Huskies Fall to Syracuse in Final Regular Season Game

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SYRACUSE, NY (March 7) -- Gerry McNamara broke out of his shooting slump against the Huskies, pouring in a game-high 24 points and Craig Forth scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds as Syracuse defeated the University of Connecticut men's basketball team 67-56 in front of 32,944 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse N.Y.  With the loss, the Huskies slip to 24-6 on the year, 12-4 in BIG EAST play.  The Orangemen improve to 21-6 overall, 11-5 in the loop.

The crowd of 32,944 was the largest UConn has ever played in front of in a regular season contest.   

The stage is now set for next week's BIG EAST Tournament in New York City.  The Huskies had already clinched the #2 seed in the tournament and will play either #7 Notre Dame or #10 West Virginia in Madison Square Garden at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, March 11.  The game will be televised live on ESPN2

After falling behind 16-10 in the early stages of the second half, the Huskies mounted a 13-0 run that was capped by a Taliek Brown steal and lay up, putting UConn up 23-16 with 7:18 left.  The Orange would creep back though, and were able to knot the game up at 32 a piece after the first stanza. 

Syracuse forward Hakim Warrick opened up the second frame with a jumper in the lane, but Emeka Okafor was able to answer with a dunk on the other end to tie the score at 34.  However, McNamara sparked a decisive 8-0 run with a pair of 3-pointers and Syracuse opened up a 42-34 lead and would not look back. 

UConn would pull to within two points once again on a pair of Denham Brown free throws, but Demetirs Nichols answered with a back-breaking three-ball to put the Orange up five at the nine minute mark and the Huskies would get no closer. 

Villanueva scored 13 points, but only two came in a foul-plagued second half.  Rashad Anderson scored 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting and Ben Gordon tallied 11. 

Syracuse held a commanding 40-to-33 advantage on the boards, and a 36-24 edge in points in the paint. 

Warrick scored 19 for Syracuse.