Anderson, Boone Lead Huskies Over Rice
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HARTFORD, Conn. (Dec. 19) - Junior Rashad Anderson (Lakeland, Fla.)
scored a season-high 27 points and sophomore center Josh Boone (Mt. Airy,
Md.) notched his fourth double-double of the season as 11th-ranked
Connecticut held off Rice University, 81-72, Sunday afternoon before a sellout
crowd of 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center. The win improves the Huskies
record to 5-1, while the Owls slip to 5-2.
The Huskies were able to secure the win despite
being held without a field goal in the game’s final 10:04. UConn
scored their final 12 points from the foul line, missing just four
attempts down the stretch. The Huskies were able to open up their
biggest lead at 69-53 after Anderson hit his fifth three-pointer of
the contest and the Huskies held on from there.
Anderson’s total of 27 points was one off his career-best
of 28 set against Alabama in last season’s NCAA Tournament. Boone finished with
a career-high 20 points and added a game-high 14 rebounds in pacing UConn to a
61-34 rebounding advantage. UConn nabbed 31 offensive rebounds, setting up 24
second chance points.
UConn took control of the game in the second half’s opening
minutes as junior Ed Nelson (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) hit a jumper to start
a 7-0 run that was capped by five straight points by Boone. Nelson matched his
season-best scoring effort with seven points. Freshman Rudy Gay
(Baltimore, Md.), making his first career start, narrowly missed his second
career double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
The first half was played at a frenetic pace, despite some
poor shooting from both clubs. UConn shot just 38 percent in the opening twenty
minutes, en route to a 47-40 lead at intermission. Boone led the Huskies with 12
at the half while Anderson chipped in with 11.
Sophomore Marcus Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) had
a game-high seven assists in running the point, while freshman point guard
Antonio Kellogg (Oakland, Calif.) had six points and three rebounds.
The Owls were paced by Michael Harris, who scored 22 points
and grabbed nine rebounds.
The Huskies will return to the hardwood on Wednesday, Dec.
22, when they entertain in-state rival Central Connecticut at the Hartford Civic
Center. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the contest will be televised by
Fox-61.
POST GAME QUOTES
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
"Rice, I thought, was exceptionally well-coached. I thought
they stayed with their stuff, they got the ball into Harris. They’re a very
intelligent team and I thought they did a terrific job. I’m probably going to
have to make the biggest adjustment, because we’re back to a grinding team, a
young team that’s learning, and that’s not an easy adjustment to me."
"I think I’ve been spoiled, to some degree, by Taliek…I’d
like to have him back right now, because experienced players do make your life
much easier as a coach, with decision-making, etc. With Denham shooting so
poorly today, we could have used a two guard that can pass the ball."
"Although they scored more points in the paint, I think
that’s little misleading. We got the ball into the paint a ton of times."
"We got 31 offensive rebounds. I don’t expect us not to be
able to rebound. I don’t know if we’re going to get 31 every single night – then
again, I hope we don’t shoot 35 percent to give us an opportunity to get 31
offensive rebounds. You can get a lot of offensive rebounds if you miss a lot of
shots. There are a lot more chances available."
"Rice gave us a good go. They wouldn’t let us get away from
them at any point in time. And we wouldn’t let ourselves get away a few times,
by poor passing, by some ill-timed decision-making."
"I thought a couple of things emerged today. Rashad has
been told now 'You’re going to just shoot the ball.' I got upset with the kids
at UMass for quick shots, and he came to me at practice in the middle of the
week and I said, 'You’re the exception. I just want you to continue to
shoot.' Because sometimes I think he makes shots with people on him better than
he does with people off him."
"I think the real key is that Ed Nelson came in and
solidified us defensively."
Junior Ed Nelson
"It was great. It felt good to get out there. It felt like
old times. I played hard and I wanted to do what I could do to help us get a
win."
"I’ve been playing hard in practice and I went out there
today and played my heart out."
Sophomore Josh Boone
On progress since UMass
We ran our offense thorough more times tonight. Also our rebounding was an
obvious progression. We are getting better on offense."
On Ed Nelson
Ed played great, he was a force out there. If he wasn’t
rebounding, he was chipping it to one of us. He was a real big boost for us. He
told us before the game that he was going to get a body on and if he couldn’t
get the rebound, he’d tip it to us. He provides great defensive pressure,
rebounding, intensity and fire. He brings the little things. He weighs a little
big more than us, so he has the ability to be a bit more physical.
On free throws
"It feels great. That was one of the main things that I needed to work on."
On missing a free throw
"I had just made 6 in a row, and I had to miss that one? It was just annoying!"
On what his free throw style is about
"It is to keep the ball from going behind my head. [It came from] a combination
of coaches and we were working on different things."
On rebounding
Coach got on us a lot (after the UMass game). We made a point to work on it
tonight, getting to the blocks and boxing out."
Junior Rashad Anderson
"Coach tells me to try to score every time I touch the
ball."
On Ed Nelson
"We’ve been waiting for Ed to come along. He provided a
good spark for us tonight."
Rice Head Coach Willis Wilson
"Little things just make the difference. I thought we
played a good basketball game. I didn’t, by any means, think we played great. I
think UConn played a good basketball game. And I don’t think, by any means, they
felt that they played great. There are just a couple of things that they were
able to do that we really didn’t have an answer for. In particular, offensive
rebounds. That’s just been our biggest nemesis so far this year, and it hurt us
again today. It’s certainly something that we can get better at but,
immediately, it’s one of those things that’s just going to be a source of
frustration because it’s going to take a little time for us to get better in
that area."
"It was a physical game, and probably more physical than we
really anticipated. Not that we haven’t been in games as physical as this one,
but we didn’t really expect it to be as one-sided as it was in terms of how
physical it was."
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