Jan. 14, 2006
Box Score | Quotes
Washington, D.C. - Fourth-ranked Connecticut connected on 60 percent of its field goals, used a 12-4 run midway through the second half to open an 11-point lead and withstood late rallies from Georgetown en route to a 74-67 win over the Hoyas in front of 16,294 fans at the Hartford Civic Center on Saturday afternoon. It was the second-straight loss for Georgetown, which falls to 10-4 overall and 2-2 in the BIG EAST, while Connecticut improves to 14-1 and 2-1 in the league.
Trailing by nine points at halftime, 33-24, the Hoyas caught fire in the second half. The Huskies maintained the nine-point lead through the first four minutes of the second half, taking a 39-30 advantage on a pair of Rudy Gay free throws. Georgetown scored six-straight points in 52 seconds to cut the lead to three points, 39-33. Senior Brandon Bowman (Santa Monica, Calif./Westchester) hit a jumper and sophomore Jeff Green (Hyattsville, Md./Northwestern) connected on back-to-back baskets, narrowing the gap to six points with 14:47 left to play.
The Huskies, however, used a 12-4 run over a 4:59 span, increasing their lead to 11 points, 51-40, on a three-pointer from Rashad Anderson with 9:48 to play.
The Hoyas responded once again, outscoring the Connecticut 10-4 over the next 2:56 and pulled to within five points, 55-50, after Bowman hit one of two free throws with less than seven minutes to play. Bowman scored seven points during the run. The lead was still five points, 63-58, when Hoya sophomore guard Jonathan Wallace (Harvest, Ala./Sparkman) connected on a three-pointer with 2:49 to play in the game and the Hoyas were able to pull within four points, 67-63, when senior guard Ashanti Cook (Inglewood, Calif./Westchester) buried a trey from the corner with 1:19 to play. Connecticut, however, hit 10-of-11 free throws in the final three minutes en route to the win.
In the first half, Connecticut scored the first four points of the game, but the Hoyas scored 10 of the next 14 points and held a 10-8 lead after a natural three-point play from Green. A three-pointer from Marcus Williams broke a 10-all tie and the Huskies outscored the Hoyas 21-10 over a 10:04 span, increasing their lead to 31-20, on a jumper from Rashad Anderson.
Bowman finished with a game- and season-high 20 points, connecting on 7-of-15 shots from the field, and had five rebounds, three assists and three steals. He was one of four players in double figures for the Hoyas, joined by Green, who had 13 points and eight rebounds; sophomore center Roy Hibbert (Adelphi, Md./Georgetown Prep), who had 12 points and six boards; and Cook, who chipped in 11 points and four steals.
The Hoyas shot 42.9 percent from the floor for the game (27-of-63), 29.6 percent from three-point land (8-of-27) and 71.4 percent from the free throw line (5-of-7). UConn connected on 60.0 percent of its field goals (27-of-45), 40.0 percent of its three-pointers (4-of-10) and 88.9 percent of its free throws (16-of-28). Georgetown grabbed 28 rebounds, the same number as the Huskies, who had been out-rebounding opponents by more than 11 per game.
After playing three of its first four league games on the road, the Hoyas return home to the MCI Center on Tuesday night, where they will host new BIG EAST member South Florida. Tip off at the MCI Center is slated for 7:30 p.m. The game can be heard live on SportsTalk 980 AM.
