University of Connecticut Athletics
UConn's Late Rally Falls Short in Pittsburgh
3/2/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
PITTSBURGH, PA (March 2) -- Julius Page scored 17 points and Chevron Troutman notched 13 points and nine rebounds as Pittsburgh defeated the University of Connecticut men's basketball team 71-67, in front of a rowdy 12,508 at the Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
With the victory, Pitt improves to 21-4 on the year, 11-3 in the BIG EAST Conference. Connecticut slips to 18-7 on the campaign and 9-5 in the loop, dropping them into a first place tie with Boston College in the BIG EAST East Division.
UConn fell behind 7-6 early in the first half, but a Tony Robertson (Providence, RI) lay-up gave Connecticut its first lead, 8-7, at the 16:20 mark. That keyed a 20-4 UConn run spanning over the next 5:20 and the Huskies took their largest lead of the game at 24-11. Sophomore Center Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) picked up his second foul at the 8:40 mark and without his inside presence, Pittsburgh pounded the ball down low and was able to put together a 28-11 run to head into the locker room down only four at 39-35.
Pittsburgh built on the momentum from their first half comeback and took the lead again for the first time since the 19:30 mark in the first half. Freshman Marcus White (Chicago, IL) put back a miss on the next UConn possession to put Connecticut up 47-46 with 15:20 remaining. Julius Page gave Pitt the lead for good, 48-47, on a jumper off the glass. UConn would fall behind by as many as seven, 67-60, with 2:40 remaining in the contest but would mount a 7-3 run over the next 2:30 to again sniff victory. But freshman Rashad Anderson's (Lakeland, FL) three pointer to tie it rimmed out and Page made one of two at the line on the other end to ice it.
Connecticut came out piping hot shooting 68% in the first half (17-25) but went only 9-26 (35%) in the second half to let Pitt back in it. UConn had four players score in double-digits. Leading the way Robertson who dropped in 15. Sophomore Ben Gordon (Mt. Vernon, NY) added 14 and Okafor scored 12. Rashad Anderson chipped in with 10 for Connecticut. The Huskies were out-rebounded 33-27 including 15-8 on the offensive glass. Pitt also took excellent care of the ball turning it over only 10 times while notching 19 assists.
Also in double figures for Pitt were Ontario Lett with 16, and Brandin Knight with 10.
UConn returns home for senior night festivities on Wednesday March 5th before taking on Providence College at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 and will be televised by WTXX.
