University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Basketball Edged By No. 19 Gonzaga, 85-82
12/1/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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BOSTON (December 1, 2007) - Jeremy Pargo scored 23 points, including eight in the game’s final moments as 19th-ranked Gonzaga held off the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team Saturday afternoon, 85-82, at The Hartford Hall of Fame Showcase at the TD Banknorth Garden.
The loss, the Huskies’ second of the season against a ranked opponent, drops the Connecticut record to 5-2. The Bulldogs improve to 7-1 with the win.
The well-played contest was a see-saw affair that was not settled until junior A.J. Price (Amityville, N.Y.) missed a long three-pointer at the buzzer. Freshman Austin Daye had made three consecutive free throws in the final seconds before missing a free throw that set the stage for Price’s potential game-tying attempt.
Price almost tied the game on an improbable three-point attempt with the Huskies trailing 82-78 with 21.6 seconds remaining when he was fouled by Pargo, and the shot almost went in. Price made the first two attempts from the line, missed the third and after a tie-up under the Connecticut basket, Gonzaga took possession and held on for the win.
Price scored a game-high 24 points in the contest, tying his season and career marks at Connecticut. Sophomore guard Jerome Dyson (Rockville, Md.) added 19 points, making five three-pointers in 10 attempts.
The Connecticut big men contributed as well. Junior Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.), playing a homecoming game just miles from where he grew up, narrowly missed his third-straight double-double by scoring 15 points, and yanking down a team-high nine rebounds. He was particularly impressive in a four and one-half minute stretch midway through the second half where he scored nine of Connecticut’s 10 points.
Sophomore forward Stanley Robinson (Birmingham, Ala.) had 11 points and eight rebounds towards the Husky cause. Starting center Hasheem Thabeet (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania) had six points, five rebounds and a game-high three blocks before fouling out with 2:04 to play.
Both teams shot the ball well, particularly from long range. The Huskies made a season-high nine three-pointers (in 28 attempts), while the Zags made 12-of-27 from the three-point territory.
Matt Bouldin scored 19 points (17 after halftime) for Gonzaga, while Micah Downs added 14 points and a game-high 11 rebounds off of the bench for the Zags.
Gonzaga led 45-44 at the half, taking advantage of Husky foul trouble to erase a ten-point deficit. Price led the Huskies in scoring with 13 points in the stanza, but sat out the final four minutes with two fouls. Dyson and Thabeet also missed plenty of action, sitting out eight and nine minutes, respectively, due to foul trouble. The Huskies led by six when Price got his pair of fouls in a ten-second span. The Zags outscored UConn 13-6 from that point to halftime.
UConn started the game in stellar fashion, jumping out to leads of 13-3 and 24-14 in the first nine minutes of the contest. The Huskies hit seven three’s in the half, but Gonzaga stayed in the game by hitting eight of their own in the first stanza. Dyson was the early catalyst, hitting three long three’s in the first six minutes.
UConn returns to action on Thursday, December 6 when it hosts the Huskies of Northeastern University at 7:30 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. The game will be televised by MyTV9 and SNY in the Connecticut area.
