Gay Scores 28 to Lead Huskies Over
Arkansas in EA Sports Maui Invitational

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MAUI, Hawaii (November 21, 2005)— Sophomore Rudy Gay (Baltimore, Md.) scored a career-best 28 points and senior Denham Brown (Toronto, Canada) added 21 to lead the University of Connecticut men’s basketball team to a 77-68 victory Monday in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational at the Lahaina Civic Center.

With the victory, UConn improves to 2-0 on the season and advances to face the University of Arizona Tuesday in the semifinals of the tourney. That contest will take place at 9:30 p.m. eastern time and be televised by ESPN.

UConn led by as many as 17 points in the second half, but the Razorbacks would not go away. After a dunk by Gay with 11:08 to play, the Huskies held a 55-38 advantage. Arkansas responded with an 18-4 run that cut the lead to three points, at 59-56, with 5:38 to play. The Huskies steadied themselves though and increased the lead back to as many as ten points in the final two minutes.

Gay shot 11-of-19 from the floor and 5-of-7 from the line. He also had four rebounds and four steals. Brown made his first four shots and connected on all six of his free throws.

The Huskies also got a big contribution off the bench from freshman Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.), who scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds in 24 minutes spelling the foul-troubled Husky front court starters, senior Hilton Armstrong (Peeskill, N.Y.) and junior Josh Boone (Mt. Airy, Md.).

Freshman Craig Austrie (Stamford, Conn.) was again solid at the point guard spot, scoring six points, grabbing five rebounds and adding four assists and two steals. He turned the ball over only twice in 35 minutes.

Ronnie Brewer led Arkansas with 25 points on the night, adding six steals.

The Huskies went into halftime with a 34-28 lead after the Razorbacks closed the stanza with a 10-4 run. The Huskies were hindered late in the half by foul trouble on the front line, with senior Hilton Armstrong playing only four minutes and Boone missing the final four minutes. Gay was sensational, scoring 12 points and adding three steals. Brown scored eight of UConn’s first 12 points in the contest and the Huskies jumped out to lead by as many as 13 points. Connecticut held an 18-10 advantage on the first half boards and shot 57.7% from the field.