TicketsLive from 5/3:
An interesting question: how many people show up to see the No. 10 in the nation play the Bearcats in their conference home opener? I'd say the over-under would be 7,000. Twenty-five minutes before the game, you'd have to take the under on that.
UConn, BTW, only has nine scholarship players tonight. According to the Hartford Courant, junior center Charles Okwandu and freshman guard Darius Smith stayed behind on campus to attend intersession classes. Also, Jonathan Mandeldove is out with academic problems.
UC starting five: Deonta Vaughn, Larry Davis, Ibrahima Thomas, Lance Stephenson, and Steve Toyloy. Yancy Gates and Cashmere Wright coming off the bench.
Thomas opens the game by missing a layup. But he looked good going to the rim.
I wonder how aggressive Vaughn is going to be tonight. He dribbled through a double-team and then swished a floater high over a Huskies outstretched hand.
Larry Davis and Lance Stephenson with the break, but Davis gives one too many passes, and it goes out of bounds for a turnover.
UC playing good defense so far, particularly on the interior with Gates and Toyloy.
Bad stretch for Darnell Wilks. He airballs a 3-pointer, then fouls Gavin Edwards as he's making a layup. He's pulled from the game.
This is quickly becoming a physical game.
UC continues not to shoot well. It's 30.8 percent from the floor. UConn, meanwhile, is 26.7 percent and has missed all four of its 3-pointers.
Cashmere Wright buries a 3 to give UC the lead.
Vaughn has found his shot in the first half. He hits back-to-back 3s to give UC an eight point lead and force a timeout from Jim Calhoun.
Stephenson with the rebounds off a Walker miss, goes coast to coast for the layup and the foul. And this place is getting loud.
UConn with seven turnovers, but the Huskies are out-rebounding UC 18-14.
Vaughn has 10 points. Stephenson with nine. Jerome Dyson has eight for UConn.
And just like that, UConn quiets the crowd with a quick 7-0 run.
Man, Kemba Walker is quick, quick, quick.
Haven't seen much of Cashmere Wright tonight. Vaughn has mostly handled the point guard role.
Ibrahima Thomas adds energy when he's in the game, but he's 0 for 5 from the floor, mostly from inside the paint.
Joe Kay makes a good observation. UConn has 0 blocks so far.
Stephenson with a nifty move. The outlet pass was going over his head, and though he caught it, he was going out of bounds. No problem. He wings it off a UConn player out of bounds to retain possession. The crowd liked that.
UConn ends the half on a 15-6 run, but still trail by one.
Dyson has 14 points, and UConn is shooting 32.4 percent. The Huskies have missed all six of their 3-pointers.
Stephenson has 13 points, and Vaughn has 10 (also tied for the team lead with four rebounds).
Both teams have nine turnovers, but UConn is outrebounding the Bearcats 25-19. The two teams have combined to make 19 of 22 FTs.
Just noticed this, but UC only has three offensive rebounds. UConn has 10. But surprisingly, both teams only have two second-chance points.
Thomas misses shot No. 5, but he is 4-6 from the line.
Both teams have to run up and down the court like 3 times in a row. Everybody is gassed. Toyloy is bailed out when the officials call a foul on UConn.
Vaughn with another big 3.
Bearcats seem to be overpassing it in the paint. It creates problems for them.
Bishop hits hits second 3 of the game, but then fouls Robinson when he's making his own 3. Robinson misses the FT and UC still leads by 5.
UConn goes to a zone. It just so happens that the Bearcats are shooting 54.5 percent from the 3.
Dixon manages to be called for two fouls in the span of 0 seconds, and he's out of the game with four. Then, Gates picks up foul No. 4. He's got six points and three rebounds so far.
Oriakhi, who's got eight rebounds, picks up his fourth with 10:41 to go.
Amazing dribbling from Stephenson to completely school Robinson and then hit the fadeaway 12-footer. Then, Walker schools Vaughn on his way to an easy layup.
UConn, thanks to Robinson (20 points) and Dyson (20) are still hanging around.
UC rebounding better this half, 16-11 over the Huskies
With two FTs, Vaughn has a season-high 17 points.
About 6 minutes left in the game, UC up by 5, you know what time it is? Anthony McClain time. He makes his first appearance in the game.
Fans displeased about an offensive foul call on Vaughn. Of course, Vaughn totally pushed off. It's his fourth with 4:27 to play.
Not good when Vaughn and Gates have four fouls apiece. And Dixon for that matter.
Bishop strips the ball from Walker, but Dixon misses the layup on the 3-on-1 break. Lot of upset people in here.
In crunch time, Dixon handling the point, not Wright. Stephenson runs into Dixon, causing a turnover, and Dyson all alone for the easy dunk.
Vaughn back in the game. Then fouls out with 1:30 to go. Two free throws for Edwards. He hits 1 of 2. Three-point game.
Dixon turns it over with about 4 seconds on the shot clock. But give him credit. He hustles and gets the ball back after the shot clock resets. Calls timeout.
It's unclear if UConn actually had possession of the ball when the shot clock reset. Looks like perhaps UC had a shot-clock violation. No, 1 second is put back on the clock. Gates got off a shot, but misses.
Crowd is loud with UC up by 3 and UConn ball.
Dyson just threw up a crazy shot, and it bounced off about eight players. Finally, the ball is in Robinson's hands, who lays it in with 26 seconds to play. Timeout.
I assume Toyloy won't be on the floor for FTs.
Full court press, broken by UC. Thomas dunk with 17 seconds to go. Walker on the other end nails a 3 to tie the game with 9 seconds to go.
Then, Stephenson with the ball against Dyson. Stephenson beats him and the foul is called on Edwards. It's unclear if there was time left on the clock when the whistle blew.
It appears to me on the replay that there might have been 0.2 or 0.3 seconds on the clock when the play ended.
Yep, Stephenson will take two shots with 0.7 seconds left.
Hits the first, and UC clears the lane for the second. Mick is screaming at Lance to miss it. He makes it. Don't think he heard Mick.
Dixon, Bishop, Stephenson, Toyloy, Thomas on the floor. Thomas guarding the in-bounds. Dyson gets off a shot from half court but it hits about halfway up the backboard.
Stephenson finishes with 21, Vaughn with 17. UC shoots 41 percent from the floor, 46.7 percent from the 3.
UConn is led by Dyson's 24 points and Robinson's 22. UConn shoots 37.5 percent from the floor, 30.8 percent from the 3.
An interesting question: how many people show up to see the No. 10 in the nation play the Bearcats in their conference home opener? I'd say the over-under would be 7,000. Twenty-five minutes before the game, you'd have to take the under on that.
UConn, BTW, only has nine scholarship players tonight. According to the Hartford Courant, junior center Charles Okwandu and freshman guard Darius Smith stayed behind on campus to attend intersession classes. Also, Jonathan Mandeldove is out with academic problems.
UC starting five: Deonta Vaughn, Larry Davis, Ibrahima Thomas, Lance Stephenson, and Steve Toyloy. Yancy Gates and Cashmere Wright coming off the bench.
Thomas opens the game by missing a layup. But he looked good going to the rim.
I wonder how aggressive Vaughn is going to be tonight. He dribbled through a double-team and then swished a floater high over a Huskies outstretched hand.
Larry Davis and Lance Stephenson with the break, but Davis gives one too many passes, and it goes out of bounds for a turnover.
UC playing good defense so far, particularly on the interior with Gates and Toyloy.
UC 6, UConn 6 (15:12 to go)
Bad stretch for Darnell Wilks. He airballs a 3-pointer, then fouls Gavin Edwards as he's making a layup. He's pulled from the game.
This is quickly becoming a physical game.
UC continues not to shoot well. It's 30.8 percent from the floor. UConn, meanwhile, is 26.7 percent and has missed all four of its 3-pointers.
Cashmere Wright buries a 3 to give UC the lead.
UC 13, UConn 10 (11:49 to go)
Vaughn has found his shot in the first half. He hits back-to-back 3s to give UC an eight point lead and force a timeout from Jim Calhoun.
Stephenson with the rebounds off a Walker miss, goes coast to coast for the layup and the foul. And this place is getting loud.
UConn with seven turnovers, but the Huskies are out-rebounding UC 18-14.
Vaughn has 10 points. Stephenson with nine. Jerome Dyson has eight for UConn.
UC 30, UConn 20 (7:46 to go)
And just like that, UConn quiets the crowd with a quick 7-0 run.
Man, Kemba Walker is quick, quick, quick.
Haven't seen much of Cashmere Wright tonight. Vaughn has mostly handled the point guard role.
Ibrahima Thomas adds energy when he's in the game, but he's 0 for 5 from the floor, mostly from inside the paint.
Joe Kay makes a good observation. UConn has 0 blocks so far.
UC 34, UConn 31 (3:22 to go)
Stephenson with a nifty move. The outlet pass was going over his head, and though he caught it, he was going out of bounds. No problem. He wings it off a UConn player out of bounds to retain possession. The crowd liked that.
UConn ends the half on a 15-6 run, but still trail by one.
Dyson has 14 points, and UConn is shooting 32.4 percent. The Huskies have missed all six of their 3-pointers.
Stephenson has 13 points, and Vaughn has 10 (also tied for the team lead with four rebounds).
Both teams have nine turnovers, but UConn is outrebounding the Bearcats 25-19. The two teams have combined to make 19 of 22 FTs.
UC 36, UConn 35 (half)
Just noticed this, but UC only has three offensive rebounds. UConn has 10. But surprisingly, both teams only have two second-chance points.
Thomas misses shot No. 5, but he is 4-6 from the line.
Both teams have to run up and down the court like 3 times in a row. Everybody is gassed. Toyloy is bailed out when the officials call a foul on UConn.
Vaughn with another big 3.
UC 45, UConn 37 (15:54 to go)
Bearcats seem to be overpassing it in the paint. It creates problems for them.
Bishop hits hits second 3 of the game, but then fouls Robinson when he's making his own 3. Robinson misses the FT and UC still leads by 5.
UConn goes to a zone. It just so happens that the Bearcats are shooting 54.5 percent from the 3.
UC 50, UConn 45 (11:57 to go)
Dixon manages to be called for two fouls in the span of 0 seconds, and he's out of the game with four. Then, Gates picks up foul No. 4. He's got six points and three rebounds so far.
Oriakhi, who's got eight rebounds, picks up his fourth with 10:41 to go.
Amazing dribbling from Stephenson to completely school Robinson and then hit the fadeaway 12-footer. Then, Walker schools Vaughn on his way to an easy layup.
UConn, thanks to Robinson (20 points) and Dyson (20) are still hanging around.
UC rebounding better this half, 16-11 over the Huskies
UC 63, UC 58 (6:13 to go)
With two FTs, Vaughn has a season-high 17 points.
About 6 minutes left in the game, UC up by 5, you know what time it is? Anthony McClain time. He makes his first appearance in the game.
Fans displeased about an offensive foul call on Vaughn. Of course, Vaughn totally pushed off. It's his fourth with 4:27 to play.
Not good when Vaughn and Gates have four fouls apiece. And Dixon for that matter.
Bishop strips the ball from Walker, but Dixon misses the layup on the 3-on-1 break. Lot of upset people in here.
UC 67, UConn 61 (3:26 to go)
In crunch time, Dixon handling the point, not Wright. Stephenson runs into Dixon, causing a turnover, and Dyson all alone for the easy dunk.
UC 67, UConn 63 (2:27 to go)
Vaughn back in the game. Then fouls out with 1:30 to go. Two free throws for Edwards. He hits 1 of 2. Three-point game.
Dixon turns it over with about 4 seconds on the shot clock. But give him credit. He hustles and gets the ball back after the shot clock resets. Calls timeout.
UC 67, UConn 64 (:55 to go)
It's unclear if UConn actually had possession of the ball when the shot clock reset. Looks like perhaps UC had a shot-clock violation. No, 1 second is put back on the clock. Gates got off a shot, but misses.
Crowd is loud with UC up by 3 and UConn ball.
Dyson just threw up a crazy shot, and it bounced off about eight players. Finally, the ball is in Robinson's hands, who lays it in with 26 seconds to play. Timeout.
I assume Toyloy won't be on the floor for FTs.
UC 67, UConn 66 (:26 to go)
Full court press, broken by UC. Thomas dunk with 17 seconds to go. Walker on the other end nails a 3 to tie the game with 9 seconds to go.
Then, Stephenson with the ball against Dyson. Stephenson beats him and the foul is called on Edwards. It's unclear if there was time left on the clock when the whistle blew.
UC 69, UConn 69 (?)
It appears to me on the replay that there might have been 0.2 or 0.3 seconds on the clock when the play ended.
Yep, Stephenson will take two shots with 0.7 seconds left.
Hits the first, and UC clears the lane for the second. Mick is screaming at Lance to miss it. He makes it. Don't think he heard Mick.
UC 71, UConn 69 (0.7 seconds)
Dixon, Bishop, Stephenson, Toyloy, Thomas on the floor. Thomas guarding the in-bounds. Dyson gets off a shot from half court but it hits about halfway up the backboard.
Stephenson finishes with 21, Vaughn with 17. UC shoots 41 percent from the floor, 46.7 percent from the 3.
UConn is led by Dyson's 24 points and Robinson's 22. UConn shoots 37.5 percent from the floor, 30.8 percent from the 3.
UC 71, UConn 69 (final)