UConn G Rodney Purvis (44) follows through on a big three-pointer over Columbia G Steve Frankoski (5) in the second half at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT.

UConn G Rodney Purvis (44) follows through on a big three-pointer over Columbia G Steve Frankoski (5) in the second half at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT.

It was almost time to go home for the holidays for the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team. And for a bit, it looked like they had mentally gone home.

That’s not to take anything away from their opponent, the Columbia Lions. They were a very talented team.

They did their best to hang with UConn but a big run at the end of the game gave the Huskies an 80-65 win over the Lions in front of 9,124 at Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport, CT on Monday night.

UConn improves to 5-4 while Columbia falls to 6-4.

Rodney Purvis broke out of his slump to lead the Huskies with 21 points on seven-of-eight shooting, including four-of-five from three-point land. Ryan Boatright added 20 points and eight assists while Amida Brimah had 14 points, six rebounds and three blocked shots.

Daniel Hamilton rounded out the Huskies in double-digits with 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.

Columbia’s Maodo Lo led all scorers in the game with 24 points. Luke Petrasek added 10 points while Jeff Coby and Steve Frankoski had nine and eight points respectively. Kyle Castlin led the Lions with six rebounds.

UConn will return to practice on Friday to prepare for their next game, this Sunday. They’ll take on the Central Connecticut Blue Devils at the XL Center at 1 p.m.

Columbia Lions vs UConn Huskies 12/22/14 box score

Here are the postgame quotes from UConn head coach Kevin Ollie.

Here are UConn’s postgame notes.

photo credit: ©2014 Ian Bethune