Jerome Dyson led three UConn Huskies in double figures as they got past a scrappy Northeastern team 69-60 in front of 9,915 at Gampel Pavilion on Thursday night.
Dyson ended up with a double-double as he scored 16 points and pulled down a career-high 10 rebounds. Hasheem Thabeet added 13 points for UConn as he continues to get better at the offensive end of the court. Stanley Robinson rounded out the Huskies in double figures with 11 points while Jeff Adrien added 9 to the cause.
Matt Janning led Northeastern with 29 points on 9 of 22 shooting, including 5 of 10 from 3-point land. Nkem Ojougboh added 14 points while Chiasson Allen added 9 points.
Northeastern (3-5) got out of the gates quickly as Janning hit a couple of early threes as the NU Huskies pulled out to a 9-2 lead. After a turnover by A.J. Price, Northeastern went up 15-11 before UConn went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. Northeastern tied it up at 17 before UConn took the lead for good in the game as they went into the locker room with a 34-28 lead.
Robinson started out the second half with a steal and a dunk to put UConn up eight points as NU called a timeout. Northeastern got the lead down to three points at 41-38 when UConn coach Jim Calhoun received the first of his two technicals on the night. UConn went on a 7-2 run to go up 48-40. Northeastern kept it close behind the shooting of Janning and pulled to within four points when Calhoun was objected for using a profanity. Janning hit both of technical free throws plus the two he had earned when he was fouled by Dyson on a layup. After Janning hit a 3-pointer to pull within three points UConn went on an 8-0 run as they hit their free throws down the stretch to earn the hard fought victory.
UConn (6-2) returns to the court on December 16th, as they break for exams, against former assistant coach Tom Moore and his Quinnipiac Bobcats squad at the Hartford Civic Center.
I would expect the Huskies to continue working on their defense over the break as Calhoun has not been happy with the play of his team on the defensive side of the court. I’d have to think he’s pleased with the play of Thabeet lately on the offensive side and Curtis Kelly played his best game since the first game of the year as he scored 8 points in just 8 minutes of play.
Notes and Observations:
The starting five was A.J. Price, Jerome Dyson, Craig Austrie, Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet.
The football team received it’s 2007 Big East (Co)Champions trophy at halftime. Dan Davis then joined Bob Picozzi and Tom Brennan after that for a brief interview.
The ejection for Calhoun was only the 5th in his 22 years at UConn. The last time he was ejected was way back in 2002 against St. Johns.
Price had a team-high 7 assists for UConn tonight.
UConn shot well from the floor as they were 23 of 46 (50%) while holding Northeastern to 21 of 63 (33.3%) from the floor.
UConn’s height advantage was evident as they outscored Northeastern 36-14 in the paint.
Northeastern did score convert 15 offensive rebounds into 19 second chance points.
UConn committed 16 turnovers while Northeastern only had 13.
UConn’s free throw shooting was a lot better tonight as they were 19 of 24 (79.2%).
