Hartford, Conn. - Jeff Adrien and Hasheem Thabeet led five Connecticut players in double-figures with 18 points apiece as the second-ranked Huskies defeated the Stony Brook University men's basketball team, 91-57, on Monday night at the XL Center. Freshman Danny Carter (London, England) led the Seawolves with a game-high 20 points. Stony Brook falls to 5-5 with the loss while the Huskies improve to 9-0.
"I was happy with our effort tonight but I was disappointed with our overall execution on the defensive side of the court," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said. "I like my team though. We just have to go back to work and continue to get better.
Stony Brook trailed by only 11 points, at 44-33, after a three-pointer from junior Jonathan Moore (Cleveland, Ohio) just 40 seconds into the second half. But Craig Austrie answered with a three-pointer on the other end for the Huskies to kick start an 8-0 run that put UConn up 51-33 with 17:53 remaining.
The Seawolves would not go away though, closing their deficit to 12 with 15:58 left after back-to-back three-pointers from freshman Bryan Dougher (Scotch Plains, N.J.). But Connecticut once again had an answer, this time going on a 22-4 spurt to to take its largest lead of the game at 75-45 with 9:28 remaining in the contest. Freshman Dallis Joyner (Norfolk, Va.) would end the run with a jumper but it wasn't enough as the Huskies went on to their ninth straight victory to open the season.
The America East Player of the game, Carter shot 8-for-13 from the field in addition to grabbing a career-high six rebounds. Adrien registered 10 rebounds to go along with his 18 points for the Huskies who shot 62.7 percent from the field for the game in addition to going 19-for-27 from the foul line.
Connecticut started the game quickly, grabbing an early 8-2 lead. But the Seawolves clawed their way back into the contest, closing to within 10-7 on two Carter free throws. SBU still trailed by just five at 16-11 with 13:17 remaining but the Huskies then went on a 21-2 run over the next eight minutes to push its lead to 37-13 with 5:38 left in the period.
Stony Brook closed the half strong though, outscoring the Huskies 17-7 over the final five minutes of the first half. Carter scored seven points in the spurt including a three-pointer with four seconds remaining in the period to pull the Seawolves within 14 at the break.
Carter scored a game-high 14 points in the opening 20 minutes for the Seawolves who turned the ball over just five times in the first half. Adrien and Thabeet scored 12 points apiece in the first period for UConn who shot 57.1 percent in the opening half.
The Seawolves will return to action on Sunday, Dec. 28th, traveling to take on St. Peter's. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
