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A.J. Price scored a career-high 36 points to help the No. 2 UConn Huskies to a 92-83 win over the No. 8 Marquette Golden Eagles in front of 19,091 hostile fans at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee, WI.

For UConn head coach Jim Calhoun, he became the 7th Division I coach to reach 800 wins. He needs just 4 wins to tie Eddie Sutton for 6th all-time.

The Huskies improve to 26-2 (14-2 Big East) while the Golden Eagles fall to 23-5 (12-3). With two games to play, UConn holds a ½ game lead over the Louisville Cardinals.

With 7:34 to go in the game, the Huskies were trailing by one point at 74-73 when they went on an 11-0 run behind 6 points by Stanley Robinson to take control of the game. Marquette used a 7-0 run to cut UConn’s lead to 3 at 84-81 but the Huskies closed out the game on an 8-1 run.

Besides the 36 points, Price added 6 assists and 6 rebounds. Stanley Robinson had a great game tonight as he had 19 points and 10 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet added a double-double as well with 14 points and 15 rebounds to go along with 5 blocked shots. Kemba Walker added 9 points and Scottie Haralson chipped in with 6 points.

Jerel McNeal led the way for the Golden Eagles with 26 points and 5 assists. Wesley Matthews added 20 points and Lazar Hayward had 15 points and 6 rebounds. Marquette did lose one of their best players, Dominic James, to a broken foot about 4 minutes into the game.

The Huskies started fast getting out to a 7-2 lead and kept the lead around 5-7 points until an 8-0 run by the Golden Eagles gave them an one point lead at 20-19.  Price gave the Huskies the lead with a three but Marquette went on another 8-0 run to take a 28-22 lead.

Then the Huskies took over as they went on a 16-0 run to take an 8 point lead.  Marquette got it down to 3 points with just over a minute remaining in the half before Haralson drained a three to give UConn a 43-37 lead at the break.

Marquette fell behind by 11 points in the second half but got back into the game on a 12-0 run to take an one point lead.

Great win for the Huskies tonight in a very hostile environment. While the play of Jeff Adrien was disappointing (0 points, 4 rebounds), it was great to see Stanley Robinson step up his play. And what we can we say about Price. He was simply spectacular tonight. The Huskies needed their leader and he gave them that and helped his coach to career win No. 800.

Next up for the Huskies is their Senior Day festivities on Saturday afternoon when they play host to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at Gampel Pavilion. The game is scheduled to start around 2 PM and it will be televised nationally on CBS.

For those attending the game, the Senior Day festivities will start at approximately 1:35 PM.

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Here’s Josh Beckett’s Facebook status this afternoon.

You have to love the fire of Beckett this early on. And I do hope you realize he’s joking around.

Ahhhhhhhh finally some real baseball. The Boston Red Sox spring games got underway today as the Boston College Eagles were in Ft. Myers. The game went the Red Sox’s way as they beat them 7-1.

Josh Beckett got things started for the Sox with two perfect innings, throwing 15 strikes on 22 pitches. Clay Buchholz and Junichi Tazawa each had a perfect inning as well. Chris Carter led the Red Sox with 3 RBI’s and Yamaico Navarro had a solo home run and a RBI single.

If you’re curious as to what Beckett looked like in his first outing, Full Count has us covered with video of Beckett’s outing.

“It was good. It was nice to get a little adrenaline. Obviously we’ve been facing hitters for six days now and I just think on those back fields that’s the only thing lacking. Obviously you have a hitter standing in there with a few elements you don’t generally deal with, be it batting cages and nets and things like that. It was nice to have the adrenaline. Even though it was a college team it was nice to have the adrenaline.”

“It was actually kind of nice because I wanted to come into the spring wanting to throw my change-up more during the spring to get a feel for it and it seemed like their lineup was kind of stack with lefties, at least the part that I went through.”

We’ve got some more baseball tonight as the Red Sox head across town to start the Mayor’s Cup against the Minnesota Twins. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 on NESN. No Jerry Remy though as he is sick. The Providence Journal’s Joe McDonald will be filling in for him.

Here is Josh Beckett … Game 1 [Full Count]

Shaky start for Matsuzaka [Extra Bases]

Biggest news of the camp: Ino Guerrero gets an at-bat [Full Count]

Despite questions, Sox aren’t an iffy proposition [Tony Mazz]

Lester eyes a long future with the Red Sox [Full Count]

‘Sharing Miracles’ Television Program to Feature UConn Huskies Basketball Coach Jim Calhoun

WASHINGTON, Feb. 25  — Each Sunday throughout March, Sharing Miracles, a 30-minute public affairs television program that tells the compelling and inspirational stories of real patients, will feature Hall-of-Famer Jim Calhoun, head coach of the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team. Sharing Miracles now airs on nearly 260 television stations across the United States.

An NCAA Division I coach for 37 years, Calhoun is one of the most successful basketball coaches in college history, with nearly 800 career wins. This success has not only led him to two NCAA tournament championships, in 1999 and 2004; an NIT championship, in 1988; and six Big East tournament championships, it has also led him to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, where he was enshrined in 2005.

Known for his tenacity, Calhoun attributes his success to the inspiration that he draws from the hundreds of ball players that he has coached. In this month’s episode, he says, “Seeing kids do extraordinary things, I feed off that and I learn from that. Winning or losing a basketball game is really small, very, very small in comparison with winning or losing at life.”

UConn alum and current Washington Wizards All-Star forward Caron Butler says of his former coach, “He’s a father figure. He really taught me that basketball is a reflection of life, and I had to be a professional on and off the court. Everything that he instilled in me at UConn I take with me.”

Indeed, Calhoun has been a winner on the court and in life, as a championship-winning coach and as a generous philanthropist. What’s more, he has also survived three bouts with prostate and skin cancer.

Each time he was diagnosed, he characteristically took control and chose an aggressive course of action: “I said to my doctor, ‘It doesn’t belong in my body. I’m willing to fight just like I’ll fight anything else, like I fight on the court, like I’ve fought all my life. I want this out of my body as quickly as possible.'”

Now, he speaks out about his experience with cancer and encourages others to seek regular screening. In fact, after he announced his diagnosis with prostate cancer, a record number of men in Connecticut sought screening, as well. “That put a smile on my face, because people were being made aware of something that could often be taken care of,” he says.

Speaking in this month’s episode, Merck scientist and prostate cancer researcher Dr. Scot Ebbinghaus stresses the importance of early detection: “The good news about prostate cancer is that when it’s detected early, it’s often curable. Many more men are diagnosed with prostate cancer than die from it.”

Still, it is a real threat to the thousands of American diagnosed each year. According to the American Cancer Society, nearly 200,000 cases of prostate cancer are diagnosed each year in the U.S., and more than one million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed. However, there is some good news. Today, America’s pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are doing their part to develop new methods of treating those cancers, with 750 new medicines in development for cancer, including 88 for prostate cancer and 64 for skin cancer.

Upcoming episodes of Sharing Miracles will feature Emmy Award-winning actress Christina Applegate, star of the ABC hit comedy Samantha Who?; Pro Football Hall of Famer and Super Bowl-winning coach Mike Ditka, who battles heart disease; Basketball Hall-of-Famer Dominique Wilkins, who has diabetes; and World Series champion and Boston Red Sox pitcher Jon Lester, who overcame lymphoma to pitch a no-hitter in the major leagues.

Previous episodes of Sharing Miracles have featured Academy Award-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden, a breast cancer advocate; Grammy Award-winning country music superstar Naomi Judd, who overcame Hepatitis C; Emmy Award-winning actor Joey Pantoliano, who suffers from clinical depression; Super Bowl Champion and former Pittsburgh Steelers running back Jerome Bettis, who has asthma; Emmy-nominated former star of Family Ties Meredith Baxter, who survived breast cancer; Olympic gold medal winners Mark Spitz (high cholesterol), Bruce Jenner (attention deficit disorder) and Greg Louganis (HIV); syndicated television talk show host Montel Williams, who suffers from multiple sclerosis; actor and Leave It To Beaver star Jerry Mathers, who is affected by diabetes; pop icon and Broadway star Deborah Gibson, who has suffered from devastating anxiety attacks; and Pro Football Hall-of-Famer and Super Bowl Champion Len Dawson, who survived prostate cancer.

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Three UConn Huskies women’s basketball players, Renee Montgomery, Tina Charles and Maya Moore, were among the 30 names that were released today for as midseason candidates for the Naismith Award.

Named in honor of Dr. James Naismith, founder of the game of basketball, the Naismith Trophy presented by AT&T is awarded annually to the male and female college basketball players of the year.

The Huskies are the only school with three players chosen and the Big East Conference leads the way with 7 total selections.

2009 Naismith Women’s Mid-season Candidates:

• Jayne Appel, Jr., Forward/Center, Stanford
• Chante Black, Sr., Center, Duke
• DeWanna Bonner, Sr., Guard, Auburn
• Jessica Breland, Jr., Forward, North Carolina
• Tina Charles, Jr., Center, Connecticut
• Alysha Clark, Jr., Forward, Middle Tennessee
• Shayla Fields, Sr., Guard, North Carolina State
• Rachele Fitz, Jr., Forward, Marist
• Tyra Grant, Jr., Guard, Penn State
• Laura Kurz, Sr., Forward, Villanova
• Jantel Lavender, So., Center, Ohio State
• Shalee Lehning, Sr., Guard, Kansas State
• Lyndra Littles, Sr., Forward, Virginia
• Angel McCoughtry, Sr., Forward, Louisville
• Danielle McCray, Jr., Guard/Forward, Kansas
• Aisha Mohammed, Sr., Center, Virginia
• Renee Montgomery, Sr., Guard, Connecticut
• Maya Moore, So., Forward, Connecticut
• Ashley Paris, Sr., Forward, Oklahoma
• Courtney Paris, Sr., Center, Oklahoma
• Ta’Shia Phillips, So., Center, Xavier
• Epiphanny Prince, Jr., Guard, Rutgers
• Andrea Riley, Jr,. Guard, Oklahoma State
• Kristi Toliver, Sr., Guard, Maryland
• Ashley Walker, Sr., Forward/Center, California
• Morgan Warburton, Sr., Guard, Utah
• Danielle Wilson, Jr., Forward, Baylor
• Lindsay Wisdom-Hylton, Sr., Forward, Purdue
• Monica Wright, Jr., Guard, Virginia
• Shavonte Zellous, Sr., Guard, Pittsburgh