No. 14 Huskies Upset No. 7 Syracuse at Carrier Dome

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SYRACUSE, N.Y. (February 7, 2005)— Sophomore Charlie Villanueva scored 21 points and scored the go-ahead basket with 2:47 to play as the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team registered a 74-66 win over Syracuse University in front of 27,651 at the Carrier Dome.

With the win, UConn improves to 15-5 on the season, 7-3 in the BIG EAST. Syracuse falls to 21-3, 8-2 in the league.

The score was tied with 3:15 to play after Syracuse senior Josh Pace had his shot goaltended by UConn’s Josh Boone. Villanueva followed with his bucket that started a 9-Husky run and victory.

Villanueva also grabbed ten rebounds for the double-double. Freshman Rudy Gay had 18 points and grabbed seven boards for the Huskies. Senior Hakim Warrick led the Orange with 16 points, but the Huskies held junior Gerry McNamara to nine points on 4-of-18 shooting.

The early portion of the second half saw each team go on a pair of runs. UConn came out of the locker room and soon after went on a 9-2 run to open a 49-42 lead with 15:28 to play. The Orange responded with the next eight points to retake the lead at 50-49 with just over 13 minutes to play. The Orange stretched the lead out to 61-56 with 8:05 to play, but UConn responded with the next five points to tie the score at 61-61 with 6:04 to play and setting up the frantic finish.

The Huskies held a 37-36 halftime edge, largely on the play of Villanueva, who had 12 points and six boards at the break. UConn turned the ball over 11 times in the half, but held a 24-19 advantage on the glass and blocked six Syracuse shots. The Huskies shot 43.3% in the half, while the Orange shot 40.0% before the break.

With UConn trailing 11-7 in the first half, Marcus Williams keyed a 17-6 Husky run, hitting a pair of three’s and assisting on a pair of buckets in the run. Villanueva had three straight buckets in the spurt and Rashad Anderson closed the run with a bucket that gave UConn a 24-17 lead with just over eight minutes to go until the half. Syracuse responded with a 12-4 run of its own to retake the lead at 29-28 on a Warrick dunk with 5:56 to go. The Orange expanded the lead to four at 36-32 with just under two minutes to play in the half, but UConn scored the final five points of the half, including a conventional three-point play by Ed Nelson, and took the 37-36 advantage into the half.

UConn returns to action on Sunday, February 13 with a 1:00 p.m. against the No. 2 nationally-ranked Tar Heels of the University of North Carolina at the Hartford Civic Center.