University of Connecticut Athletics
Anderson, Boone Lead Huskies Over Rice
12/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
HARTFORD, Conn. (Dec. 19) - Junior Rashad Anderson (Lakeland, Fla.) scored a season-high 27 points and sophomore center Josh Boone (Mt. Airy, Md.) notched his fourth double-double of the season as 11th-ranked Connecticut held off Rice University, 81-72, Sunday afternoon before a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center. The win improves the Huskies record to 5-1, while the Owls slip to 5-2.
The Huskies were able to secure the win despite being held without a field goal in the game’s final 10:04. UConn scored their final 12 points from the foul line, missing just four attempts down the stretch. The Huskies were able to open up their biggest lead at 69-53 after Anderson hit his fifth three-pointer of the contest and the Huskies held on from there.
Anderson’s total of 27 points was one off his career-best of 28 set against Alabama in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Boone finished with a career-high 20 points and added a game-high 14 rebounds in pacing UConn to a 61-34 rebounding advantage. UConn nabbed 31 offensive rebounds, setting up 24 second chance points.
UConn took control of the game in the second half’s opening minutes as junior Ed Nelson (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) hit a jumper to start a 7-0 run that was capped by five straight points by Boone. Nelson matched his season-best scoring effort with seven points. Freshman Rudy Gay (Baltimore, Md.), making his first career start, narrowly missed his second career double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The first half was played at a frenetic pace, despite some poor shooting from both clubs. UConn shot just 38 percent in the opening twenty minutes, en route to a 47-40 lead at intermission. Boone led the Huskies with 12 at the half while Anderson chipped in with 11.
Sophomore Marcus Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) had a game-high seven assists in running the point, while freshman point guard Antonio Kellogg (Oakland, Calif.) had six points and three rebounds.
The Owls were paced by Michael Harris, who scored 22 points and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Huskies will return to the hardwood on Wednesday, Dec. 22, when they entertain in-state rival Central Connecticut at the Hartford Civic Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the contest will be televised by Fox-61.
POST GAME QUOTES
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
"Rice, I thought, was exceptionally well-coached. I thought they stayed with their stuff, they got the ball into Harris. They’re a very intelligent team and I thought they did a terrific job. I’m probably going to have to make the biggest adjustment, because we’re back to a grinding team, a young team that’s learning, and that’s not an easy adjustment to me."
"I think I’ve been spoiled, to some degree, by Taliek…I’d like to have him back right now, because experienced players do make your life much easier as a coach, with decision-making, etc. With Denham shooting so poorly today, we could have used a two guard that can pass the ball."
"Although they scored more points in the paint, I think that’s little misleading. We got the ball into the paint a ton of times."
"We got 31 offensive rebounds. I don’t expect us not to be able to rebound. I don’t know if we’re going to get 31 every single night – then again, I hope we don’t shoot 35 percent to give us an opportunity to get 31 offensive rebounds. You can get a lot of offensive rebounds if you miss a lot of shots. There are a lot more chances available."
"Rice gave us a good go. They wouldn’t let us get away from them at any point in time. And we wouldn’t let ourselves get away a few times, by poor passing, by some ill-timed decision-making."
"I thought a couple of things emerged today. Rashad has been told now 'You’re going to just shoot the ball.' I got upset with the kids at UMass for quick shots, and he came to me at practice in the middle of the week and I said, 'You’re the exception. I just want you to continue to shoot.' Because sometimes I think he makes shots with people on him better than he does with people off him."
"I think the real key is that Ed Nelson came in and solidified us defensively."
Junior Ed Nelson
"It was great. It felt good to get out there. It felt like old times. I played hard and I wanted to do what I could do to help us get a win."
"I’ve been playing hard in practice and I went out there today and played my heart out."
Sophomore Josh Boone
On progress since UMass
We ran our offense thorough more times tonight. Also our rebounding was an obvious progression. We are getting better on offense."
On Ed Nelson
Ed played great, he was a force out there. If he wasn’t rebounding, he was chipping it to one of us. He was a real big boost for us. He told us before the game that he was going to get a body on and if he couldn’t get the rebound, he’d tip it to us. He provides great defensive pressure, rebounding, intensity and fire. He brings the little things. He weighs a little big more than us, so he has the ability to be a bit more physical.
On free throws
"It feels great. That was one of the main things that I needed to work on."
On missing a free throw
"I had just made 6 in a row, and I had to miss that one? It was just annoying!"
On what his free throw style is about
"It is to keep the ball from going behind my head. [It came from] a combination of coaches and we were working on different things."
On rebounding
Coach got on us a lot (after the UMass game). We made a point to work on it tonight, getting to the blocks and boxing out."
Junior Rashad Anderson
"Coach tells me to try to score every time I touch the ball."
On Ed Nelson
"We’ve been waiting for Ed to come along. He provided a good spark for us tonight."
Rice Head Coach Willis Wilson
"Little things just make the difference. I thought we played a good basketball game. I didn’t, by any means, think we played great. I think UConn played a good basketball game. And I don’t think, by any means, they felt that they played great. There are just a couple of things that they were able to do that we really didn’t have an answer for. In particular, offensive rebounds. That’s just been our biggest nemesis so far this year, and it hurt us again today. It’s certainly something that we can get better at but, immediately, it’s one of those things that’s just going to be a source of frustration because it’s going to take a little time for us to get better in that area."
"It was a physical game, and probably more physical than we really anticipated. Not that we haven’t been in games as physical as this one, but we didn’t really expect it to be as one-sided as it was in terms of how physical it was."
