University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn Falls Short In NCAA East Regional Championship
3/24/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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SYRACUSE, NY (Sunday, March 24, 2002) – Connecticut's Caron Butler (So., Racine, WI) had 32 points and Maryland’s Lonny Baxter had 29 as the two teams went blow for blow in the NCAA East Regional Championship game before the Terrapins pulled away late to punch their second straight ticket to the Final Four with a 90-82 victory over the Huskies at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse on Sunday.
Maryland ended the Huskies’ 12-game winning streak to push its record to 30-4. Connecticut finished the 2001-02 campaign with a 27-7 record.
The first half included 13 ties and a dozen lead changes before Maryland was able to pull away late. UConn helped the Terrapin effort as the Huskies missed seven straight field goals to end the half, which triggered an 8-0 Maryland run. The run was capped when Tahj Holden buried a long-range three-pointer with time running out to put UConn down 44-37 at the break. The deficit was the largest UConn had faced in the tournament to that point and fueled a Maryland team that is 26-1 when owning the lead at intermission.
UConn got back into it in the second half when Butler hit a three-pointer at the 13:11 mark to put the Huskies up 54-53. Tony Robertson (Jr., Providence, RI) tied the game for the 22nd time at 77 with 2:31 to go on a lay in.
From that point, Maryland went on an 11-3 run that saw the Terps put away the game when Steve Blake hit a three that was the dagger with 25.4 remaining to make it 86-80.
Butler, who had six points at the half, exploded in the second for 26 to finish with a game-high 32 on a 9-of-13 shooting effort. He also had seven rebounds and four assists to lead UConn in both departments. Baxter went 7-of-12 from the floor and 15-of-18 from the foul line, and also grabbed nine rebounds. Juan Dixon turned in a 27-point performance to help the Maryland effort as well. He finished the night hitting on 10-of-18.
Maryland joins a Final Four cast that includes Kansas, Oklahoma and Indiana.
