University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
8-4,5-4Big East
Seton Hall
11-8,8-5Big East
Gaffney Scores 20 In 80-73 Loss to Seton Hall
2/6/2021 2:55:00 PM | Men's Basketball
STORRS, Conn. – Sophomore guard Jalen Gaffney scored a career-high 20 points and was 8-9 from the free throw line but it was not enough as the University of Connecticut men's basketball team fell, 80-73, to Seton Hall on Saturday afternoon in Storrs.
With the loss, the Huskies fall to 8-4 on the season and 5-4 in BIG EAST play. Seton Hall improves to 11-8, 8-5.
Freshman forward Adama Sanogo continued his stretch of solid play, scoring 12 points on 5-8 shooting in 22-minutes of action. Junior guard Tyrese Martin chipped in with 10 points and snared six rebounds as he has totaled at least six boards in all but two games this year.
UConn trailed by as many as 18 points in the first half but closed out the first half strong and scored the first seven points of the second half to pull within two points, 38-36, in the early stages of the second half.
The Pirates were able to keep the Huskies at arm's length for the rest of the game though, and were unable to pull any closer than four points the rest of the way.
Junior R.J. Cole added 12 points in 33-minutes of action.
After the slow start, the Huskies managed to shoot 48 percent from the floor and held a 26-14 edge in the paint. The Pirates were 9-18 from long-range though and shot 50 percent from the floor overall.
Seton Hall stormed out of the gate and jumped out to a 14-2 lead 6:30 into the contest and extended the advantage to as many as 18 points, 36-18, with 4:02 remaining in the first half. However, the Huskies responded and closed out the half on an 11-2 run and shrunk the deficit to nine points, 38-29, at the break.
The late spurt was keyed by four points from freshman Andre Jackson, including a scintillating put back jam in his first action since December 20 after suffering a broken wrist.
ANDRE JACKSON WITH AUTHORITY!#ThisIsUConn | #PullTheSled pic.twitter.com/SZI9bOv2A9
— UConn Men's Basketball (@UConnMBB) February 6, 2021
Gaffney was solid in the first half and kept the Huskies connected to the Pirates with seven points on 2-2 shooting to go along with four rebounds in 17-minutes of action.
UConn is back in action on Wednesday, February 10 when the team makes the quick trip to Providence College. Game time is set for 4 p.m. and the contest will be televised nationally on FS1.
