Huskies Battle Past Friars in Two Overtimes

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Providence, RI (February 15, 2005) -- Charlie Villanueva (Brooklyn, N.Y.) scored 18 of his team-high 22 points after halftime and Connecticut scored the second overtime’s first seven points as the 18th-ranked Huskies overcame a four-point deficit in the first overtime for a 94-89 double overtime victory over Providence, before a sellout crowd of 12,993 at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center, Tuesday evening.

The win improves the Huskies’ record to 16-6, 8-3 in the BIG EAST Conference, good for a tie for third place in the loop. The Friars are now 11-14, 1-10 in the league.

UConn trailed by four, at 77-73 with 1:17 to play in the first overtime, before sophomore point guard Marcus Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) connected on a conventional three-point play with 56.9 seconds to go. The Friars DeSean White then converted on one of two free throws to Providence up two, 78-76, with 31.8 seconds to play before junior Denham Brown’s (Toronto, Ont.) lay-up with 23.2 seconds left tied the contest at 78 and forced a second overtime.

Freshman Rudy Gay (Baltimore, Md.) made a three-pointer which was sandwiched by two Villanueva lay-ups to give the Huskies an insurmountable 85-78 lead in the second extra session. The Huskies salted the contest away by making nine straight free throws down the stretch, to hold off the Friars, who got as close as three, at 85-82, with 2:02 to play as Ryan Gomes made a three-point play.

Villanueva tied for game rebounding honors with 10 with teammates Brown and sophomore center Josh Boone. All three players notched double-doubles for their effort, with Brown scoring 14 and Boone added 11. It was Boone’s 11th double-double of the season, while Villanueva had his eighth of the campaign. It was Brown’s first double-double of the year. Williams was brilliant running the point, scoring15 and handing out 13 assists, against just two turnovers. Both Brown and Williams played 47 of the contest’s 50 minutes. Junior Hilton Armstrong (Peekskill, N.Y.) scored nine points off of the bench in a career-high 28 minutes. Gay also scored 10 points for UConn.

The Huskies shot 50% from the field (31 of 62), including a sizzling 64 % (7 of 11) in the two overtimes. They were very effective from long-range, connecting on half of their 16 three-point attempts.

Gomes led four double figure scorers for the Friars with a career-high 37 points, including all 11 Providence points in the second overtime.

UConn returns to action on Saturday, February 19, when they travel to play at league foe Rutgers. Game time is set for 6:00 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN Classic.