamb who had 15 points. Alex Oriakhi, coming off the bench for the second straight game, had his finest game of the season as he put up 14 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and had five blocked shots. Andre Drummond just missed a double-double himself with 13 points and nine rebounds to go along with four blocked shots.

Honestly this game was one that UConn probably should have won. I’ve said before this season, this team has been lacking an identity and a killer instinct. It looked as though at one point with the Huskies up 17 points in the second half, they’d easily be moving on to the championship game on Saturday afternoon.

But UCF switched to a zone, made some buckets behind Jordan as the Huskies folded faster than a poker player with an awful hand. For some reason, the Huskies have never been able to figure out zones too well and that was the case. We’ve seen flashes where they can figure out how to beat the zone to get the opposing team out of it but there was none of that in this game.

Shabazz Napier tried to dribble through to it no avail. They tried to run Lamb 1-on-1 at times, that didn’t work. I didn’t see them really try to run a set offense when in UCF was in the zone where someone like a Tyler Olander who flashes to the key in the zone.

It will be really really interesting to see how the Huskies respond to adversity. Will this team come out with a fire tomorrow like nothing happened or will they let what happened in the loss bother them in tomorrow’s game?

How they respond tomorrow will tell us what we can expect for the rest of the season. Knowing Jim Calhoun like we do, I’m guessing the Huskies bounce back nicely.

We will finally get to see Shabazz get some rest and not when he’s in foul trouble as Ryan Boatright will finally make his UConn debut after being suspended for the first six games of the season.

Maybe he’s just what the Huskies need on Saturday.

To continue reading the UCF Knights vs UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Notes and musings:

UCF Knights @ UConn Huskies 11.25.11 Battle 4 Atlantis Semifinals box score

Kemba Walker was in the crowd along with his mom to watch the Huskies. Juanita Jordan, MJ’s ex-wife, was there to cheer on the Knights and her two sons.

Former UConn Husky and CSNNE Celtics analyst Donny Marshall did the color on the Versus telecast.

The starters for the Huskies were Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels, Tyler Olander and Andre Drummond.

The Huskies shot 42.4% (25-59) from the floor while the Knights shot 40% (22-55).

UConn had just seven assists on their 25 made baskets with Shabazz leading the way with five.

The Huskies were just 2-of-18 (11.1%) on threes. On the other hand, UCF was 7-of-17 (41.2%).

As we’ve come to expect with this UConn team, they can’t shoot free throws. They were 11-of-17 (64.7%). Make five of those misses and this game may go to overtime. Oh by the way, UCF, which is an awful free throw shooting team, was 17-of-21 (81%).

The Huskies did win the battle on the boards as they outrebounded the Knights 39-30.

UConn outscored UCF 42-28 in the paint and just 4-2 on the fast break.

The Huskies had six points off of eight Knights turnovers. UCF had 22 points off of 13 UConn turnovers.

UConn had 22 second chance points to 13 for UCF.

I was traveling back today and did my absolute best not to know the final score before getting home. And that explains why this recap is later than normal. My grandmother, despite us telling her not to tell us the score, called my father and let him know the final score. Thankfully my father didn’t ruin it for me as I could honestly say that if I knew they were going to lose, I wouldn’t have watched.

I will have the video of the halftime feature with Jeremy Lamb up on the site in a little while as well.

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