The Daily Campus

Issue date: 2/3/05 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brett Mickelson Freshman Rudy Gay scored 17 points in the Huskies´ 81-76 victory over Villanova Wednesday night at the Hartford Civic Center.

HARTFORD - In desperate need of a win, the Huskies played their most inspired basketball of the season Wednesday night versus No. 25 Villanova. In a back and forth battle from tip to finish, the Huskies outlasted the Wildcats in coach Jim Calhoun's historic 1,000th game to get win No. 13 by a final score of 81-76.


"Tonight was a big game for us," Josh Boone said. "We played like our lives were on the line. This is probably the hardest we've played all year."


The first half was a series of ups and downs for the Huskies, who came out of the gate hot. Rudy Gay hit a three with 17:30 remaining to put the Huskies up 9-3. From there the Huskies were in control for most of the half, leading by as many as seven at one point. Most impressively the Huskies were able to control the tempo of the game from the foul line as they scored half of their first half points from the stripe shooting 19-of-26 for 73.1 percent. At one point the Huskies didn't score from the field for over eight minutes until Gay nailed a three pointer with 2:25 remaining.


The Wildcats would not stay cold forever though and with 5:13 remaining in the first half Villanova exploded from behind the three point arc. Led by Mike Nardi, the Wildcats hit four straight three pointers to spark a 14-0 run over 2:34 giving them a 38-31 lead. The Huskies would fight back however to close the Villanova lead to 40-38 at the end of the first half.


"You have to fight for a win and compete for a win," Calhoun said. "It took us a while to adjust to them tonight and they suckered us into playing their game."


It would have been hard to write a script more dramatic than the performance that UConn and Villanova turned in during the last 20 minutes of the game. The half opened up with the Huskies regaining the lead thanks to back to back jump shots by Gay and Denham Brown. Following three free throws by Charlie Villanueva, the Huskies were up 45-42. The Wildcats would then go on an 8-0 run to regain the lead, 50-45. The two teams would exchange leads until the five minute mark when a three pointer by Rashad Anderson put the Huskies up 67-63. Villanova's Curtis Sumpter would answer with a lay up, but a Gay jumper put the Huskies up 69-65 and seemingly in control with 4:16 remaining.

Continued...

Page 1 of 3 next >

Article Tools