The Connecticut Huskies defeated the Syracuse Orange 63-61. This continues their winning streak to six games, and the Huskies are currently ranked nineteenth in the USA Today and Associated Press Polls.
Huskies forward Jeff Adrien lead with nineteen points, and added with twelve rebounds. He played fourty minutes, and shot eight and fourteen from field goals.
“Jeff Adrien was a warrior out there,” the Huskies head coach Jim Calhoun said, whom recieved his 767 career victory; which puts him past Orange head coach Jim Boeheim. “It was a really, really good win. I’ve said a long time that this is a league that will eat its own.”
The Huskies record is 17-5, but are 7-3 in Big East play. They’ve beaten three consecutive ranked opponents, and lead the nation with blocked shots for six straight years.
Hasheem Thabeet finished with six points, but had eight rebounds and seven blocked shots.
“At the half, Coach told me not to worry about fouls and just ‘play the game you’re capable of playing,”‘ said Huskies center Thabeet, whom lead with block shot. “It wasn’t about me blocking shots. It was the whole team defense. If the other guys get beat, I’m there to help.”
“It was Hasheem’s job to play one-man zone and man-to-man Greene every place. I saw no other choice,” Calhoun said. “Everyone knew where he was, and if you didn’t know where he was you sat on the bench. I got everyone’s attention and told them, you will not play unless you know where Greene is.”
Donte Greene had eight points, but shot two for fifteen from field goals. He played forty minutes, but Greene was one for eight from three point range. “You have to be aggressive to put it in there,” Orange forward Greene said. “They were definitely keying on me. Wherever I was, they made sure to keep somebody in my face at all times no matter what was going on. It made it kind of tough.”
Huskies guard Craig Austrie had eleven points, but shot two for six from three point range. Forward Stanley Robinson had nine rebounds and seven points. Calhoun has gave his players praise for their performances recently. “The last eight days have felt like 800,” Calhoun said. “The kids have taken the chance to do something special. They’re listening.”
A.J. Price had fourteen points with seven assist. He was three for eight from field goals, and zero for three from three point range. “I’m impressed, I should be. It is impressive what we’re doing right now,” Huskie guard Price said. “We haven’t played at our peak but we have shown you how good we can be and as the season goes on we’ll get better and go from there.”
The Orange record is 16-8, and 6-5 in the Big East. Paul Harris wasn’t happy about losing by three points. “The West Virginia loss, we lost by 20,” Orange guard Harris said. “I’d rather have that than you fight so hard and lose by two. We had the lead. We had UConn, and we let it slip away.” Harris had twenty-four points, with eleven rebounds. Leading with four steals and zero turnovers.
Jonny Flynn finished with twenty points, five rebounds and six assist. The Huskies ability to block shots effected the Orange playing style according to Flynn. “To have four straight possessions and get our shot blocked, that just changed the whole game right there,” said Flynn. “We were kind of hesitating going to the rim, like we weren’t good enough. When you start having that thought in your mind, that you can’t go in there or you’ve got to settle for a 3-point shot, the game is over.”
Original post by Kenrick Thomas
Hey kenrick,
Just wanted to say I stopped by and read this. It reads like an article, which I imagine is what you were trying to emulate. It’s quite good in that respect. I did notice a few grammatical/spelling errors, but not many. Much better than when you first started out on Fox way back when. Great pic too, with the lone Orange player seemingly surrounded by not only Huskies in white jerseys but UConn fans as well.
Take care and keep plugging away. Don’t let anyone sway you from your goal.