Huskies Top ’Cuse in Thriller at MSG

UConn’s Rodney Purvis loses the ball on the way to the hoop in the first half.

By Bob Phillips

If, in fact, the UConn Huskies men’s basketball team is successful in reviving a season that had been teetering on the brink so early into the 2016-17 campaign, many will point to last night’s game as the turning point. Two free throws by Christian Vital proved to be the margin of victory in a 52-50 win over Syracuse at Madison Square Garden on Monday night.

 
Vital’s plate was set by the Orange’s Andrew White III who banged in a trey with 9.1 seconds left to tie the game at 50 points apiece. Connecticut’s Rodney Purvis tried to match White by throwing up a three-pointer on the Huskies’ next possession, but Vital was fouled on the rebound. Jim Boeheim called a time out in an effort to ice Vital, but the plan backfired.

“I definitely had a lot of nerves going to the line but the timeout they called helped me out a lot,” Vital said. “A lot of our veteran guys talked to me during the timeout and they said ‘Listen, we're in your city. Take us home.’ And I was able to do that.”

 
After his two clutch free throws, Syracuse threw a long inbound pass from the baseline that was stolen by Connecticut. Game, set, match, Huskies. Another dramatic win over ‘Cuse in their “home away from home.”

As the final score would indicate, both teams treated their offensive goals as if they were the size of an average kitchen sink drain cover. The Huskies shot a horrid 31.4 percent from the field (16-for-51), while the Orange offensive effort was even more futile (14-for-54, 25.9 percent). The story was the same from beyond the arc where the Huskies were 7-for-25 (28 percent), and ‘Cuse was 6-for-26 (23.1 percent).

 
Purvis led all scorers with 21 points, while Jalen Adams added 16 points for Connecticut, which improved to 4-4. White led Syracuse with 14 points, while Dajuan Coleman added 10 for the Orange, who fell to 5-3 and have lost three of their last four games.

As one might expect, with both teams shooting so atrociously, there were rebounds galore with each team hauling down 42 boards. Coleman grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds for Syracuse, while Kentan Facey hauled down a career-best 13 boards for the Huskies. UConn 7-footer Amida Brimah had a rather non-descript game with just two points and four boards in 21 minutes of play. Brimah did contribute four blocked shots to the Huskies’ cause.

The game represented a renewal of a long-time rivalry between former Big East powerhouses—with the most memorable game being a 127-117 victory by Syracuse in six overtimes in the 2009 Big East Tournament quarterfinal on this very floor. Syracuse and UConn will meet again at Madison Square Garden in the Jimmy V Classic in December 2017. Overall, the Orange lead in the all-time series, 55-38. Overall, the Huskies improved to 62-53 at Madison Square Garden.

Next up for the Huskies will be a trip to Columbus, Ohio, where they will take on the Ohio State Buckeyes on Saturday. The Orange will host the Boston University Terriers at the Carrier Dome on Saturday.