Anderson Puts Up 21 To Propel No. 3
UConn Over 14th-Ranked Syracuse
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Box Score [html]
SYRACUSE, N.Y.
(January 16, 2006) - Rashad Anderson (Lakeland, Fla.) scored 21
points and Marcus Williams (Los Angeles, Calif.) registered his first
double-double of the season as third-ranked Connecticut put up a 24-point lead
and held on for an 88-80 victory over 14th-ranked Syracuse before a crowd of
26,805 at the Carrier Dome.
The Huskies are now
15-1 overall and 3-1 in the BIG EAST Conference, while the Orange drop to 15-3,
3-1.
Anderson made seven
of 10 field goal attempts, including five of eight from three-point range.
Williams was
magnificent
running the point, scoring 14 points and dishing out a game-high 11 assists,
marking the seventh time in his UConn career that he registered a
double-double.
Anderson and
Williams had plenty of company in the scoring column as three other Huskies’
notched double figure scoring. Junior Josh Boone (Mt. Airy, Md.)
recorded the 18th double-double of his UConn career with a
season-high 18 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Rudy Gay (Baltimore,
Md.) had 14 points, but missed a significant portion of the second half with
foul trouble. Denham Brown (Toronto, Ontario) had 11 points off of the
bench.
 The Huskies swatted away 16
shots in the game, paced by eight rejections by Hilton Armstrong
(Peekskill, N.Y.), which tied his career-high.
UConn shot 53
percent (30 of 57) in the contest, including seven of 15 trifectas, though
Syracuse out-rebounded the Huskies, 51-39.
The Orange made a
belated rally in the second half, when Syracuse made 11 of their 13
three-pointers. They inched to with six points late in the contest, but
Williams iced the game by making seven free throws in the final minute for the
Huskies.
The Huskies led
45-25 at the half thanks to a suffocating defense and an offense that clicked on
all cylinders. UConn exploded for runs of 12-0 and 19-0 over the half en route
to that 20-point bulge. The Huskies shot 55.2 percent in the first half and held
the Orange to 27.0 percent from the field over the same span. UConn blocked 11
shots in the first half.
The Huskies scored
the game’s first 12 points and led 17-5 at the 14:31 mark. The Orange responded
with a 12-4 run to cut the lead to
four points, at 21-17, with 8:45 to play in the half. UConn’s response to that
Orange spurt was stunning. The Huskies scored the next 19 points of the game to
open up a 40-17 advantage with 3:00 remaining in the half and extended the lead
to as large as 24 points, at 45-21, with 1:24 to go until halftime.
Connecticut has now
registered nine BIG EAST Conference victories at the Carrier Dome, tying
Villanova for the most opponent victories on the Orange home floor.
Demetris Nichols
scored 28 points (25 in the second half) for Syracuse, while Louie McCroskey had
11 points and a game-high 14 rebounds.
The Huskies will
conclude their brief, two-game road trip when they travel to play at Louisville
on Saturday. Game time is set for 9:00 p.m. and the game will be televised
nationally by ESPN.
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