Uconn Men Make Their Case For No. 1 In Win

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After No. 2 Connecticut’s close victory over Providence last weekend, coach Jim Calhoun was upset the Huskies never had one of their runs to take command of the game.

On Monday night, the Huskies made him wait until the second half, but it was a vintage 12-0 run and Connecticut went on to a 93-73 over No. 10 Georgetown to remain the only unbeaten Division I team.

“In the second half we attacked instead of waiting around,” Calhoun said. “We dominated them the entire second half.”

The Huskies (6-0 Big East, 13-0) ended the Hoyas’ 11-game winning streak and won their 11th consecutive Big East regular-season game, the second-longest streak in conference history behind St. John’s 14 in a row in 1984-85.

Georgetown (5-1, 11-2), which hadn’t lost since the season opener against Arkansas, scored the first basket of the second half to get within 37-36, but then it was all Connecticut as the Huskies scored the next 12 points.

“Coach has a way of getting his point across and he did at halftime,” said Ray Allen, who had half the points in the run and finished with 18 for the game. “He wanted us to play like we can and come out and do the things we do. I knew if we did we would go up by 20 points and we did.”

Allen started the run with a 3-pointer and the Hoyas came up empty on their next four possessions and Connecticut capitalized on each one.

Donny Marshall, who led the Huskies with 20 points, followed a turnover by Jerome Williams and a missed shot by Don Reid with short jumpers. Allen hit another 3 after Williams missed a layup and Travis Knight capped the run with a layup after Reid missed on a drive on the other end.

The Huskies had a 49-36 lead 2:23 into the second half and the sellout crowd of 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center kept the noise level at a roar as Connecticut won its 24th consecutive home game.

“That’s what they do. Any team that presses. That’s what we do,” Georgetown coach John Thompson said of the run that forced him to call a timeout less than two minutes into the second half. “We try to apply pressure and try to let that pressure have an effect on who we play. It’s more effective at home than it is on the road.”

Connecticut extended the lead to as much as 20 points on three occasions, the last time the final margin.

(19) New Mexico St. 99, UNLV 79

In Las Cruces, N.M., reserve Crafton Ferguson scored 15 points in the first half and the Aggies (4-1 Big West, 13-3) shut down the Rebels (1-3, 4-6) for much of the second half.

NMSU trailed 52-51 at halftime, but went on a 22-4 run over an 8-minute stretch late in the game to pull away from the depth-shy Rebels.

Ferguson scored 17 points and Rodney Walker 16.

Kebu Stewart scored 21 points and reserve guard Damian Smith had 18 for UNLV.