Given the way the UConn Huskies men’s basketball came out of the gates, you have to wonder if maybe they were already in the Bahamas, the site of their next three games after Sunday afternoon’s tilt against the Coppin State Eagles.

But a strong effort from Shabazz Napier, who had a triple-double, helped the Huskies to an 87-70 win over the Eagles in front of 11,397 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

It’s the 15th straight win for No. 4 UConn who improves to 4-0. Coppin State falls to 1-3.

Napier played almost the entire 40 minutes and was outstanding throughout. He finished the afternoon with 22 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds. Jeremy Lamb, who had been a game time decision after spraining his ankle in practice on Saturday, led all scorers in the game with 25 points.

After being demoted from the starting lineup in the last game, Roscoe Smith rebounded with a nice performance off the bench with 15 points and four rebounds. Tyler Olander had his second straight double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

The Eagles were led by Tony Gallo’s 21 points and he had a team-high six assists. Akeem Ellis chipped in with 16 points and led them with seven rebounds while Michael Harper had 15 points.

UConn got out to a 6-4 lead before an Ellis three put the Eagles up 7-6. Coppin State then went on an 8-2 run to push their lead to seven at 15-8. After a Napier three cut their lead to four, the Eagles went on a 9-1 run to open up a 12 point lead at 24-12 with 10:42 to go in the half.

An old fashioned three-point play by Harper increased their lead to 13 at 27-14 before the Huskies woke up and mounted their comeback. It started on the defensive end as they increased the pressure that led to a 20-2 run that gave UConn a 34-29 lead with 3:14 to go in the half.

Collin Johnson’s three tied the game up at 34 before Lamb scored the final seven points of the half to give the Huskies a 41-34 lead at the break.

Lamb’s run continued as he scored the first five points of the second half to push UConn’s lead to 12. Their lead would hover around the 12-14 point mark throughout the first part of the second half before a DeAndre Daniels’ three pushed it to 17 with 10:20 to go.

Napier and Lamb made sure though that the Eagles would get no closer than 11 points the rest of the way to ensure UConn’s victory.

After a breakout game, Andre Drummond fell off in this one. He got into a little bit of foul trouble and that certainly didn’t help. Alex Oriakhi also didn’t play well in this game and has been the case all season long, Olander was the best big man on the floor for the Huskies. Nice to see Roscoe break back into things. He was a big part of UConn’s success last year and needs to be again this year. 

Right now this UConn team is still lacking an identity. We’ve seen Napier and Lamb carry this team so far this season and there’s going to come a point where they’ll be shutdown.

Hopefully this little jaunt to the Bahamas will get the team a little closer and get them play as a more cohesive unit. It worked for the team last year when they went to Maui and won the EA Sports Maui Invitational. Could the same thing be in order at the Battle for Atlantis on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

The Huskies will open the tournament on Thursday night against the UNC Asheville Bulldogs at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on HDNet.

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

Notes and musings:

Coppin State Eagles @ UConn Huskies 11.20.11 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Jim Calhoun as well as a few of his players.

Former Huskies All-Americans Kemba Walker and Hasheem Thabeet were seen sitting behind the UConn bench.

Shabazz Napier’s triple-double was just the ninth in UConn Huskies men’s basketball history. Walker has the last one last year against the University of Maryland Baltimore County.

The 15 game winning streak is the third longest winning streak in school history.

The starting five for the Huskies was Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels, Tyler Olander and Alex Oriakhi.

The Huskies shot 55.9% (33-59) from the floor while the Eagles shot 39.1% (27-69).

UConn had 21 assists on their 33 made baskets.

The Huskies were 7-of-18 (38.9%) on three-pointers. Coppin State was 12-of-31 (38.7%).

UConn was once again awful at the charity stripe as they were 14-of-25 (56%). Niels Giffey was the big culprit as he was 1-of-5. DeAndre Daniels was 0-for-2.

After being outrebounded 24-21 at the half, UConn finished the game with a 42-36 advantage on the glass.

The Huskies had 11 points off of nine Eagles turnovers. Coppin State had 12 points off of eight UConn turnovers.

UConn outscored the Eagles 40-24 in the paint and 22-9 on the fast break.

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

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 game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they’ll host the Coppin State Eagles this afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford, CT. Tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally in CT on SNY.

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

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Daniels Overshadowed; Lamb Hurt [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Jeremy Lamb Sprains Ankle [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Dom also answered a question in his mailbag [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Lamb sprains ankle in practice [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Drummond may start for UConn while Lamb could sit [CT Post]

Calhoun Wants More Bully Out Of Oriakhi [Hartford Courant]

DeAndre Daniels thriving in Andre Drummond’s shadow [New Haven Register]

Huskies are still working on their chemistry [The Day]

UConn Men’s Basketball Preview Glance — Vs. Coppin State [The Hour]

UConn Football links

What we learned in the Big East: Week 12 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

No title defense for UConn [Chip Malafronte – New Haven Register]

Report Card: Louisville [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

Postgame wrap Louisville [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

Huskies Miss Out On Chances [UConnHuskies.com]

Louisville knocks off UConn, which falls out of Big East race [CT Post]

Huskies Fall To Louisville, 34-20 [Hartford Courant]

Failed Interception Bid One Of Many UConn Mistakes [Hartford Courant]

Bye Week Didn’t Help Huskies [Hartford Courant]

Another Painful Fumble For UConn [Hartford Courant]

Louisville ends Huskies’ Big East title hopes [New Haven Register]

Things go from bad to worse for Huskies [The Day]

Louisville football downs UConn 34-20 [Louisville Courier-Journal]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Strategy To Beat The ESPNU System [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Long Stretch For Mowins Includes UConn/Stanford Monday [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

No. 4 UConn Welcomes No. 5 Stanford on Monday [UConnHuskies.com]

Other UConn related links

W. Swimming. Swimming And Diving Competes on First Day In Pittsburgh [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Swimming. Men’s Swimming And Diving In Fourth At Pittsburgh [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Ice Hockey. UConn Women’s Hockey Loses Sixth Straight to No. 5 Boston [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Ice Hockey. Men’s Hockey Rallies But Falls at No. 9 Yale, 5-3 [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Cross Country. Huskies Take 11th at IC4A Championships To End Season [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Cross Country. Lauren Sara Set for NCAA Championships [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Soccer. Senegalese standouts lead UConn in NCAA tourney [Norwich Bulletin]

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

It’s hard to win a football game when you beat yourself with stupid mistakes. And that’s what happened to the UConn Huskies on Saturday afternoon with horrible special teams to start the game, eight dropped passes, a dumb roughing the kicker penalty and then lateraling the ball at the end of the game when you still had a timeout.

The end result of all those blunders was a 34-20 loss to the Louisville Cardinals in front of 34,483 at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, CT.

The Huskies fall to 4-6 (2-3 Big East) and need to win their final two games to become bowl-eligible. Speaking of becoming bowl-eligible, the Cardinals got there as they improve to 6-5 and are now tied with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights at 4-2 for first place in the Big East.

The final mistake UConn made came after they successfully executed an onsides kick and recovered it on their 41 yard line with 11 seconds to go in the game. They needed to go 59 yards and had one timeout.

But after Johnny McEntee hit Ryan Griffin at the 50 yard line. Instead of falling down and calling timeout, he lateraled the ball to Isiah Moore who then threw it back to McEntee and then McEntee decided to throw another forward pass that was picked off by Malcom Mitchell who returned it for a touchdown to end the game.

Had they just called a timeout, they would have a better chance to tie the game up. Instead, they’ll probably find themselves on ESPN’s Not Top 10 later in the week.

UConn really did beat themselves in this game.

They allowed Adrian Bushnell to return the opening kickoff for a touchdown. They dropped seven easily catchable balls on offense and even Blidi Wreh-Wilson, who returned after missing the last five games, dropped a sure-fire interception.

When you have an offense like UConn’s, you need all the help you can get. So when you drop seven balls in key situations, like Isiash Moore did on third down a few times, it hurts. It was just him though as Kashif Moore, Lyle McCombs and Ryan Griffin all had drops as well.

Louisville’s rushing defense wasn’t exactly spectacular coming into the game but they shutdown the combination of Scott McCummings and McCombs forcing McEntee to throw the ball 43 times. Not exactly the bread and butter of UConn’s offense as we know.

McCummings led the team 40 yards rushing while McCombs had just 33 yards. McEntee did throw for 253 yards but only completed 18 of his 43 passes with a touchdown pass and an interception.

We really can’t place blame on McEntee for this one like we’ve been able to do in the past. I really think if some of those drops had been caught, the complexion of the game probably would have changed.

At this point though, Pasqualoni has a decision to make.

Does he keep going with McEntee as his quarterback for the rest of the season? Or does he see what McCummings can do for an entire game?

Personally, I don’t think he’s got much to lose by going with McCummings in the final two games. It’s possible he could lose the final two games by doing what he’s been doing all season long. Why not try something different and see what happens.

Scoring:

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final
Louisville Cardinals	14	0	7	13	34
UConn Huskies	0	10	0	10	20

1st quarter

LOU – 14:45 – Adrian Bushell 100 Yd Kickoff Return (Chris Philpott Kick)

LOU – 05:51- Daniel Brown 6 Yd Run (Chris Philpott Kick)

2nd quarter

CON – 08:41- Dave Teggart 24 Yard Field Goal

CON – 00:53 – Kashif Moore 5 Yd Run (Dave Teggart Kick)

3rd quarter

LOU – 03:17 – Teddy Bridgewater 5 Yd Run (Chris Philpott Kick)

4th quarter

LOU – 09:52 – Teddy Bridgewater 1 Yd Run (Chris Philpott Kick)

CON – 08:34 – Kashif Moore 31 Yd Pass From Johnny McEntee (Dave Teggart Kick)

CON – 00:13 – Dave Teggart 37 Yard Field Goal

LOU – 00:00 – Malcolm Mitchell 36 Yd Fumble Return

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

Offensive Players of the Game:

Do I really have to pick one? Do I go with Louisville QB Teddy Bridgewater who was 14-of-22 for 174 yards and interception but nine rushes for -1 yards and two touchdowns? Or do you I go with Kashif Moore who had seven catches for 110 yards and a touchdown but also had some key drops? You decide because I can’t.

Defensive Player of the Game:

UConn LB Sio Moore had 13 tackles (seven solo, six assisted), a sack for a loss of 11 yards and one pass breakup.

Turning Point of the Game:

With Lousiville holding a 14-10 lead in the third quarter, UConn forced the Cardinals into a punting situation at their 13 yard line. They would have gotten good field position at Louisville’s 45 yard line. Instead, Kendall Reyes was called for roughing the punter and the five yard penalty gave the Cardinals a first down. Nine plays later, Lousiville found themselves in the end zone and never looked back from there.

Offensive Notes:

Johnny McEntee was 18-of-43 for 253 yards with one touchdown pass and an interception. He was also sacked once. Scott McCummings led the Huskies with 40 yards rushing on eight carries. He was 0-for-2 on passing opportunities. Lyle McCombs had 10 rushes for 33 yards and two catches for 23 yards. Kashif Moore had seven catches for 110 yards and a touchdown. Isiah Moore had five catches for 60 yards and Ryan Griffin had two catches for 43 yards.

Defensive Notes:

Sio Moore led all players with 13 tackles (seven solo, six assisted), a sack for 11 yards and a pass breakup. Jory Johnson had 11 tackles (seven solo, four assisted) including three tackles for a loss of 16 yards. Yawin Smallwood had eight tackles (two solo, six assisted). Trevardo Williams had three tackles and two sacks for a loss of five yards. Dwayne Gratz had three tackles and an interception.

Special Teams Notes:

The kickoff coverage was awful except for the perfectly executed onsides kick at the end of the game. They allowed one 100 yard touchdown return and a total of 190 yards on five kickoff returns.

Injuries:

No injuries for the Huskies that I saw.

Blidi Wreh-Wilson did return to action after missing five games after injuring his knee.

Officials:

Referee: Jerry McGinn; Umpire: Richard Feeney; Linesman: Steve Matarante; Line judge: Ralph Newell; Back judge: James Downey; Field judge: Ben Vasconcells; Side judge: Chris Junjulas

Game Notes:

Louisville Cardinals @ UConn Huskies 11-19-11 box score

Here are postgame quotes from UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni as well as some of his players and Louisville head coach Charlie Strong and his players.

Here are the starters for UConn:

OFFENSE
WR 6 Moore, Kashif
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
DE 48 WILLIAMS, Trev.
DT 4 MARTIN, Tywon
DT 99 Reyes, Kendall
DE 91 Joseph, Jesse
SLB 3 Moore, Sio
MLB 33 SMALLWOOD, Yaw.
WLB 28 Johnson, Jory
CB 7 Gratz, Dwayne
S 15 Junior, Jerome
S 40 Brown, Ty-Meer
DB 5 WREH-WILSON, B.

The rest of the notes are courtesy of the UConn Sports Information Department:

• The loss drops the Huskies to 2-3 in BIG EAST play and 4-6 overall
• UConn allowed the opening kickoff to be returned 100 yards for a TD
• RB Lyle McCombs eclipsed the 1,000 yard plateau for the season in the first quarter
• McCombs was held to 10 carries and 33 yards (both season lows)
• K Dave Teggart connected on a 24-yard FG to put the first UConn points on the board in the second quarter
• WR Kashif Moore rushed for a 5-yard TD run (first rush TD of his career) as well as hauled in a 31-yard TD reception
• Moore lead the Huskies with 7 receptions and 110 yards
• QB Johnny McEntee finished 18-43 for 253 yards with a TD and INT
• The UConn defense registered 10 tackles for loss paced by LB Jory Johnson (13 tackles, 3.0 TFL) and LB Sio Moore (11 tackles, 2.5 TFL)
• DL Trevardo Williams notched 2.0 sacks
• Cole Wagner punted 9 times with an average of 41.9 yards/punt
• The Husky offense only held the ball for 21:41 leaving the defense on the field for 38:19
• UConn converted only 3 of 16 3rd down opportunities
• The Huskies recovered an onside kick with 0:11 remaining

Big East Games and Results:

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Cincinnati 3
Rutgers 20

USF
Miami (FL), 3:30 p.m.

Things to Work On:

• At this point, does it really matter.
• Get the receivers some Stick’em. Those dropped balls killed them.
• Shore up the holes on the kickoff coverage.
• Make a decision at quarterback.

Up Next:

The Huskies will play their final home game of the 2011 season when they’ll host the Rutgers Scarlet Knights for a noon kickoff at Rentschler Field.

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

Photo credit: AP Photo

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 game day for the UConn Huskies football team as they’ll host the Louisville Cardinals today at noon at Rentschler Field. If you missed my Louisville @ UConn Preview, be sure to check that out.

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

UConn Football links

UConn-Louisville: Bowl Aspirations For Each [Hartford Courant]

Man Charged In Connection With Jasper Howard Killing Denied Probation [Hartford Courant]

Huskies need win to stay in league title race [New Haven Register]

Louisville, UConn chasing Big East title [Norwich Bulletin]

Huskies eyeing must-win game against Louisville [The Hour]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Jim Calhoun: The Game Changes Lives [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

Oriakhi struggling to get back into form [The Day]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Another chapter in Stanford/UConn rivalry coming on Monday [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

So What’s New With ESPNU? [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Auriemma releases statement on Oklahoma State tragedy [John Nash – The Hour]

VanDerveer Hopes To Extend Series With UConn, Talks Ongoing [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

UConn women pair with martial arts team [CT Post]

UConn women’s basketball notebook: Auriemma, VanDerveer mourn those lost in Oklahoma State plane crash [CT Post]

For UConn Women And Stanford, The Season’s First Real Test [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Field Hockey. No. 5 Field Hockey Falls in Double Overtime to No. 1 UNC in National Semifinal [UConnHuskies.com]

Baseball. 2012 Baseball Captains Announced [UConnHuskies.com]

Softball. Softball Inks Four Student-Athletes to National Letters of Intent [UConnHuskies.com]

M. Soccer. Heart Rate Monitors Fine-Tune Players’ Fitness [NY Times]

M. Hockey. Gerke becoming leader for Huskies [La Crosse Tribune]

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

We finally have a resolution to the situation involving UConn Huskies men’s basketball freshman Ryan Boatright who has been out due to an investigation by the NCAA over the receipt of a plane ticket from his AAU coach.

Here are the details from David Borges of the New Haven Register:

Boatright has been withheld from the first three regular season games by the school and will also miss the next three games, against Coppin State on Sunday and the first two games of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Nov. 24 and 25. He will be permitted to travel with the team and see action for UConn beginning with the final game of the tournament on Nov. 26.

This is good news for the Huskies as they are a little thin at the point guard position.

Shabazz Napier tweaked something last night but should hopefully be okay for Sunday’s game. If he’s not able to go, it’s quite possible you’ll see Jeremy Lamb handling the point guard duties. Freshman walk-on Brendan Allen has also seen a little action at point guard this season.

Boatright has been able to practice with the team while sitting out the two preseason games and first three games of the regular season. So it’s not like he won’t be familiar with what UConn is running out there. And while Shabazz probably doesn’t mind 40 minutes a game, Boatright will be able to come in and give him some rest.

It is a long season after all.

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

Photo credit: John Woike – Hartford Courant

With the MLB Rule 5 Draft coming up on December 8th, the Boston Red Sox have added three players to their 40-man roster.

Here’s the release from the team:

BOSTON, MA — The Boston Red Sox today selected left-handed pitcher Drake Britton, outfielder Che-Hsuan Lin and third baseman Will Middlebrooks to the Major League roster from Triple-A Pawtucket. With the moves, the Red Sox 40-man roster is now at 38.

The announcement was made by Executive Vice President/General Manager Ben Cherington.

Britton, 22, spent the entire 2011 season with High-A Salem. He tied for the team lead with 26 starts while finishing second among Salem pitchers with 89 strikeouts and fourth on the club with 97.2 innings. The left-handed hurler posted a 1-13 record with a 6.91 ERA (75 ER) and 55 walks, holding left-handed hitters to just seven extra-base hits and a .226 clip (21-for-93). In 2010, Britton led Single-A Greenville starters with a 2.97 ERA (25 ER/75.2 IP) and a ratio of 9.28 strikeouts per 9.0 innings (78 K’s).

Lin, who began the 2011 season in Double-A before being promoted to Pawtucket on May 21, hit .245 (114-for-466) with 16 doubles, three triples, two home runs, 36 RBI, 72 runs and 58 walks between the two levels. A right-handed hitter, he combined to rank fifth among Red Sox minor leaguers with 28 stolen bases in 35 attempts, including a team-leading 16 swipes with the PawSox. Boston’s Minor League Defensive Player of the Year in 2010, Lin committed just four errors in 319 total chances this year for a .987 fielding percentage while appearing in 110 games in center field and 10 games in right field.

Middlebrooks spent most of the 2011 season with Double-A Portland, where he hit .302 (112-for-371) with 25 doubles, one triple, 18 homers, 80 RBI and 21 walks in 96 games. The 23-year-old placed among Eastern League leaders in RBI (4th), slugging percentage (4th, .520) and batting average (8th), and was named to both the circuit’s mid- and post-season All-Star teams as well as the Topps Double-A All-Star squad. Including 16 games with Pawtucket in his Triple-A debut to conclude the season and four rehab games with Short-A Lowell, he combined to hit .285 (125-for-439) with 23 homers and tied for the lead among Red Sox farmhands with 94 RBI.

For a full look at the 40-man roster, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

BOSTON RED SOX 40-MAN ROSTER (38)

PITCHERS (19): Alfredo Aceves, Matt Albers, Scott Atchison, Daniel Bard, Josh Beckett, Michael Bowden, Drake Britton, Clay Buchholz, Felix Doubront, Rich Hill, Bobby Jenks, John Lackey, Jon Lester, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Andrew Miller, Franklin Morales, Stolmy Pimentel, Junichi Tazawa, Kyle Weiland.

CATCHERS (3): Luis Exposito, Ryan Lavarnway, Jarrod Saltalamacchia.

INFIELDERS (10): Lars Anderson, Mike Aviles, Adrian Gonzalez, Jose Iglesias, Jed Lowrie, Will Middlebrooks, Dustin Pedroia, Marco Scutaro, Oscar Tejeda, Kevin Youkilis.

OUTFIELDERS (6): Carl Crawford, Jacoby Ellsbury, Ryan Kalish, Che-Hsuan Lin, Darnell McDonald, Josh Reddick.

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

This week:

After being off last week, the UConn Huskies return to action on Saturday as they’ll host the Louisville Cardinals at 12 p.m. at Rentschler Field.

Here are the rosters for the Huskies and the Cardinals.

The Line/Prediction:

According to Rivals.com odds, UConn is favored by one point. The over/under is 40.5 points.

My prediction is UConn 31 Louisville 24.

Tickets:

According to Ticketmaster.com, there are still some tickets available for the game.

Getting To The Game:

Here is link for the weather report. Here is all the parking info you will need for the game, this link includes directions to Rentschler Field. Here is a Rentschler Field seating chart and here is some general information for Rentschler Field.

The parking lots will open up 4 hours before kickoff. Here is a list of the tailgating rules at the Rent.

At UConn home games, FanFest takes place starting four hours before kickoff up until 30 minutes before the game. This year, it moves to between Gates A and B outside the stadium gates.

The offerings change each game, but activities typically include inflatable games for children, live bands, promotional vehicles and UConn student-athletes from various team signing autographs.

The “Husky Walk” is a chance for fans to welcome the UConn teams as they get off the team buses and head to the stadium. That takes place at approximately two hours and 15 minutes before kickoff between Gates A and B.

Once again this season at the end of home games, the UConn team will sing the “UConn Husky” fight song in front of the student section at Rentschler Field.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television:

Saturday’s game will be broadcast locally on SNY. Mike Gleason (play-by-play), John Congemi (analyst) and Eamon McAnaney (sidelines) will call the game. The game will be available on 46 television stations across the country on the Big East Network.

Radio:

For the 20th consecutive season, WTIC 1080-AM in Hartford serves as the flagship station for the UConn Radio Network. WTIC is the state’s only 50,000 watt signal and can be heard in 23 states and parts of Canada.

Veteran UConn announcers Joe D’Ambrosio (play-by-play) and Wayne Norman (color commentary) return to call the action with Kevin Nathan on the sidelines.

The UConn pregame show begins 90 minutes prior to kickoff, while home games, the UConn Tailgate Show will air two and a half hours prior to the game with Arnold Dean. 

UConn football games are also broadcast over the internet at WTIC.com. Here is a  full list of stations on the WTIC/UCONN radio network.

Louisville Radio:

Louisville football games are broadcast on the Nelligan Sports Network (790 WKRD/101.7 FM). Paul Rogers (play-by-play), Tony Stallings (analyst) and Doug Ormay (sidelines) have the call.

To continue reading the Louisville Cardinals @ UConn Huskies preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week:

The Huskies were off last week. They beat the Syracuse Orange 28-21 their last time out. The Cardinals lost week 21-14 to the Pitt Panthers.

History:

Saturday’s game will be the eighth meeting between UConn and Louisville and the Cardinals lead the series 4-3 — although the Huskies have won three of the four last meetings.

Connections:

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has a 1-1 head coaching record against Louisville from his time at Syracuse…the Orange won at Louisville 15-9 on Oct. 3, 1992 and lost to the Cardinals 30-20 on Sept. 13, 2003 in the Carrier Dome.

UConn does not have any players from the state of Kentucky on its roster nor does Louisville have any Connecticut players on its roster.

Other UConn News:

Here is the video of UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni’s press conference. If you don’t have time to watch, here are the quotes from Pasqualoni’s press conference as well quotes from some of the players.

Here is UConn’s depth chart for the game.

Here’s a pretty cool video about tailgating at UConn football games.

UConn head coach Paul Pasqualoni has won more BIG EAST Conference games (league contests only) than any other coach in history. Pasqualoni has 64 league wins from 1991-2004 and 2011 while Frank Beamer of Virginia Tech is second with 57.

With his four wins this year, Pasqauloni is also first in league history in overall wins with 111 to top the mark of Beamer with 108. The distant third is Don Nehlen of West Virginia at 61.

Pasqualoni became the first Husky coach since 1923 to win his UConn coaching debut. The last coach to win a Husky debut was Sumner Dole in 1923.

A number of members of the 2011 Huskies were named to preseason “Watch Lists” for 2011. They are:

• Sophomore Tight End Ryan Griffin (Londonberry, N.H.)
  
  • John Mackey Award Watch List/Midseason Watch List
• Senior Kicker Dave Teggart (Northborough, Mass.)
  
  • Lou Groza Collegiate Placekicker Award
• Senior Defensive Tackle Kendall Reyes (Nashua, N.H.)
  
  • Outland Trophy, given to the best interior lineman in the country
  • Bronko Nagurski Trophy, given to the best defensive player in the country;
  • Lombardi Award, given to the best offensive or defensive lineman in the country.
• Senior center Moe Petrus (St. Laurent, Que.)
  
  • Outland Trophy
  • Lombardi Award
• Senior offensive tackle Mike Ryan (Tamaqua, Pa.)
  
  • Lombardi Award

With four wins on the season, the Huskies need two more to become bowl eligible. The 2010 UConn football team won the BIG EAST Championship and advanced to play in the school’s first-ever BCS game — the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl. UConn has made the bowl eligible mark for the sixth time in the past eight seasons — and the fourth consecutive.

UConn owns an all-time mark of 24-28 in BIG EAST Conference games since joining the league for football in 2004. The Huskies posted their best conference record with a 5-2 mark in 2007 and ‘10.

UConn had a five-game BIG EAST Conference games win streak broken on Oct. 8 at West Virginia. It was the longest in school history.

Here are the categories where UConn is ranked in the top 40 in the 2011 NCAA statistics:

• Rushing Defense – 6th at 89.89 yards (Second in BIG EAST)
• Scoring Defense – 38th at 22.33 (Fourth in BIG EAST)
• Sacks – 24th at 2.56 (Seventh in BIG EAST)
• TFL – 34th at 6.77 (Seventh in BIG EAST)

Individual leaders:

• Rushing – Lyle McCombs, 16th at 109.00 (2nd in BIG EAST)
• FGoals – Dave Teggart, 11th at 1.56 (Second in BIG EAST)
• Sacks – Trevardo Williams, t18th at 0.72 (t3rd in BIG EAST)
• TFL – Kendall Reyes, 27th at 1.28 (Third in BIG EAST)
  Sio Moore, -t45th at 1.17 (t6h in BIG EAST)

Redshirt freshman running back Lyle McCombs needs 19 yards to become just the second Husky freshman to rush for 1,000 in a season.

McCombs is looking for the 14th Husky season in school history of 1,000 yards of rushing. He would become the 13th Husky to reach that mark as Jordan Todman rushed for that mark in both 2009 and ‘10.

Notes from this week’s opponent Louisville:

Here is the video of Louisville head coach Charlie Strong’s press conference. If you don’t have time to watch, you can read the quotes from Strong’s press conference.

Here’s are quotes from Louisville DT Brandon Dunn.

Louisville recorded its first-ever BIG EAST shutout with a 26-0 win over the Huskies last season at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium.

Louisville is 1-2 all-time at Connecticut.

The Cardinals are 3-3 against the Huskies as a member of the BIG EAST Conference.

Louisville is 48-68-1 all-time against current members of the BIG EAST.

The Cardinals are 22-25 in conference play as a member of the BIG EAST. Louisville is looking for its fourth conference win for the first time since the 2006 campaign when they went 6-1 and went on to the Orange Bowl.

Louisville was the BIG EAST Champion in 2006 when they finished 6-1 in conference play.

The Cardinals are 14-10 all-time in BIG EAST home games.

The Cardinals are 8-15 all-time in BIG EAST away games and are 1-1 this season with a win over West Virginia and a loss to Cincinnati. The Cardinals are 3-2 on the road in the league under head coach Charlie Strong.

Louisville won three straight BIG EAST games for just the second time in their history when they defeated Rutgers, Syracuse and West Virginia.

The Cardinals are 4-0 this season when scoring more than 20 points and also 4-2 when allowing 20 or fewer points.

The Cardinals are 1-5 this season when scoring under 20 points in a game and are 1-8 in two seasons under head coach Charlie Strong when not reaching the 20-point plateau.

Louisville is 3-3 in the month of November under head coach Charlie Strong after wins over Syracuse (28-20) and Rutgers (40-13) and losses to South Florida (24-21) and West Virginia (17-10) in 2010. Louisville won its first game in the month of November this season with a 38-35 win over West Virginia and dropped a 21-14 decision to Pittsburgh last weekend.

Friday UConn Football Links:

Predictions: Big East Week 12 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

What to watch in the Big East: Week 12 [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Big East coaching salaries [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Big East: Did you know? [Andrea Adelson – ESPN.com]

Game Preview – Louisville Cardinals at Connecticut Huskies [BigEast.org]

UConn RB Recruit Montrell Dobbs Of Ansonia Won’t Attend UConn [Desmond Conner – Hartford Courant]

For A Few Days In 1998, Cliff Snow Was The UConn Football Coach [Hartford Courant]

UConn Still Waiting On Cornerback Wreh-Wilson [Hartford Courant]

Nick of time: Williams wants to get involved [Journal Inquirer]

Trevardo Williams’ pass-rushing ability no secret [New Haven Register]

Louisville football needs to shore up rushing defense before taking on Huskies [Louisville Courier-Journal]

Next Week:

The Huskies will play their final home game next Saturday at 12 p.m. when the Rutgers Scarlet Knights come to Rentschler Field.

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

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.

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

UConn Football links

The UConn football links can be found in the Friday football links section of the Louisville Cardinals vs UConn Huskies preview.

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Jeremy Lamb Goes to Timeout [David Borges – New Haven Register]

A.J. Price To Run A Clinic This Weekend in Somers [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn 80, Maine 60: Wrapping Things Up From XL Center [Dom Amore – Hartford Courant]

UConn men 80, Maine 60: the wrap [Ed Daigneault – The Republican-American]

Post-game breakdown, video: Maine [Gavin Keefe – The Day]

Notes/Quotes from Maine: “We seem to have the ability to take the air out of the building” [Kevin Duffy – CT Post]

Maine Attraction [UConn Huskies Basketball]

UConn hears Calhoun’s message, whips Maine [CT Post]

UConn men: What we learned against Maine [CT Post]

Lamb, Oriakhi Lead Huskies Over Maine, 80-60 [Hartford Courant]

Still Waiting For Boatright [Hartford Courant]

Huskies run away from Maine in second half [New Haven Register]

Calhoun: ‘No idea who we are’ [The Day]

Huskies pull away from Black Bears [The Hour

My Sportsman: Kemba Walker [SI.com]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

About 4,000 tickets remaining for Stanford game [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

UConn-Baylor Looking At Extension [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Roundtable Discussion About Women’s Basketball [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Something About Stanford For Breakfast [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

10 Things To Make You Feel Good About UConn [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Pressure Defense Could Prove Valuable For Huskies [Rich Elliott – CT Post]

Encouraging signs [Journal Inquirer]

Other UConn related links

W. Volleyball. Strauss-O’Brien Announces Volleyball Class of 2016 [UConnHuskies.com]

W. Volleyball. Jordan Kirk Earns All-BIG EAST Volleyball Second Team Honors [UConnHuskies.com]

Field Hockey. Seven Field Hockey Standouts Earn All-Region Status [UConnHuskies.com]

Field Hockey. Field Hockey Set For National Semifinals [UConnHuskies.com]

Sherman’s Zachariahs Grob is a Top Polo Player for UConn [Housatonic Times]

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

Given the halftime score of 36-31 in favor of the UConn Huskies over the Maine Black Bears, one might have thought the team from Orono, Maine was going to make this a good ballgame for 40 minutes.

But whatever UConn head coach Jim Calhoun said to his charges at halftime worked because we saw the finest half of defensive basketball from the Huskies in their brief three game season.

Jeremy Lamb and Alex Oriakhi both had 16 points to led the Huskies to a 80-60 win over the Black Bears in front of 10,726 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT on Thursday night.

It’s the Huskies 14th straight win as they improve to 3-0 on the season. The Black Bears, led by former UConn assistant Ted Woodward, fall to 1-1 on the young season.

Lamb had a rough shooting night (6-16) including 0-5 from three to get his 16 points. On the other hand, Oriakhi was 7-of-11 from the floor while pulling down eight rebounds. Freshman DeAndre Daniels had another fine game as he finished with 15 points and seven rebounds.

Andre Drummond had his best game of his young career with his first double-double. He had 11 points and a team-high 14 rebounds along with four blocked shots. Tyler Olander’s improved play also led to his first career double-double as he had 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Justin Edwards led the way for Maine with a game-high 20 points and had five rebounds. He was their only player in double digits as Raheem Singleton had nine points with Kilian Cato and Andrew Rogers chipping in with eight apiece.

The Huskies got out of the gates quickly as they raced out a 7-0 lead. That lead quickly evaporated though as the Black Bears responded with a 7-0 run of their own. With the score tied at 12, Daniels had a 5-0 run by himself before Maine once again tied it up. The biggest UConn’s lead would get was seven points and their halftime lead was five at 36-21.

It wasn’t the greatest of defensive efforts in the first half but as I said above, it was totally different in the second half.

UConn tightened up their defense and that led to a 23-2 run to start the second half to bust this game wide open. Those two points for Maine came on two free throws from Edwards. Their first basket of the second half didn’t come until there was 9:24 left in the game but by that point it was a little too late for the Black Bears.

I had said to myself at halftime that this team lacked the killer instinct that Kemba Walker instilled in them. Obviously they showed it in the second half but if they could have done that when they would go on runs in the first half, they probably wouldn’t have been berated by Calhoun.

This is the third straight game I’ve said this but I’m impressed with the play of Daniels. You can tell he has a high basketball IQ and a complete all around game. Sure he made some mistakes but those are correctable. If he can continue this, he’ll be a nice third option after Lamb and Shabazz Napier.

Drummond is also showing he’s the real deal. You can tell he’s getting more and more comfortable with the flow of the college game and I think it’s only a matter of time before he bumps Oriakhi from the starting five.

For now, the Huskies get to rest for a few days. They’ll be back in action on Sunday when they’ll host the Coppin State Eagles at 1 p.m. at the XL Center in Hartford, CT.

To continue reading the Maine Black Bears @ UConn Huskies recap, click on the read more button below if you’re on the homepage.

Notes and musings:

Maine Black Bears @ UConn Huskies 11.17.11 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Jim Calhoun and Maine Black Bears head coach Ted Woodward as well as some of the UConn players.

For the first time this season, we saw a different starting lineup. It was Shabazz Napier, Jeremy Lamb, DeAndre Daniels, Tyler Olander and Alex Oriakhi.

The Huskies haven’t lost a non-conference game at home since January 2007 against Indiana in Hartford. The game was the 300th for UConn at its off-campus home court in Hartford. The Huskies improved to 219-81 in games at what is now the XL Center.

The win moved Jim Calhoun into a temporary tie for sixth place on the all-time list with friend Jim Boeheim, who could reclaim the spot on Saturday, when No. 5 Syracuse plays Colgate.

Calhoun is now 15-0 against teams coached by one of his former assistants.

UConn shot 41.7% (30-72) from the floor while Maine shot 35.5% (22-62).

The Huskies had 12 assists on their 30 made baskets.

UConn was awful from threes as they were 5-of-23 (21.7%).

They weren’t much better from the charity stripe either as they were 15-of-24 (62.5%).

The Huskies dominated the glass outrebounding Maine 57-28. The Huskies actually had 34 offensive rebounds which was more than Maine had for the game.

UConn had 22 points off of 14 Maine turnovers. The Black Bears had 23 points off of 17 UConn turnovers.

The Huskies outscored Maine 44-24 in the paint.

UConn 33 second chance points to 12 for the Black Bears. They also outscored Maine 9-8 on the fast break.

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

Photo credit: Mark Mirko – Hartford Courant (No. 4 in gallery)

Boston, MA – November 17, 2011 – Sports fans will have the chance to make a difference in the lives of children in need.  Beginning Wednesday November 17, fans will be able to bid on once in a lifetime experiences, dream packages and sports memorabilia during the David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic online auction.  The auction benefits the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, a non-profit organization that provides critical care services to children in need.

This year’s auction can be found at http://davidortizchildrensfund.org/ and will be open until 11:59 p.m. ET on December 2, 2011 where items will then move live to the event. On-line bidders will be represented by proxy on-site at the event.  Some of the items that fans will bid on include:

• Hitting Lessons with David Ortiz – The ultimate pre game!  Visit batting practice and tour the stadium prior to a 2012 home game and get to meet David Ortiz.  Also included is a pair of seats for the game.  (Date to be mutually agreed upon for a 2012 Home Game.)

• The Chance to play catch with Red Sox second baseman Dustin Pedroia – Step out with Dustin Pedroia, one of the best in the game! In just four years in the league, Pedroia has won several awards including the 2007 AL Rookie of the Year, 2008 AL MVP, Gold Glove, and a Silver Slugger Award. Win this once in a lifetime opportunity and get fielding tips from the Red Sox second baseman. The winner of this experience will also receive four (4) tickets to a Boston Red Sox home game at Fenway Park. (Experience to include a game of catch with Dustin Pedroia and four (4) tickets to a Boston Red Sox home game at Fenway Park for a mutually agreed upon date in the 2012 season.)

• Style360 @ New York Fashion Week – Two (2) tickets for VIP access to Style360, a multi-day fashion showcase during New York Fashion Week February 2012.  Winners will be awarded VIP access to all fashion shows, backstage, media suite access, and after parties hosted at exclusive NYC nightclub.  Front row seats also included. Package includes a three (3) night stay at the New York Marriott Marquis and two (2) roundtrip JetBlue Vouchers

• The Hero & Prodigy Package – Enjoy a Thirty (30) minute tennis session with Andy Roddick .The package also includes an autographed copy of Agassi’s autobiography “Open” and autographed tennis ball from both Agassi and Roddick.

• The US Open Package – Two (2) US Open Suite tickets for one (1) day session during the first week of the Tournament.  A two (2) night stay at the New York Marriott Marquis plus Dinner for Two (2) at Crossroads American Kitchen & Bar and two (2) roundtrip JetBlue Vouchers

• Dominican Paradise Getaway – Once in a lifetime vacation for 12 people at the Golden Dolphin Villa located on the North Coast of the Dominican Republic.  Package includes a five (5) night, six (6) day all inclusive vacation for 12 people at the Golden Dolphin Villa. Also included are six (6) spa treatments, one (1) round of golf for six (6) players at the neighboring Playa Grande Golf Club. Meals will be prepared daily by the private chef at your request.

To continue reading, please click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

The online auction is one part of the 4^th Annual David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic which takes place December 1-4, 2011 at the Fishing Lodge Cap Cana in the Dominican Republic.  Expected to attend this star-studded event are some of sports biggest names including:

Entertainment VIPs: Sam Page/Star of Mad Men, Donnie Wahlberg/NKOTB, Blue Bloods, Mike O’Malley/Star of Glee, Rachel Dratch/Cast member SNL, Jeffery Donovan/Star of Burn Notice, Moufy/Rap Artist, Don Omar/Hip Hop Artist, Kat DeLuna/Pop Singer, Anthony Anderson/Actor Law & Order, Scary Movie 5, Marlon Wayans/Actor, Quinton Aaron/Actor, Lead Role in The Blind Side, Morris Chestnut/Actor, Boyz N The Hood, Ladder 49, American Horror Story, Jill Marie Jones/Actress, CW’s Girlfriends, The Perfect Holiday.

Sports VIPs: David Ortiz/Boston Red Sox, Jose Bautista/Toronto Blue Jays, Johnny Damon/Tampa Bay Rays, Luis Tiant/Red Sox Legend, Sean Casey/MLB-TV Analyst, David Robertson/New York Yankees, Ricky Romero/Toronto Blue Jays, Derrick Rose/Chicago Bulls, Pedro Martinez/Retired MLB, Michael Bowden/Red Sox, Bernie Williams/Retired MLB, Andres Galaraga/Retired MLB, Bill Russell/NBA Hall of Famer, Jim Rice/MLB Hall of Famer & NESN Commentator, Placido Polanco/Philadelphia Phillies, Francisco Garcia/Sacramento Kings, Eddie Murray/ MLB, Hall of Famer.

“I always look forward to gathering with all my friends for my annual David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Tournament. It is a wonderful opportunity to showcase my home country -the Dominican Republic -while raising money for children who can’t afford the healthcare they need,” Ortiz said.  “I would like to thank all of our sponsors and friends for their generous donations to help make this years auction a success.”

Some additional items in this year’s auction include the chance to be an honorary Bat Girl/Boy for an upcoming Red Sox game, VIP passes to the Justin Timberlake Open in Las Vegas, a pair of autographed Dwight Howard sneakers, MLB Network behind the scenes Meet & Greet, a Stella McCartney handbag, and jerseys, bats and balls from members of the 2011 Red Sox.  Fans not in attendance be sure to follow @davidortiz and use the hashtag #OrtizGolfClassic on twitter for all the latest news surrounding the David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic including new auction items that will be added leading up to the event.

The David Ortiz Celebrity Golf Classic benefits the Children’s Fund which began in 2006 as a way for David to help children in his home country of the Dominican Republic. In 2009, the Fund expanded its life-saving mission to New England, helping to bring critical care services to children in need through a partnership with Massachusetts General Hospital.

About the David Ortiz Children’s Fund

The David Ortiz Children’s Fund  (DOCF) is committed to helping children in New England and the Dominican Republic  that do not have access to the critical pediatric services they need. The DOCF is proud to partner with Massachusetts General Hospital to fulfill its mission in New England and with the World Pediatric Project to fulfill its mission in the Dominican Republic. These organizations are committed to healing as many children as possible by providing critical pediatric healthcare. Working together, these organizations are increasing the number of children that will receive lifesaving services.  For more information on the David Ortiz Children’s Fund, please visit http://www.davidortizchildrensfund.org/.

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