After the Texas two-misstep, the UConn Huskies men's basketball team was in a need of a win. I wouldn't say they were desperate, I'll just say they needed a win badly in their final non-conference game of the 2013-14 season.
The win almost didn't happen as they saw their eight point lead with 1:30 to go suddenly knocked down to three with 10 seconds left. After a Niels Giffey turnover, DeAndre Daniels was able to get a turnover and knock down the free throws to seal a 61-56 win for UConn over the Harvard Crimson in front of 9,218 at Gampel Pavilion on Wednesday night.
The Huskies improve to 12-3 and went 12-1 in non-conference action. The Crimson fall to 13-2 and the loss snapped a nine-game road winning streak.
Shabazz Napier led the Huskies with 18 points, 13 of which came in the second half, and pulled down seven rebounds. Ryan Boatright had 14 points while Daniels had 11 points, a team-high eight rebounds and four blocked shots.
Lasan Kromah had nine points, five rebounds and three assists in his first start in a UConn uniform.
Siyani Chambers paced Harvard with a game-high 21 points. Laurent Rivard had 13 points while Kyle Casey had 10 points and nine rebounds.
Brandyn Curry had a nice game with seven points, five rebounds and six assists for the Crimson who were playing without one of their stars in Wesley Saunders.
After what happened in Texas this win was a good one for the Huskies. It may not have been pretty especially as they trailed at halftime by five points.
But in the second half, they stepped up their defense and that really turned out to be the difference.
The Huskies go back to conference play on Saturday as they'll host the UCF Knights at Gampel Pavilion. Tip is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Harvard Crimson @ UConn Huskies 1/8/14 box score
Here are UConn's postgame quotes.
Here are UConn's postgame notes.
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photo credit: john woike – hartford courant
