Huskies Fall In Stunner at UMass

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AMHERST, Mass. (December 9, 2004)— Rashaun Freeman scored a fast break lay-up with 4.3 seconds remaining to give Massachusetts a 61-59 victory over sixth-ranked Connecticut, Thursday evening, before a crowd of 9,301 at the Mullins Center. The Huskies drop to 4-1 on the campaign, while the Minutemen improve to 3-2.

Connecticut trailed by four, at 59-55 with 55.2 seconds to play but tied the score with some clutch free-throw shooting. Sophomore center Josh Boone (Mt. Airy, Md.) made two free throws with 20.2 seconds left to cut the lead to two. After UMass’ Maurice Maxwell missed the front end of a one and one, freshman Rudy Gay (Baltimore, Md.) was fouled by Freeman with 8.8 seconds to play and his jumper rolled around and out. After Gay made both free throws, Freeman scored off of a nice pass from Art Bowers. UConn had a chance to win the game but a three-pointer at the buzzer by Denham Brown (Toronto, Ont.) was no good.

Gay led the Huskies with 13 points, Boone added 12 and Brown chipped in with 11. Boone led the Huskies with nine rebounds.

In the second half, the Huskies were sparked by the tandem of Marcus Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) and Antonio Kellogg (Oakland, Calif.) for the third straight game, with a Kellogg layup off a Williams steal giving UConn its first lead at 36-35 with just under 15 minutes to play. Kellogg then fed Rudy Gay for a dunk and Williams fed Gay for another within a 45 second span as the Huskies opened a 42-37 lead with under 12 minutes to play.

An Anthony Anderson three for UMass with 8:30 to play tied the score at 46-46, but Rashad Anderson (Lakeland, Fla.) answered right back with a three from the corner in front of the UConn bench to put the Huskies back in front. The basket was the last field goal UConn made in the contest.

The Minutemen jumped out to an 11-point first half lead, at 18-7, taking advantage of six Husky turnovers in the first eight minutes and scoring 14 of their first 18 points in the paint. UConn tried to work their way back in the game on the boards, with Villanueva and Boone each doing the dirty work underneath, but the Minutemen responded with a five-point burst to take their largest lead of 12 points, 25-13, on a three by Lawrence Carrier.

The Huskies worked its way back into the game when a Rudy Gay three with 7:30 left in the first started a 10-0 Husky run. A pair of Denham Brown free throws followed by a Boone dunk and a Brown three made the score 27-25 with 5:48 to play in the half. UConn shot under 30 percent for most of the first half, but a Marcus Williams' steal led to a Villanueva dunk that capped the run at 14-2 and tied the score at 29-29 with two minutes to the break. The Minutemen scored the final bucket of the half to lead 31-29 at intermission.

UConn shot a dismal 30 percent (9-of-30) in the first half, but, after early ball handling troubles, turned the ball over only two times in the final 12 minutes of the first and made 8-of-10 from the line to stay within two. The Minutemen became the first team all year to out-rebound the Huskies in a half, holding a 23-21 advantage on the boards which also resulted in a 22-8 advantage in second chance points.

UConn returns to action on Sunday, December 19 when it hosts Rice University at 2:00 p.m. at the Hartford Civic Center. The game will be televised locally by WTXX-TV, Channel 20 and can also be heard on the UConn Radio Network, with WTIC-AM 1080 as the flagship station.