Late Connecticut Run Sinks Orange

Monday, February 5

Storrs, CT

7:00 p.m.

Syracuse University

Connecticut

Paul Harris registered his fifth double-double of the year at Connecticut.

2/5/2007 9:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. – The Orange (16-8, 5-5) lost a tight game to Connecticut (15-8, 4-6) by the score of 67-60 at Gampel Pavilion on Monday, Feb. 5. The two teams were tied, 57-57, with 6:07 left to play, but the Huskies tallied 10 of the game's final 13 points to secure the win, which was the 500^th for Jim Calhoun as the Huskies' head coach.

The Huskies held the Orange without a field goal for the final 7 minutes and 19 seconds of the game. SU managed just three free throws by freshman Paul Harris and two by sophomore Eric Devendorf in that span and went 0-for-8 from the field with four turnovers during that time. Jerome Dyson and Craig Austrie each had three points for Connecticut during its game-clinching run.

Senior Demetris Nichols led SU with 20 points, his 13^th game with at least 20 points this season. He was 8-of-16 from the field. Harris recorded his fifth double-double of the year with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Devendorf was also in double figures for the Orange with 13 points.

Foul trouble plagued the Orange the entire night. Syracuse played the majority of the first half without senior center Darryl Watkins who picked up two early fouls. He returned to the SU lineup at the end of the period and scored four points before being whistled for his third personal, sending him back to the bench for the rest of the half. Watkins picked up his fourth foul 16 seconds into the second frame. He picked up his fifth with 3:42 to go and was disqualified after playing 10 minutes and scoring four points.

Senior forward Terrence Roberts didn't fare much better. He was called for two fouls in the first six minutes of the second half and also took a seat with four personals. He later fouled out with 6:07 left in regulation. Roberts finished with two points, five rebounds and five blocks.

Without Watkins and Roberts, Connecticut asserted itself on the glass, outrebounding SU, 49-32, including a 21-9 advantage on the offensive boards. The Huskies 21 offensive rebounds led to 22 second-chance points. The Orange recorded five second-chance points on its nine offensive caroms.

Junior Josh Wright and Nichols combined to score 12 of the Orange's first 16 points as SU took a 16-9 lead just over halfway through the first stanza. The Huskies' A.J. Price hit back-to-back three's in the span of 32 seconds to pull Connecticut within one, 16-15, and Austrie made two free throws to claim a one-point margin with 7:26 to go in the opening half.

Harris put an end to the Huskies' eight-point spurt with three straight points. A hoop by Devendorf pushed SU's advantage to 21-17 with 4:41 left, but Connecticut responded with the game's next five points to pull in front, 22-21, and the Huskies led, 28-27, at the break.

Connecticut started the second half with three 3-point field goals, but the Orange kept pace and reclaimed the lead, 41-40, on a basket by Nichols. After four straight points by Jeff Adrien, a Nichols three knotted the game at 44-44 with 12:12 to play.

The game featured nine ties and 11 lead changes. The Orange's last lead in the contest came at the 6:48 mark of the second half as Harris knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 57-55.

Austrie led five Huskies in double figures with 14 points. He also had seven rebounds and five assists. Adrien finished the game with a double-double (12 points, 12 rebounds). Price (12 points), Marcus Johnson (10 points) and Dyson (10 points) were Connecticut's other double-figure scorers.

Syracuse hit four 3-pointers in the game to eight for Connecticut. Neither team shot particularly well from the field. The Orange was 22-for-58 (38 percent) and the Huskies made 26-of-56 attempts (36 percent).

The Orange returns home on Sunday, Feb. 11 to host St. John's at the Carrier Dome. The game will tip off at 2:00 p.m. and be televised live on ESPN Regional.