Adrien Leads No. 15 UConn Over Rutgers, 79-61

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PISCATAWAY, N.J. (February 26, 2008) — Junior forward Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.) scored a career-high 27 points and Stanley Robinson (Birmingham, Ala.) had a huge game as the 15th-ranked University of Connecticut men’s basketball team defeated Rutgers, 79-61, Tuesday evening before a crowd of 5,833 at the Louis A. Brown Athletic Center.

The Huskies are now 22-6, 11-4 in the BIG EAST Conference, while the Scarlet Knights drop to 10-19, 2-14 in league play.

Adrien dominated in the paint from the outset, scoring six of the Huskies’ first eight points on his way to 16 first half points. The initial half scoring outburst eclipsed the 13 points he had scored in his previous four opening twenty minutes. He made 10-of-15 shots from the field, while grabbing 11 rebounds. The effort was good enough for his 31st career double-double and his 15th of the season. He leads all active BIG EAST players in career double-doubles.

Robinson had one of his best games in the Connecticut national flag blue and white. He scored 18 points and yanked down a game-high 13 rebounds, and he seemed to grab every loose ball in the contest. It was the fifth time this year that Robinson had notched a double-double.

Junior guard Craig Austrie (Stamford, Conn.) had another steady effort for the Huskies, scoring a career-high 18 points while making all four of his three-point attempts in the contest. The three big scorers on the evening (Adrien, Robinson and Austrie) combined to score the Huskies’ last 30 points of the game.

A.J. Price (Amityville, N.Y.) had an off scoring night (six points), but had a game-high six assists against just one turnover. Sophomore center Hasheem Thabeet (Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania), was held without a field goal, but still had a huge impact on the game. He grabbed 10 rebounds, and had six of Connecticut’s 11 blocked shots.

UConn sophomore Jerome Dyson (Rockville, Md.) made his return to game action after missing the previous nine contests due to a suspension for violation of team rules. Dyson entered the game with 14:23 remaining in the first half and he scored three points in 15 minutes of action.

The Huskies used an 11-0 second half run to open their lead up to 13 points, 58-45, with 13:02 to go in the contest. The Scarlet Knights responded with the next seven straight to get back within six, 58-52, with 9:41 to play, forcing a Husky timeout. UConn came right back and scored the next seven points to get the lead back to 13 points, 65-52, on a Robinson steal and dunk and they were never seriously threatened again.

UConn settled for a 43-37 halftime advantage after leading by as many as 12 points in the opening stanza. It marked the first double-digit first half lead for the Huskies since the Marquette game on January 20. The Huskies went on a 13-3 run to open the 12-point advantage, 31-19, with 7:22 to go in the half.

The lead was still ten at 41-31 with 1:34 to go, but the Scarlet Knights finished the half with three buckets in the final minute and cut the deficit to six, as close as they had been in the final 11 minutes of first half play.

Sophomore center Jonathan Mandeldove (Stone Mountain, Ga.) set a career-high for blocks with four, all in the first half. The Huskies dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Scarlet Knights, 41-24, and 17-11 on the offensive end.

Earl Pettis led Rutgers with a career-high 18 points.

UConn returns to action Saturday, March 1 with a 12:00 p.m. matchup against the Mountaineers of West Virginia at the XL Center in Hartford. The game will be televised locally by WCTX-TV, MyTV9.