University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Iowa State
Daniels Leads UConn Past Iowa State To Elite Eight
3/28/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 28, 2014
| Photo Gallery | Ollie and Daniels on Advancing to Elite Eight | Huskies NCAA Tournament Central | Printable Bracket | Get Elite 8 Gear!NEW YORK - University of Connecticut junior forward DeAndre Daniels (Los Angeles, Calif.) was going to keep getting the ball from his teammates until he cooled off. By the time that happened, it was too late for Iowa State.
Daniels scored 19 of his 27 points in the second half to lead UConn to an 81-76 victory over Iowa State on Friday night in the East Regional Semifinals of the NCAA Championship at Madison Square Garden before a crowd of 19,314. UConn improves to 29-8 on the season, while Iowa State finishes at 28-8.
The Huskies, who are the No. 7 seed in the East region, now play No. 4 seed Michigan State on Sunday at 2:20 p.m. for a trip to next weekend's Final Four in North Texas. The Huskies and the Spartans last meet in NCAA tournament play in the 2009 Final Four in Detroit as MSU topped UConn in the national semifinals.
"DeAndre's a scorer, and once you feel that you have that confidence, the next shot's going to go in," said senior guard Shabazz Napier (Roxbury, Mass.), who knows a thing or two about scoring himself. "We kept feeding him, and he got super hot."
Daniels hit his first six shots after halftime, the only Husky to make a field goal for over eight-and-a-half minutes. His three-pointer gave UConn a 49-32 lead.
The third-seeded Cyclones rallied late, pulling within 67-63 with two-and-half minutes remaining, but UConn senior Niels Giffey (Berlin, Germany) hit a three in the corner for his first points since the game's opening moments. The Huskies made their free throws in the final minute and the UConn fans packing MSG began to celebrate.
Dustin Hogue scored a career-high 34 points for Iowa State, but Big 12 Player of the Year Melvin Ejim was three of 13 for seven points, more than 11 below his average.
The Cyclones, in the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 2000, were playing their second game without third-leading scorer Georges Niang, who broke his foot in their tournament opener. They trailed by 16 with less than seven-and-a-half minutes to go but nearly came all the way back behind Hogue's scoring inside.
"That's who these guys are, they're fighters," Iowa State coach Fred Hoiberg said.
With UConn clinging to a 70-65 lead and less than a minute left, Iowa State's Naz Long missed a three-pointer, and the 6-1 Napier pulled down the rebound and was fouled by Hogue. The guard calmly drilled both free throws.
UConn was 20 of 22 from the foul line, while Iowa State was six of 15.
Napier, the American Athletic Conference player of the year, drained four early three-pointers, then made only one more field goal the rest of the way. The quick start by Napier and junior guard Ryan Boatright (Aurora, Colo.) opened up space for Daniels.
Since a stretch in late February and early March when he failed to reach double figures in four straight games, Daniels had averaged 15 in his last six outings before Friday. Against Iowa State, he shot 10 of 15 and pulled down 10 rebounds. "With our seniors on this team, I just want them to go out with a bang," Daniels said. Ejim and DeAndre Kane, Iowa State's top scorers, were a combined 9 of 31. Hogue, from nearby Yonkers, found plenty of space, shooting 15 for 19.
"To play in the Garden, it's something I dreamed about as a kid," he said.
After Napier's difficult early three-pointers - he was falling away on two of them and stepping back to open a sliver of space on a third - Boatright and Daniels took over. The three combined for all but six of the Huskies' points as they built a 36-26 halftime lead.
