Fact: The No. 10 UConn Huskies men’s basketball team didn’t deserve to win this game.

Fact: They didn’t deserve to lose the game the way they did.

A controversial foul call on UConn’s Gavin Edwards with .7 seconds left gave Lance Stephenson a chance to win the game at the foul line. Stephenson hit both free throws and UConn’s desperation shot missed as the Cincinnati Bearcats pulled off the upset 71-69 in front of 10,409 fans at Fifth Third Arena on Wednesday night.

Trailing by three with under a minute to go, Stanley Robinson made a layup with 29 seconds to cut the Bearcats lead to one at 67-66. After a timeout by the Huskies, they didn’t foul anyone and allowed a dunk by Ibrahima Thomas to push the lead back to three with 18 seconds to go.

The Huskies brought the ball down the floor and Jerome Dyson hit Kemba Walker on the wing. Walker hoisted a three that he hit with 9.4 seconds left to go in the game.

Stephenson then brought the ball down the floor and drove past Dyson into the lane where he went for the layup. Edwards went up and it looked like he barely touched him. Alex Oriakhi blocked the layup attempt and the clock ran out.

But with the whistle blown, the referees went to the scorer’s table for a review and put .7 back on the clock. In watching the replays, I’ve still yet to see where the foul was.

The Huskies fall to 9-3 (0-1 Big East) while the Bearcats improve to 9-3 (1-0).

Dyson led the way for the Huskies with 24 points and had seven rebounds and five assists while Robinson had 22 points, seven rebounds and three steals. Walker finished with nine points and Edwards had eight points and seven rebounds.

Stephenson paced the Bearcats with 21 points while Deonta Vaughn had 17 points.

After going into the locker room trailing by one at the half, the Huskies fell behind by 12 points but Dyson rallied them with ten points during a spurt that cut the lead down to four.

Simply put, if the Huskies are going to have to rely on Dyson and Robinson for their scoring, it’s going to be a long season. They need somebody to step up and step up big time. Ater Majok was a non-factor again and Walker was his out-of-control self.

That’s not going to get it done folks. Until someone decides they want to play some ball and put some points on the board, we can expect games like this.

One thing’s for certain, head coach Jim Calhoun won’t stand for sloppy play like they did on Wednesday night.

The Huskies return to action in the new year when they host preseason Big East Player of the Year Luke Harangody and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the XL Center on Saturday. Top is scheduled for 12 p.m. and the game will be televised nationally on ESPNU.

UConn Huskies @ Cincinnati Bearcats 12.30.09 box score

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team as they are in Cincinnati, OH to take on the Bearcats to open up Big East play. The game is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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Boston Red Sox infielder Kevin Youkilis was one of the guests at the Lowell Spinners alumni dinner on Tuesday night and offered his thoughts to reporters on the state of the Red Sox for 2010.

“I think [the offense] will be fine,” Youkilis said. “We’re definitely [going to miss] Jason Bay driving in all those runs, but the luxury we have with our team is if you hit in the seventh hole, like Mike Lowell was last year, he was hitting seventh a bunch and he was at the top of the RBIs most of the year until the injuries.

“Picking up John Lackey was huge, where you don’t allow as many runs,” Youkilis added. “The offense doesn’t have to be as great when you have great pitching. Great pitching always wins championships. We’ve got six starting pitchers again, so if they all can stay healthy, who knows what’s going to happen?”

Look if you really thought Jason Bay was coming back, I’d like to know what you were smoking. Bay made his choice and I’m fine with it.

Am I worried about the state of the Red Sox for 2010? Sure they may need a bat to replace Bay in the lineup but realistically like Youk said, you’ve added a horse to your rotation and that should help prevent runs. They’ve gotten better defensively with the additions of Marco Scutaro and Mike Cameron.

The Red Sox will be fine folks. You can expect Theo Epstein to make sure of that.

Youkilis sheds light on Bay, offseason, corner spots [Full Count]

Losing Bay will hurt a little less in June [Extra Bases]

According to Mike Francesa of WFAN 660 in New York, the New York Mets and Jason Bay have agreed to a deal pending a physical. Francesa said that they will officially announce the deal next Monday after Bay passes his physical. With the Mets picking 7th in the 2010 MLB Draft, their pick is protected. This means the Boston Red Sox will get the Mets second round pick plus a sandwich pick in compensation for the signing of Bay (Thanks to Tim Dierkes of MLBTradeRumors.com for confirming this). Update: Joel Sherman of the New York Post reports that the deal is for 4 years, $66 million with a vesting option for a fifth year.

UConn Football links

Game week [John Silver – Journal Inquirer]

Defense lacking pressure, coverage [The Republican-American]

Know your UConn Huskies: LB Lawrence Wilson [Leftover Hot Dog]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Kalana Greene Says She Could Live Under the CT Sun Forever [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

UConn Women Put Out The Fire, Beat Florida State [Hartford Courant]

WNBA Taking Notice Of Greene [Hartford Courant]

UConn Women’s Extras … [Hartford Courant]

Has UConn Already Written the Ending? [Fanhouse]

Big second half allows UConn to top FSU women’s basketball [Tallahassee Democrat]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

Austrie Cut [David Borges – New Haven Register]

Gael rewind [Neill Ostrout – Connecticut Post]

Majok, Oriakhi Have A Lot To Learn [Hartford Courant]

Other UConn related links

Men’s Soccer: White, Gbandi & James Named to College Soccer News Team of the Decade [UConnHuskies.com]

It was the UConn Huskies first test on the road against the No. 11/12 Florida State Seminoles on Monday night.

It may not have been pretty or what Geno Auriemma wanted from his team but they passed the test as a strong second half propelled them to a 78-59 win in front of record crowd of 6,440 at the Tucker Center in Tallahassee, FL.

The Huskies, who won their 50th straight game,  improve to 11-0 while the Seminoles fall to 11-2. Both of Florida State’s losses have come to Big East teams (DePaul was the other).

After a first half that saw her parked on the bench by Auriemma, Tina Charles came to play in the second half. She responded to the benching by Auriemma by scoring 16 of her game-high 24 points in the second half. Charles also pulled down nine rebounds.

Despite a poor night from the floor (7-of-18), Maya Moore finished with 16 points and had five rebounds and three assists. Tiffany Hayes added 13 points and Caroline Doty had 10 points, four rebounds and seven assists. Kalana Greene had good game all around as she had 8 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

Jacinta Moore led the Seminoles with 14 points and also had six rebounds. Chasity Clayton chipped in with 12 points and Courtney Ward had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

The Huskies jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead before the Seminoles responded with a 9-0 run. Not to be outdone, UConn made up the deficit quickly as they went on a 17-0 run of their own to take a 12 point lead.

Florida State chipped away at the Huskies lead and got it down two points at 31-29 on a Ward jumper with 4:26 to go in the half. That would be as close as the Seminoles would get though as UConn took a 41-35 lead into the locker rooms and never looked back.

The Huskies opened up a 10 point lead early on in the second half and an 12-3 run that saw Charles score 12 of the points opened up a 17 point lead for the Huskies.

Not the best effort from the Huskies but in the second half when they turned it on, they looked as good as they have all season. It’s amazing how much of a factor that Charles can be when she wants and that was the point Auriemma wanted to make with his senior center. She proved that point and then some.

“When she brings it, we’re a whole other team,” said Moore. “She steps up and takes ownership of the paint. It really sparked us in the second half.”

The Huskies stay on the road for their next game as they will open up Big East play on Saturday in Newark, New Jersey at the Prudential Center against the Seton Hall Pirates. The game  is scheduled to start at 2 p.m. and the game will be televised locally in Connecticut on CPTV.

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For the second straight week, UConn Huskies senior forward Stanley Robinson has been named to the Big East Honor Roll.

Robinson averaged 21.5 points and 8.5 rebounds in UConn’s wins over Maine and Iona.

In UConn’s 71-54 win over Maine, Robinson had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.  He also had an assist and three blocked shots.

In UConn’s 93-74 win over Iona on Sunday, Robinson had a season-high 29 points, five rebounds, an assist and a blocked shot. He scored 19 of his 29 points in the second half and shockingly only had one dunk in his thirteen made field goals.

The Huskies are back in action on Wednesday night when they kick-off Big East play in Cincinnati against the Bearcats. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN2.

For the third straight week, UConn Huskies junior All-American Maya Moore has been honored by the Big East Conference.

This time around though, Moore has been named the Big East Player of the Week for her efforts in the win over Stanford.

In the 80-68 win over No. 2 Stanford, Moore had 23 points, nine rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots. She had 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists in the second half. It was also the fourth straight game she scored at least 20 points.

Moore and the  No. 1 Huskies return to action tonight as they are in Tallahassee, Florida to take on the No. 12 Florida State Seminoles. Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV.

The Big East Conference is holding a poll for it’s Top 10 plays of the 2009 season. Up at No. 7 is UConn Huskies running back Andre Dixon as he takes it to the house to give UConn a 33-30 win over the Notre Dame Fighting Irish on Saturday, November 21, 2009.

[flash http://ianbethune.com/dixontd.flv w=510 h=340]

It’s game day for the UConn Huskies women’s basketball team as they are in Tallahassee, Florida to take on the Florida State Seminoles.

Tip is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be broadcast locally here in Connecticut on CPTV. The game is also available on the internet for a fee through Hoop Streams. If you can’t catch the television broadcast, you can listen to the game on the WTIC/UConn Radio Network.

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