#6 UConn Squeaks By Men's Basketball, 61-59
2/6/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BOX SCORE (.html)
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team led by as many as 14 points in the second half, but a late run by Kemba Walker and #6 Connecticut helped the Huskies escape the Prudential Center with a 61-59 victory on Saturday night.
Senior Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) scored a game-high 20 points and grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds. Senior Jeff Robinson (Trenton, N.J.) had 15 points and also had 11 boards. Walker led UConn with 19 points.
The Pirates (10-14, 4-8) had a strong start to the second half, building a five-point halftime cushion into a 44-34 lead after a third-chance bucket by Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) with 16:14 to go. Later, Hazell gave SHU its largest lead, 50-36, on a pull-up jumper from 12-feet out with 13:56.
Walker scored five of the next 10 UConn (18-4, 6-4) points to pull the Huskies within 54-46 at the 8:42 mark. A putback by Robinson 30 seconds later put the Pirates back up by 10, but that would be the last field goal the Hall would score.
The Pirates were still clinging to a 57-55 lead with 2:57 remaining, but Walker knocked down a step-back three from the right wing to give Connecticut its first lead since the 5:47 mark of the first half.
SHU squandered three opportunities to regain the lead, and Roscoe Smith knocked down a pair of free-throws with 19 seconds to go. Hazell's attempt to tie the game with six seconds left was blocked by Alex Oriakhi.
Oriakhi hit 1-of-2 from the line after an intentional foul to give the Huskies a 61-57 lead. Edwin picked off an errant pass to make it a one-possession game with one second, but the Pirates could not stop the clock.
In the first half, a three-pointer by Walker put UConn up, 17-12, with 11:40 to go. Seton Hall answered with back-to-back threes by Hazell and Robinson and eventually took a four-point lead after another trifecta by Hazell.
With 3:29 left in the half, Walker connected with Jeremy Lamb for an uncontested dunk to even the score, 29-29. The teams traded buckets for the next three minutes, but the Pirates took a 37-32 lead into the locker room after Keon Lawrence (Newark, N.J.) found Robinson on the right wing from downtown with four seconds left.
SHU held a 42-33 edge on the glass and points in the paint were even, 28-28.
The Pirates are back in action at Rutgers on Saturday, February 12, at 7:00 p.m.
