Spring Break
TOMA-HAWK'D
Huskies' second half explosion fuels rout over Hartford Hawks
Justin Verrier
Issue date: 11/18/08 Section: Sports
Austrie hit both foul shouts from the technical to bring the score to 59-49, and the Huskies would go on a backbreaking 40-7 run thereafter.
"Craig is not really known for leadership vocally, but today he definitely led by example," Walker said. "He came out with aggressiveness in the second half, and he got everybody else ready to play."
Although he played a team-high 19 first-half minutes, Adrien scored just two points before halftime and didn't get on the board until he hit two free throws with 2:03 left to play. He finished the first half 0-for-4 from the field and 2-for-6 on free throws.
But after continuing to play solid defensively, according to Calhoun, Adrien's offense eventually kicked in. The senior forward threw down a forceful dunk to put UConn up 55-49 in the second half, and would go on to finish with 12 points and a team-high 15 rebounds.
"I feel like I'm a different player than I was in years past," Adrien said. "Offensively, if I'm not going I can always play defense, and I think I showed it today with some steals, some blocks and some defensive rebounds."
After the Huskies failed to score on their first two possessions of the game, Calhoun made a mass substitution, putting in Donnell Beverly, Charles Okwandu and Scottie Haralson in favor of Dyson, Hasheem Thabeet and Craig Austrie.
The move paid some dividends, as Beverly scored five of UConn's first seven points, and the Huskies jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 15:40 to play. But the Hawks continued to stick around, never falling behind by more than 12 points until the Huskies broke free in the second.
"I think everybody just turned it up defensively," said Beverly, who finished with nine points in 18 minutes. "We rebounded once we got a couple stops. I think they were a little tired and we noticed that, and we just kept running."
"Craig is not really known for leadership vocally, but today he definitely led by example," Walker said. "He came out with aggressiveness in the second half, and he got everybody else ready to play."
Although he played a team-high 19 first-half minutes, Adrien scored just two points before halftime and didn't get on the board until he hit two free throws with 2:03 left to play. He finished the first half 0-for-4 from the field and 2-for-6 on free throws.
But after continuing to play solid defensively, according to Calhoun, Adrien's offense eventually kicked in. The senior forward threw down a forceful dunk to put UConn up 55-49 in the second half, and would go on to finish with 12 points and a team-high 15 rebounds.
"I feel like I'm a different player than I was in years past," Adrien said. "Offensively, if I'm not going I can always play defense, and I think I showed it today with some steals, some blocks and some defensive rebounds."
After the Huskies failed to score on their first two possessions of the game, Calhoun made a mass substitution, putting in Donnell Beverly, Charles Okwandu and Scottie Haralson in favor of Dyson, Hasheem Thabeet and Craig Austrie.
The move paid some dividends, as Beverly scored five of UConn's first seven points, and the Huskies jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 15:40 to play. But the Hawks continued to stick around, never falling behind by more than 12 points until the Huskies broke free in the second.
"I think everybody just turned it up defensively," said Beverly, who finished with nine points in 18 minutes. "We rebounded once we got a couple stops. I think they were a little tired and we noticed that, and we just kept running."
Be the first to comment on this story