Gay Leads Huskies Over Concordia, 106-49, In Final Exhibition Contest
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STORRS, Conn. (November 9, 2005) -
Sophomore Rudy Gay (Baltimore, Md.) scored 27 points to lead
four teammates in double figures as 2nd-ranked Connecticut
overwhelmed Concordia College of Montreal, 106-49, in the Huskies’
final exhibition contest before a sellout crowd of 10,167 at Gampel
Pavilion.
Gay was the offensive catalyst for the Huskies connecting
on 13 of 18 attempts, and scoring in double figures in both halves with 15
points in the opening twenty minutes and followed with 12 points after
intermission. He put on an impressive performance, converting numerous
spectacular dunks in the contest. He had plenty of company in the scoring
column as senior Denham Brown (Toronto, Ont.) added 19 points and junior
center Josh Boone (Mt. Airy, Md.) adding 18 off of the bench. Freshman
Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.) had 12 points, while senior center
Hilton Armstrong (Peekskill, N.Y.) had 11 points.
For the second straight game in exhibition play, UConn
dominated their opponent with excellent shooting and dominant interior play.
The Huskies made 54% (43 of 79) of their field goal attempts, and out-rebounded
the Stingers 53-36. Armstrong and Boone led the Husky effort on the boards
with eight grabs apiece. Senior Ed Nelson (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.) had
seven, while Adrien and freshman point guard Craig Austrie (Stamford,
Ct.) each had six rebounds. Austrie and fellow freshman point guard Rob
Garrison (Buffalo, N.Y.) led the Huskies with five assists apiece. The Huskies
swatted away 17 shots, led by Armstrong’s seven rejections.
Head coach Jim Calhoun was able to substitute
freely, as no Husky saw more than 25 minutes of game action. The Huskies
harassed Concordia into 28 turnovers, which were converted into 37 points.
UConn also had 64 points in the paint.
The Huskies now enter regular season play, where they open
at the Firestone Fieldhouse against Pepperdine on Friday, November 18. Tip-off
is set for 11:30 p.m. EST and the game will be televised nationally by ESPNU.
The Huskies will then travel to Maui to play in the EA Sports Maui Invitational
against Arkansas on Monday, November 21.
POST-GAME QUOTES
Nov. 9, 2005
Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun
It’s tough for me to make an overall evaluation of our performance. I think
we ran well, but when it’s all said and done, we just overmatched them. When we
play our first game nine days from now at Pepperdine, and then go over to Maui
and open up with Arkansas, we’re not going to overwhelm them, certainly. It
doesn’t mean we won’t run, it doesn’t mean we won’t press, and it doesn’t mean
we won’t get the ball inside better. I do think we have more team speed than
we’ve had in 10 years. The two games have, at least showed me that. We can
really run. Now we have to identify who our offensive weapons are, and get the
ball to them better.
One thing we did a good job with, I thought, was change in
the second half – instead of letting them come into our pressure, we went out
and initiated pressure on the ball, which made every pass much more difficult.
It looks like the press could, at times, at least be a
weapon…I think we have a lot of interchangeable parts.
On Rudy Gay
I did remind the kids that 22…we have to find him more. What you saw
tonight as far as points, I don’t know if that is going to happen every night.
But I do know that he needs to get close to 18 to 20 shots a night. He’s that
good in my opinion. When he rises up on his jump shot, anybody we play isn’t
going to stop him. They wouldn’t stop him at the next level either, not with
that type of shot, and as he matures and so on.
The last eight minutes of the first half we lost sight of
who Rudy was….and then the first 10 minutes of the second half he didn’t score,
because we didn’t give him the ball.
On Austrie
He has something which I don’t have, and that’s an air of calmness at all
times. And that will serve him well. It’ll serve him well at Pepperdine, it’ll
serve him well in Hawaii….He’s got a very, very great demeanor for a point
guard. And he’s being thrown into a tough situation….Craig Austrie is a steal
for us.
Freshman Forward Jeff Adrien
On any let down from last game:
No, I played 110%, I just went out there and played hard.
On if they are ready for the west coast trip:
I think I am ready personally and I think we will be ready. We have a
couple of things to work on. We have Sat, Sun, Mon and Tue we will be ready.
Coach will make sure we are ready.
On playing against big man:
It was fine, I’ve played against 6-9 and 6-10 people before, it is no
different, it doesn’t change my game I’m still going to go hard at them.
On Rudy’s game:
Rudy’s game spoke for itself. He was hot, he could have taken as many shots
as he wanted and they would have gone in, that’s how comfortable he looked out
there. That’s good for him, it is a confidence booster and we are going to need
that definitely on the west coast, if he could do that every night and we win,
I’ll take the W, we’ll all take the W.
Senior Center Hilton Armstrong
On how the team looks
Today’s game we played in the first half alright but not as good as we
expected. In the second half we came out good and did real good on defense.
For the first 10 minutes they only scored like 8-10 points so we felt really
good about that and the press. We could have done a little better on offensive
rebounding, but overall I’m pretty happy with the game.
On point guards:
They are playing great, I love it. The intensity, they are pushing
everything and making the right passes and not many turnovers. They still have
a lot of experience; they are ahead of the game as freshman.
On if the team is ready to make trip.
Yes. There are going to be some tough teams and we were caught off guard
without Marcus and AJ but we have great backup so I think we’ll do pretty good.
On blocks
If I see somebody going wide, I try to go wide the opposite way so I can get
more of an angle to block it. We do that in practice, over and over, same
drill, so now if they go up I know I am going to get it.
Sophomore Forward Rudy Gay
On looking for his shot a bit more
Coach has told me to be more aggressive, and I did exactly what he wanted me
to do.
This game wasn’t so much about us winning, as about us
learning.
These games are about working on offense and defense. I
think we did a very good job on defense in the second half. Coach told me he
wanted me to be more aggressive and take more shots, so I tried to work on that
the second half.
Freshman Guard Craig Austrie
On the what changes were made to make the press so effective
We just wanted our front line in the press to put more pressure on the
ball. Once we did that, they got a little rattled and started throwing the ball
away.
Is the team ready for the West Coast trip?
Honestly, I don’t think we’re ready yet. We have a lot of improvement to
do, and I’m sure over the next week Coach Calhoun is going to get us in tip-top
shape so we’ll be ready when we play Pepperdine.
On feeling more comfortable running the team
Every day that I step on the court with these guys they make me feel as
comfortable as I can be.
I have to lead the team, even though I’m a freshman. I
have to lead with energy and composure out there. And I feel like that’s what
I’m working on.
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