University of Connecticut Athletics
Dyson Leads Huskies Past Northeastern, 69-60
12/6/2007 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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STORRS, Conn. (December 6, 2007)- Sophomore guard Jerome Dyson (Rockville, Md.) registered his first career double-double to lead three Huskies in double-figure scoring as the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team defeated Northeastern, 69-60, Thursday evening before a crowd of 9,915 at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
Connecticut improves to 6-2 with the win, while Northeastern drops to 3-5.
The hometown Huskies were unable to shake off their neighbors to the north until late in the contest. Connecticut led by just three, at 55-52 with 5:38 remaining after Matt Janning made a three-pointer to cap a personal 7-0 run over 47 seconds. Dyson fouled Janning, and the Connecticut bench was called for its second technical foul and Janning made all four free throws.
Connecticut responded with an 8-0 run as Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.) made two free throws and followed that with a three-point play. Junior guard Craig Austrie (Stamford, Conn.), making his first start of the season, then hit a three-pointer, and Connecticut led 63-52 with 3:06 to play and cruised to the win.
Dyson finished with 16 points and a career-high 10 rebounds to pace the Connecticut attack. Sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania) scored 13 points on a perfect five-for-five shooting. He added seven rebounds and three of his team’s nine blocked shots.
Sophomore Stanley Robinson (Birmingham, Ala.) scored 11 points off of the bench, while Adrien finished with nine points and four assists. Sophomore forward Curtis Kelly (Bronx, N.Y.) had eight points in eight minutes, while A.J. Price (Amityville, N.Y.) tallied seven assists for the Huskies.
Northeastern was paced by Janning, who scored 29 points, including five three-pointers. Nkem Ojougboh had 14 points for Northeastern.
Connecticut shot the ball well, making half of their 46 shots from the field, and 19-of-24 free throws. They enjoyed a 36-14 advantage in points in the paint, but allowed Northeastern to convert 15 offensive rebounds into 19 second-chance points.
Connecticut will now take a nine-day break for semester exams and return to the hardwood on Sunday, Dec. 16 when they welcome former long-time assistant coach Tom Moore and his Quinnipiac Bobcats to the Hartford Civic Center. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m. and the game will be televised by MyTV9 and SNY.
POSTGAME QUOTES
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UConn Players: | | |
Head Coach Jim Calhoun
Congratulations to Bill Coen and his team from Northeastern. I thought they did a good job.
As far as we’re concerned, I would give us an “F” on offense and probably a “C+” – I would give us a higher grade, but we didn’t rebound in the second half and we certainly didn’t defend Janning – otherwise I thought we played good defense.
There are a couple of guys on our team who just are not going to get over the top of screens, and one of those guys we took out for long periods in the first half.
We played very poorly, energy-wise. We played very good defense, stopping that flex time after time after time.
You gotta remember now, and I’ve been there – I was at that same institution – when you’re down six or eight, you’re happy as hell. And the other coach, like me in this case, is scared. When they’re grinding that offense out, they have us just where they want us. They’re within grasp.
We shouldn’t be where we are in certain areas of the game that I think we’re much better than. Yet, for whatever reason, which I honestly don’t have an explanation for, guys that I continue to think are better than what they’re playing.
On Matt Janning
He would be a good player for us or any other BIG EAST team. He certainly knows how to score. He did a really terrific job.… He went behind screens and they did a nice job of getting him free.
Head Coach Bill Coen
I want to thank Coach Calhoun and the University of Connecticut for inviting us down. It’s a tremendous opportunity for my team to play in this type of venue against this quality a program.
It was a well-played game on both ends of the court. Both teams battled and competed. I thought we had some critical turnovers at a crucial point in the game that really made the difference.
We had trouble containing them on the backboard most of the evening.
We were fortunate to make some three-point shots to keep us in the ballgame.
I thought early on our zone was effective and we had them a little off balance. Then they started to get the rhythm of it and we really had trouble… They got the ball on the basket pretty effectively later on in the game.
Guard Jerome Dyson
On the offensive troubles tonight
They switched their defense a lot between man-to-man and zone and sometimes we couldn’t identify early enough what their defense was.
On needing to get more shots
I’m just trying to stay within the team. I’ll take the open shot if I have it, but I’m trying to take better shots. So some of the shots, when I’m open, I try to make a pass and get a better shot than what I had – just staying within the offense.
On Coach getting ejected
We knew we just had to stay together. We couldn’t fall apart there in the second half. They pulled it within three so we had to get some quick, easy buckets rather than make it hard for ourselves.
Center Hasheem Thabeet
On the offensive problems early on
We were not expecting the zone and they came out with the zone so we had to adjust to it.
On Coach Calhoun being ejected
We just talked to each other and huddled up and said, ‘stay focused. We can’t let that take us out of the game. Play the same defense. Let’s do the things that Coach tells us every day. He’s not there, but when he’s there he’s expected a lot from you. Even if he’s not there you have to be out there ready to play.
Center Curtis Kelly
On his role
Getting rebounds, kicking it out, more assists and just anything to keep us going.
On the changes in his game
I feel like I still have a long way to go. As a player, I know my own potential and I know my talent. And I know I can do better than I did today. I can do better than a lot of games I played in. Knowing that, I’m just trying to mentally get myself together and trust in Coach. I know when he feels it’s my time I have to respond to what he’s given me. It’s just about when given the opportunity, doing something with it.
Forward Gavin Edwards
On the drop in offense
This week was more of a key on defense because Coach thought that we didn’t play good defense against Gonzaga. So this past week we focused on defense.
What do you concentrate on doing when coming off the bench?
Just to play hard. That’s what Coach has been preaching to us all year so far.
