University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Basketball Edges Past Morgan State, 69-65
11/7/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Box Score [] []
STORRS, Conn. (November 7, 2007) - Jerome Dyson (Rockville, Md.) scored 20 points and Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.) had a double-double as the University of Connecticut men's basketball team held off a determined Morgan State squad, 69-65, in the first round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. The game was the season opener for both teams.
The Huskies seemed to wrestle control of a tight game by opening up a 44-28 lead with 16:50 remaining on a three-pointer by Dyson. But the Bears put on a long-range shooting display that brought them on the brink of the upset win. Over a span of 6:20, Morgan State made five consecutive three-pointers, four by Reggie Holmes, the last of which tied the score at 52 with 6:41 to play.
Curtis Kelly (Queens, N.Y.), who played the best game of his Husky career, made two free throws to give the Huskies a lead they would not relinquish. Marquise Kately hit another three later to bring the Bears within one, at 58-57, but Dyson and Doug Wiggins (East Hartford, Conn.) answered with back-to-back three-pointers and Morgan State got no closer than four points the rest of the way.
Dyson led the Huskies in scoring despite playing just 10 minutes in the first half due to foul trouble. It was the seventh time in his UConn career that Dyson has scored at least 20 points. Kelly finished with 13 points and a career-high nine rebounds in a career-best 23 minutes. He was a perfect seven-for-seven from the foul line.
Adrien finished the contest with 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high seven blocks. The contest marks his 17th career double-double effort at Connecticut. A.J. Price (Amityville, N.Y.) had five points and a career-best nine assists in directing the point for the Huskies.
Guards Craig Austrie (Stamford, Conn.) and Wiggins each scored eight points off of the UConn bench.
Morgan State, who made 11 of 22 three-pointers in the game, was led by Holmes, who scored 18 and Boubacar Coly, who scored 12 and yanked down a game-high 13 rebounds.
The teams struggled through a closely played first half that saw the teams combine for 18 turnovers and 20 personal fouls. Neither team led by more than five points until a late scoring spurt by the Huskies gave them a 37-28 lead at intermission.
The Huskies will now play Buffalo, an 89-82 winner Wednesday over Ohio Valley, in the second round of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic on Thursday at Gampel Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 9:00 p.m. and the contest will be televised-nationally by ESPNU. The winner advances to the semifinals in Madison Square Garden on Thursday, November 15. Morgan State will play Ohio Valley at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow evening.
POSTGAME QUOTES
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UConn Players: | | | |
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Head Coach Jim Calhoun
I welcome Todd back to coaching. He had his team exceptionally well-prepared. I thought they were pretty good, by the way.
We got ourselves into a relatively close game at halftime, got it up to 15 or 16, and then tried to put a show on. We looked like a freshmen team and got ourselves into a deficit.
The press was OK, but they were a very difficult team to press when they were playing, basically, four ball-handling people. I didn’t mind it early, but when they started making threes…
The worst thing in the second half was the chasing down of loose ball rebounds.
The three-point shot is a great equalizer….That’s why you have to be prepared every single night.
We thought at 15 we were going to put a show on. We did. Unfortunately, it was the wrong kind of show.
We have to get more our of Hasheem. I didn’t think he was a factor a bit tonight.
We certainly have to get more out of Stanley, because we have to play so small without him. Whatever minutes he got were probably three minutes more than he deserved.
I thought Jeff gave us a good effort.
AJ is improving by the minute as a point guard.
Jerome continues to get in foul trouble by making plays that he can’t make and going for steals that he shouldn’t be making.
Curtis gave us good and bad. He’s getting lit up on defense. In turn, he got us some good plays on offense.
State Head Coach Todd Bozeman
Playing in the Coaches v. Cancer has a special meaning for me to be able to do something positive for cancer research. I lost my dad New Year’s Day 2006, so it’s an honor to be able to contribute to find a cure for cancer. So I’m thankful for the opportunity to do that.
When you’re a storied program like UConn you find ways to win the game, so my hat’s off to Coach Calhoun. As far as my group, we’re at a different stage than they are. We’re trying to grow. We’re looking for bricks to build our house and our program. I think it was a positive step. I’m not into moral victories, but I’m just into whether the team is playing well, whether we’re making strides, whether we’re doing the right things, whether we’re doing what we’re taught to do. In that regard, I want the guys to feel good about making steps but not to feel good about moral victories.
About playing zone
We wanted to mix it up a little bit, but I did want to play zone as much as I could. We wanted them shoot from the outside. They didn’t hit a three at all in the first half. I was actually pleasantly surprised that we were able to get out of the first half with our top three wing player out with two fouls. So I was playing some guys who don’t normally play. But I was glad to get out of the first half at least not down 20, which was highly possible…maybe hindsight is 20/20 – I play those guys and maybe it’s a little different. I don’t know.
It was tough when they ran the high-low and threw it to Thabeet. There’s not a whole lot we can do. Two of us can get on our shoulders and still not be as tall as him.
Forward Curtis Kelly
On Morgan State’s comeback
We continued to try and pull away but they kept hitting shots.
Difference between last year and this year
Offensively, we’re way better than last year. We have a lot more guys who are not scared to knock down the open shot. I think we’re more conditioned. We just struggled a little bit today, but I think we’re a better team. We’ll show it.
I think I did okay, but I think I could do better. I owe a lot of my good performance to Jeff who got me the ball down low. And to AJ who dished the ball real well too. Those guys are the ones who got the ball moving to set me up for the open shots and some of the lay-ups I had.
Did you have a greater desire tonight?
I think there’s just a greater desire coming into the whole season. I feel hungry for myself, but more hungry for my team to win.
On their 20 offensive rebounds
I think they were real scrappy. They also shot so many outside shots that a lot of the rebounds were going real long.
Forward Jeff Adrien
I think our effort was pretty good. We’ve got to just get out on shooters and get offensive rebounds. When we go with a three-guard lineup, our guards have to help the bigs. But I think the effort was good.
On Morgan State:
They hit shots. Some of the shots were contested. You’ve got to give them credit. They knocked down shots.
Guard A.J. Price
It was a little too close for comfort especially in a game like tonight when we had a chance to capitalize. We had a chance to really but them away and we didn’t.
On not being able to put them away after a 16-point lead:
It was just poor execution. We were up sixteen. I think we had three fast breaks in a row and we got nothing out of them. And in turn, they came down and made some threes.
On losing long rebounds after missed threes:
The three guards have to realize that we have to help the two bigs. It would be unfair for us to ask them to get every rebound. It did take away a little momentum at times.
Guard Craig Austrie
I feel like we were in control for the whole game, but it was a little bit too close for comfort. That’s not what we expect. No one was satisfied with this win.
It was a win, but no one was satisfied with it. We have to come out tomorrow and show that we are a much better team than we showed today.
On losing 16-point-lead
We turned the ball over a lot. We got sloppy and careless. They came down and scored on us. It all started with the turnovers.
Guard Jerome Dyson
On Morgan State’s rebounding
They had 20 offensive rebounds and we only had 14. They outworked us on the offensive glass.
On losing the big lead down the stretch
It felt like we got a little comfortable and we got careless with our passes. I had two turnovers where I should have made a better decision with the ball.
Sometimes we felt like we could have blown them out, but we let them back in the game. It was more our fault – not contesting shots and giving up free 3-pointers.
Guard Doug Wiggins
On Morgan State’s comeback
We just stopped doing all the things that we were doing that got us to that point. We have to stop that. We can’t let that happen against good teams.
