Armstrong Posts Double-Double To Propel No. 2 UConn Over Stony Brook, 85-52

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HARTFORD, Conn. (December 28, 2005) – Freshman Marcus Johnson (Los Angeles, Calif.) and senior Rashad Anderson (Lakeland, Fla.) each scored 14 points on Wednesday night as the second-ranked University of Connecticut men’s basketball team posted an 85-52 win over Stony Brook at the Hartford Civic Center before a crowd of 15,528.

Senior Hilton Armstrong (Peekskill, N.Y.) posted his first double-double of the season (and second of his UConn career) with 11 points and 11 rebounds.  In addition, Armstrong blocked a career-high eight shots as the Huskies swatted 14 Seawolf attempts.

Connecticut improves to 10-0 on the season while Stony Brook, coached by former Husky Steve Pikiell, falls to 0-8 on the year.

Anderson has now come off the bench to score in double figures in eight-straight games and is the top off-the-bench scorer in the country. The 14 points for Johnson was the second-highest of his career as he started his third straight game.  He added five of UConn’s 14 steals.

Freshman Jeff Adrien (Brookline, Mass.) made his first career start and scored a career-high 13 points, including a five for six performance from the field. Adrien’s previous career high was 12 points last Friday against Morehead State.

In addition to Armstrong, the Huskies were led in rebounds by senior Ed Nelson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) with 13 boards – which sets his UConn career-high. UConn junior Josh Boone (Mt. Airy, Md.) had 11 rebounds and missed a double-double by one point with nine.  The Huskies enjoyed a sizeable 63-36 rebounding advantage, including a commanding 25-9 on the offensive end.

Freshman point guard Rob Garrison (Niagara Falls, N.Y.) led the Huskies with a game-high six assists.

UConn had a comfortable 46-19 lead the half after limiting Stony Brook to a 29.6 shooting percentage in the first half (8 of 27). The Huskies got out of the gate quickly in the contest and led 15-4 with 13:44 left to go in the first half.

Stony Brook was led in scoring by sophomore Mitchell Beauford with 14 points.

Connecticut returns to action Friday night at 7:00 p.m. as it takes on in-state foe Quinnipiac at the Hartford Civic Center. That game will be televised by WTIC-TV 61.

POSTGAME QUOTES

UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun

"Talent eventually wins out, and in this particular game it certainly did….I didn’t think we had the focus we should have, but…it’s because of the way Steve’s kids played so hard.  They didn’t hold the ball.  They waited for us to make mistakes.  And the way they changed defenses, from the 1-3-1, to the 2-3, to the man-to-man, 2-2-1 to slow us down.  I thought he did a great job coaching them."

"I don’t have any question that that was a very well coached basketball team…. He’s got complete control over that team, the way it runs.  And they didn’t play scared.  He wanted to attack intelligently.  I thought they did a great job."

"Scoring tonight did not come easily."

"I thought they tested us.  I was a little bit disappointed that we didn’t respond quite as well….I don’t think we had quite the focus, starting the game.  Then, I think, Steve’s team made us have to work harder."

"At times, Rudy and Rashad didn’t get the kind of looks they normally get, and I think it frustrated them."

On Denham Brown

"We thought he was stiffening up, so we didn’t play him in the second half.  And I give him some credit for coming in, passing the ball and not trying to score right away, rebounding, doing good things.  I was happy with his play.  I thought he did a nice job for us."

On Marcus Johnson

"He’s plays harder than anybody else on the court, just about.  He’s going to be a tough guy to not play."

UConn's Marcus Johnson 

On Stony Brook:

"They played hard, they played great defense.  We needed to stay in our stuff a little longer, be a bit more patient.  Once we realized that we got a better jump on them." 

On the BIG EAST schedule coming:

"We like to take it one game at a time. But we do look forward to the BIG EAST getting started. In January we have a really tough schedule, but every game counts.  You can’t sleep on the ones in December because anyone can catch you."

On starting:

"I believe my confidence is high right now.  I still need a lot of work on jump shots and everything else, but I think I’m improving, and Coach is seeing that and I’m getting the time…hopefully it will last.  As long as I’m making Coach happy, I’m happy."

On free throws

"I guess you can say it is mental…I missed a few free throws today myself…sometimes when you approach the line after you’ve missed a couple and you think you’ve got to make this one, and it makes it even harder to."

UConn's Ed Nelson

On tonight’s game:

"I think at times we got lackadaisical out there, but we’ve got to keep our focus out there.  We’ve got a big game coming up Friday and we will go out there tomorrow and prepare ourselves."

On the BIG EAST schedule coming:

"I’m looking forward to the competition.  I want to play against tough teams, tough opponents, that gets you going.  I’m very excited for the heat of our schedule to come up and I know my teammates are too."  

UConn's Jeff Adrian

On his stitches

"It’s been getting better.  I’ll be fine.  It was all from hard competition.  It’s all good. 

There were 10 stitches and they’ll come off on Sunday."

On his first start

"It was a good feeling.  Hopefully, I get to start some more.  If I don’t, it’s okay because I know my role with the team."

On his play recently

"I’m pleased,but not satisfied.  I could play much better, grab more rebounds.  I could do a lot of things much better."

UConn's Hilton Armstrong

Was Stony Brook as scrappy as they looked?

"They played hard, with a lot of heart and passion in this game.  So you have to give them respect."

What did Coach Calhoun have to say after the game

"He just wanted us to go out and play hard.  No matter who it is, we have to go out and give it our all.  We’re supposed to get better every game."  

On Marcus Johnson

"Marcus is playing harder and harder every game.  I love that out of him."

On the sloppy play tonight

"It was us.  We weren’t focused enough on offense.  We have to take our time and slow it down a bit and get back into it."

Stony Brook Head Coach Steve Pikiell

"You see our guys, they play hard.  We struggle from the foul line, we miss a lot of lay-ups, but they try.  That’s what to try to get out of guys that haven’t played a lot of basketball before.  I was proud of our effort.  Obviously when you play the number two team in the country and you give them 25 offensive rebounds, it’s going to be a long night for us."

"I was really excited to be back here.  I remember as a player the excitement, and I felt it tonight.  I would love for the next time to come back here with a few more soldiers on my team and really try to take a whack at the Hall of Famer."

"I’m trying to make our program like Connecticut’s.  I want to be athletic, I want to be tough, I want to be an exciting team.  We’re not there yet, but we’ll take a big step next year into becoming that kind of a team in our conference."