Huskies Drop 77-65 Decision to Oklahoma
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Boxscore [.pdf]
 NORMAN, Okla. (January 10, 2005)— Junior Taj Gray had 23 points and 10 rebounds
to pace five Sooners in double figures and lead the University of Oklahoma to a
77-65 win over the University of Connecticut Monday night at the Lloyd Noble
Center on the OU campus.
With the win, the Sooners improve to 12-2 on the season,
while the Huskies drop to 9-3 overall with the loss.
The Sooners led by four with just under eight minutes to
play, but outscored the Huskies 13-6 over the next six minutes to open the lead
back up to 11 at 74-63 with just over two minutes to go.
UConn sophomore Charlie Villanueva recorded his
second straight double-double with 13 points and 14 rebounds on the contest,
while sophomore Marcus Williams recorded a near triple-double on the
evening, totaling 16 points, eight assists and seven rebounds. Junior Rashad
Anderson was the other Husky in double figures, scoring 12 points on the
night. Freshman Rudy Gay (right) had four points.
Joining Gray in doubles for the Sooners were sophomore
Lawrence McKenzie (18 points), junior Kevin Bookout (11 points), junior Terrell
Everett (10 points) and sophomore Drew Lavender (10 points).
The Huskies shot 35.2% on the night, while the Sooners hit
on 52.5% from the field, including eight-of-16 from three-point range. UConn had
a 42-39 edge on the boards
UConn rode Williams in the early parts of the second half
to cut the Sooner lead to 51-48 with 12:25 to play in the game. Williams had
seven points in that stretch. The Sooners got the lead back to eight at 58-50
with just over ten minutes to play, but the Huskies again spurted, getting
within four at 61-57 at the eight-minute media timeout and setting up the
finish.
The Huskies trailed 42-34 at the half, battling back from a
14-point deficit to cut the Sooner lead to as few as four, but giving up the
final bucket of the stanza to trail by eight. The Sooners led 29-14 on a
McKenzie three with 9:48 left, but the Huskies responded with a 10-1 run to cut
the lead to four at 30-26 with 4:53 left in the half.
Villanueva led the Husky first half effort with nine points
and six boards. McKenzie was 4-of-4 from three-point range for 12 first half
points.
UConn shot 33.3% (11-of-33) in the first half, while the
Sooners shot 51.6% (16-of-31) from the field, including hitting six-of-ten
three’s in the first half. UConn was depleted in the frontcourt during the first
half, as sophomore Josh Boone picked up two fouls and was limited to
eight minutes and junior Hilton Armstrong suffered an injured right knee
and missed the rest of the stanza after only two minutes of action.
UConn returns to action Saturday, January 15 with a 2:00
p.m. matchup against the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers at the Hartford Civic
Center. That game will be televised by WTXX-TV, Channel 20 in Connecticut.
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