MBB: Sweep of Butler Stems From Strong Second Half
INDIANAPOLIS - It wasn’t exactly deja vu, but the Connecticut Huskies’ men’s basketball team duplicated all the right parts from Tuesday’s home game against Butler in the rematch two nights later at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
Trailing at the half to the increasingly desperate Bulldogs, the Huskies sped away in the second thanks to a career night from Tyrese Martin. The senior put in 27 points, all but two coming in the fateful latter period, to guide the Huskies to a 75-56 win on Thursday night. After hosting the Tuesday portion in Hartford, No. 25 UConn (13-4, 4-2 Big East) earned a clean sweep of their first home-and-home set since 1996, when they likewise swept Seton Hall.
Unlike Tuesday’s relatively breezy affair, the Huskies faced legitimate resistance from Butler (9-9, 2-5 Big East), a team facing its fifth ranked opponent over its last six games. Paced by 10 points off the bench from Chuck Harris who was held to four fruitless attempts on Tuesday, the Bulldogs built a 28-24 lead at the midway mark. Connecticut was held to 29 percent from the field (10-of-35), negating a defensive effort that saw them force a dozen Butler turnovers. Leading scorer R.J. Cole was held scoreless, forcing Adama Sanogo and Isaiah Whaley to carry the offensive load, scoring 16 of UConn’s 24 points.
The Bulldogs earned the first basket of the second half but it was almost all UConn thereafter. UConn never trailed after an 11-0 run that featured all four of Cole’s points through momentum-shifting jumpers. Butler briefly tied the game near the 12-minute mark through a pair of Harris free throws, but four quick points from Martin, the latter half gained through Andre Jackson’s steal-turned-assist on a fastbreak, gave them a permanent lead.
Overall, the Huskies won the second half by a 51-28 tally, shooting a sterling 67 percent (18-of-27) from the field. Martin’s personal best effort was gained through a 10-of-13 outing over the last 20 minutes, including a 4-of-6 mark three-point range. His last dozen came over the final four minutes, which saw the Huskies end the game on an 18-6 run.
Though Sanogo fell one rebound short of earning his fourth consecutive double-double, he contributed 15 points to the cause. In his statistical absence, Whaley picked up the slack with 11 points and 10 rebounds, his first since last March.
Despite their valiant effort, the Bulldogs have now dropped each game of the aforementioned stretch of ranked competition, losing those contests by over a 21-point margin. One more ranked foe awaits on Sunday afternoon when they visit No. 21 Providence. Butler also fell to 0-4 against the Huskies since the latter rejoined the Big East last season.
UConn returns to action on Tuesday night when they take on Georgetown in Storrs (8:30 p.m. ET, CBSSN). The defending conference tournament champion Hoyas (6-9, 0-4 Big East) are
still looking for their first Big East victory of the year after dropping an 83-75 decision to aforementioned Friars on Thursday evening. Connecticut swept the Hoyas last season upon resumption of their conference rivalry, winning the home matchup by a 98-82 final.
Geoff Magliocchetti is on Twitter @GeoffJMags
