Huskies Tripped Up by ’Zona

Jalen Adams led the Huskies with 21 points, but the Huskies fell short,
dropping a 76-72 decision to Arizona at the XL Center on Sunday.

HARTFORD—Opening up the December portion of the schedule at home for the fourth-straight game, UConn men's basketball was tripped up by Arizona, 76-72, before 14,603 fans at the XL Center on Sunday afternoon.

Senior guard Jalen Adams led the Huskies with 21 points, while also finishing with five rebounds and six assists. Senior forward Eric Cobb recorded his second double-double of the season with a 12 point, 10 rebound performance, while junior Christian Vital contributed 11 points.

The Huskies and Wildcats battled in a high-scoring first half, with Arizona holding the edge at the break, 42-38. Arizona jumped out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Huskies fought back to take the lead at 22-20 at the 9:19 mark of the first period. Both teams traded blow-for-blow over the remainder of the half, but the Wildcats still held the advantage heading into the locker room.

The visitors led by as many as eight points just past the midway point of the second half, but UConn fought back with ferocious defense and clutch shot-making in the period. Tyler Polley connected on back-to-back triples to start the rally, while Adams nailed a jumper and Vital nailed two free throws to pull UConn within two points in the closing seconds, but Arizona sealed the game at the free throw line escaped with the 76-72 victory.

“We’re not too happy, because we know we didn’t play our best basketball,” said Adams, UConn’s leader. “We’re capable of more, and we didn’t showcase that today.”

“We’ve got to do better on defense,” added Cobb. “That wasn’t good enough. We let our fans down, but I just want all the fans to stay true to UConn and keep riding with us.”

With the loss, UConn falls to 6-2, while Arizona improves to 6-2.

Husky Highlights

• Adams recorded his fourth 20-point game of the season, stuffing the stat sheet with 21 points, five rebounds and six assists.
• Cobb and Vital were the other two Huskies in double figures, scoring 12 and 11 points apiece, respectively.
• The team combined to shoot 48 percent from the field, with UConn hitting at least 45 percent of its shots for the seventh time this season.
• This was the seventh meeting between the two programs, with UConn leading the series 5-2.
• Polley, Adams and Vital each made a pair of 3-pointers.
• Both of UConn's losses have come to Power-5 opponents.

On Deck

The Huskies will wrap up their early season five-game homestand with a mid-week matchup against Lafayette College on Wednesday, Dec. 5. Tip-off at the XL Center is at 6 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

—Staff Reports