Nobody ever expected the No. 2 UConn Huskies to go through this season undefeated. Nobody also expected the Huskies to play like absolute crap in their Big East opener tonight. And one day, they will learn how to beat a team that plays primarily zone against them.

The No 8. Georgetown Hoyas got off to a big lead at the start of the game and were able to wear down the Huskies as they won 74-63 in front of 16,294 at the XL Center in Hartford, CT in the Big East opener for both teams.

The Huskies fall to 11-1 (0-1 Big East) while the Hoyas improve to 10-1 (1-0 Big East).

The Hoyas got out to a 15-1 lead and then 18-3 as UConn had turned the ball over 5 times and missed their first four shots. It was not pretty as Jim Calhoun had to call two timeouts in the first 5 minutes. UConn was able to start to come back a little when the Hoyas switched from a zone defense to man-to-man. The Huskies got as close as 4 points twice during the first half but went into the locker room trailing 36-27.

Georgetown got a three pointer to start the second and then went without a field goal  for the next 4:54 during which UConn went on a 12-3 run to cut the lead to 3 points. With the score 49-45, the Hoyas put together a 7-0 run and never looked back from there. Every time it looked like UConn had a chance to come back, the Hoyas would make a shot and then forced some turnovers and just like that the lead swelled to 17 and the XL Center faithful started heading to the exits.

DaJuan Summers led the Hoyas with a game-high 18 points. Talented freshman Greg Monroe had 16 points as did Chris Wright. Austin Freeman chipped in with 13 points and added 6 rebounds.

Jim Calhoun had this to say after the game:

I want to congratulate Coach Thompson for coming in here and giving us a lesson on how to play basketball with enthusiasm, execution and energy. We got beat by a solid 20 points. I really want to thank our fans for trying to help bring it back into a game – they seemed to want it more than we did.

The Huskies were led by A.J. Price’s 16 points. Jeff Adrien added 15 points and freshman Kemba Walker’s first taste of Big East basketball saw him net 14 points. Hasheem Thabeet was a non-factor on the offensive end as he had just 4 points but he pulled down 7 boards and had 7 blocked shots.

It was a brutal performance by the Huskies tonight as they just never really got things going tonight. They lacked heart as the crowd seemed more into the game than they did.

The Huskies will need to regroup now as they will take on the Rutgers Scarlet Knights on Saturday night at Gampel Pavilion at 7 PM. I’ll tell you one thing, I wouldn’t want to be at practice for the rest of the week.

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The end of the NFL season is upon us now so that means only one thing. It’s firing time for coaches whose teams underperformed or didn’t make the playoffs.

First up on the list is Rod Marinelli. He was fired by the Detroit Lions today after guiding the team to an 0-16 record. You can’t really fault him though because it was actually Matt Millen (already fired) who gave him crap for players to work with. Marinelli was 10-38 in 3 seasons with the Lions.

Second up on the list is former New England Patriots defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. He was canned today by the Cleveland Browns after the finished with a 4-12 mark. Crennel was 24-40 in 4 seasons with the Browns.

Third up on the list is another former Patriots defensive coordinator, Eric Mangini. He was promoted to defense coordinator of the Patriots when Crennel left and was there one year before being named head coach of the New York Jets. He was fired today after failing to lead the Jets to the playoffs. Mangini was 23-26 (0-1 playoffs) in 3 seasons.

The Browns have expressed interest in former Steelers head coach and current CBS analyst Bill Cowher but he has said he’s not interested in the position but hasn’t returned out a return to coaching in 2009.

The Browns are also asking the Patriots for permission to speak to Patriots vice president of personnel Scott Pioli about their opening GM position after Phil Savage was fired on Sunday. Pioli can leave the Patriots if he is offered final authority on personnel decisions something he doesn’t have with the Patriots. Bill Belichick handles the final decisions for the Pats.

And in some good coaching news, Mike Singletary had the interim tag removed from his title and is now the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers. Singletary took over for Mike Nolan who was canned after 7 games and led the 49ers to a 5-4 record. For that, he was rewarded with a 4 year contract.

Parker Alice Papelbon: A big congratulations goes out to Jonathan and Ashley Papelbon on the birth of their baby girl, Parker Alice. Parker weighed in at 8 lbs 4 ounces. [Center Field]