Like their basketball sisters, the UConn Huskies men's basketball team made their final visit to the RAC. And like their sisters, they came out with a win.
After a slow start, Shabazz Napier scored 20 of his 26 points in the second half to help UConn to an 82-71 win over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in front of 8,006 on Saturday night.
The Huskies improve to 16-4 (4-3 American) while the Scarlet Knights fall to 8-12 (2-5).
Ryan Boatright returned to the Huskies and had 12 points, six rebounds and four assists after missing the last game for his cousins funeral. Amida Brimah had all of his 10 points in the first half and finished with eight rebounds while Niels Giffey had nine points all on three-pointers.
DeAndre Daniels up and down play continued but this time it wasn't his fault. He suffered a sprained ankle in the first half but was able to return in the second half.
Kadeem Jack and Jerome Seagears both led with Rutgers with 19 points. Jack scored 11 of his points at the charity stripe while Seagears had eight there. Jack also ended up with a double-double as he had 11 rebounds. Junior Etou had 10 points.
UConn broke open a tight game early on with 9-0 run to take a 10 point lead. Rutgers would battle back though and make it a two-point game to force the Huskies into a timeout with 7:30 remaining in the half.
The Huskies pushed the lead back to 10 points but Rutgers would score the final five points of the half to make it 41-36 for the visitors.
The Scarlet Knights opened up the second half with two straight three-pointers to take the lead. A Boatright layup with 16:10 would UConn up for good but it stayed close for most of the second half. An old fashioned three point play by Napier with just over six minutes to go put the Huskies up eight and they never looked back.
Nice road win for the Huskies. It might not have been pretty but considering everything, it's a win.
The Huskies will look to redeem themselves on Thursday night when they'll host the Houston Cougars at Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 9 p.m.
UConn Huskies @ Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1/25/14 box score
Here are the postgame quotes from Rutgers and UConn. (at bottom)
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photo credit: brad horrigan – hartford courant
