Men's Basketball Falls at #13 Connecticut, 71-63
1/7/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STORRS, CONN. - Seton Hall junior Jeff Robinson (Trenton, N.J.) scored a season-high 17 points and sophomore Herb Pope (Aliquippa, Pa.) picked up his 10th double-double of the season, but it was not enough as #13 Connecticut outlasted the Pirates, 71-63, on Wednesday.
Robinson also tied his season-high with nine rebounds. Pope finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
Seton Hall (9-5, 0-3) entered Wednesday's game having lost nine straight to the Huskies, 16-of-17 and 23-of-25. Furthermore, the Pirates hadn't won at Gampel Pavilion since Feb. 8, 1992. Seton Hall is now 1-9 all-time at the UConn campus' home court.
Seton Hall started Keon Lawrence (Newark, N.J.) at point guard to begin the game. It marked the first time in over three seasons that someone other than Eugene Harvey or Jordan Theodore had started in that position.
The first eight minutes where a see-saw affair with neither team grabbing a lead larger than four points. Herb Pope found himself again in foul trouble, picking up his second infraction with 14:59 still to go in the first half.
Connecticut (11-3, 2-1) scored the first seven points out of the 12-minute timeout to grab a 21-12 lead with 10:28 before the half. Seton Hall responded scoring six of the next eight points highlighted by a nifty up-and-under layup by Hazell that scored just before the shot clock expired. UConn led 23-18 with 7:15 before halftime.
The Pirates went on an 8-2 run fueled by four points from Jeff Robinson to tie the game at 31 with 2:28 to go. UConn's Stanley Robinson scored the final four points of the half to give the Huskies a 35-31 lead at the half.
Seton Hall out-rebounded the much taller Huskies, 21-to-17 in the first half and were led by Robinson who had 10 points and six rebounds. Kemba Walker led UConn with nine points.
Jerome Dyson scored a quick three points out of halftime to give UConn a 40-33 lead, but the Pirates scored the next six straight on the strength of four more points from Jeff Robinson, a pair of free throws and a layup on an inside pass from Herb Pope. With the latter score, the Pirates closed the deficit to within one, 40-39 with 16:38 left in regulation.
Junior Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) hit a three-pointer to put the Pirates back on top, 53-52 with 8:34 remaining in regulation. It was Seton Hall's first lead since they held a 4-3 edge at the start of the game.
After the Pirates stretched the lead to three, 57-54, Jerome Dyson hit a three-pointer in the corner to tie the game and converted on a break-away layup off a Seton Hall turnover to give the lead back to UConn, 59-57. Gavin Edwards scored on back-to-back possessions off Pirates' misses to push the run to 9-0 and give the Huskies their largest lead of the second half up to that point, 63-57, with 4:43 to go.
A Herb Pope jumper with 3:22 remaining pulled the Pirates back to within two, 63-61, but alas Seton Hall would get no closer.
Jerome Dyson missed a triple-double by one rebound, finishing with 16 points, 10 assists and nine rebounds.
The Pirates out-rebounded the Huskies for the game, 42-to-36, and forced more turnovers, 13-to-7, but UConn shot significantly better from the field, 50.9%-to-35.5%. Connecticut was 15-for-19 from the free-throw line, while Seton Hall was only 6-for-8.
Seton Hall will return to action on Saturday, January 9, 2010 when they return home to the Prudential Center to host Cincinnati. Game time is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
