Maryland Pulls Away Late To Defeat UConn 77-65
[Boxscore]
WASHINGTON (December 3) – Maryland’s Lonny Baxter had 24
points and grabbed 10 rebounds to help the Terrapins pull away from the
University of Connecticut 77-65 at the MCI Center in the BB&T Classic
Championship Game on Monday night. The win gave Maryland a 6-1 record and the
BB&T title for the second year in a row and the fourth time in seven years,
while UConn was handed its first loss of the season as its record stands at 3-1.
“Maryland gave our kids a good lesson on how to play
basketball,” said UC head coach Jim Calhoun. “They shoot the ball exceptionally
well, the play very good defense. Gary (Williams) switched late in the game as
we were still fighting to go to zone, and it helped them a little bit. They did
a nice job of feeding people, finding people, jumped on us early, and a nice job
of winning the game. They’re obviously one of the best teams in the country.”
Maryland got off to a fast start when UConn missed its
first seven shots and had five turnovers in the first five minutes. Baxter
scored seven of Maryland’s first 11 points and UConn was down 11-2 in the early
going. The Terrapin lead grew to 21-7 before the Huskies countered with a 13-0
run that spanned four minutes to come within one. UConn’s Caron Butler (So.,
Racine, WI) scored a dozen of his team-high 20 in the first half as Connecticut
trailed 36-34 at the break.
The slim half time lead was expanded quickly when Maryland
scored the first six points of the second half. Later, Baxter and Steve Blake
connected on an alley-oop pass and Tahj Holden nailed a pair of outside jumpers,
before Baxter went in for a lay up to match the largest lead of the night at 14.
UConn got it to 60-53 when Ben Gordon (Fr., Mount Vernon,
NY) dropped in one of his three second half three pointers, but that was as
close as things would come with UConn head coach Jim Calhoun’s record against
top five teams evening out at 10-10.
Gordon was one of three Huskies in double figures as Butler
finished 7-of-19 from the field and grabbed six rebounds, five of which were on
the offensive glass, and he scored on each of those. Johnnie Selvie (Sr., Flint,
MI) had 11, while Emeka Okafor (Fr., Houston, TX) led the team with 12 rebounds.
Following the game, Baxter who was 8-for-10 from the field
and the foul line, was named the tournament MVP. The following were named to the
all-tournament team: Butler (UConn), Greg Collucci (George Washington), Juan
Dixon (Maryland), Chris Monroe (George Washington).
The Huskies return home on Saturday, Dec. 8, for a 7 p.m.
contest against Northeastern. The game will be the first of the season for the
Huskies inside the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. |
