Road woes continue for the Huskies TOP 25 ROUNDUP
UConn falls to 0-5 away from Connecticut, can’t hold late lead vs. Tigers
Memphis, Tenn. — The road woes continue for the UConn men’s basketball team. Memphis beat UConn, 70-63, on Saturday afternoon at the FedExForum, sending the Huskies to their fifth loss in five road games this season.
UConn point guard Alterique Gilbert, returning from a one-game absence for “personal reasons,” came off the bench for 10 points and two assists.
The Huskies had three freshmen in their starting lineup for the second straight game, with Jalen Gaffney getting the nod at point guard again.
Christian Vital led UConn (11-10, 2-6 American) with 20 points. James Bouknight added 17 points, while Isaiah Whaley chipped in eight points and nine rebounds.
Memphis (16-5, 5-3) was led by forward Precious Achiuwa, whom the Huskies recruited heavily before he opted to join the Tigers. He led his team with 16 points and eight rebounds. Of course, he also had eight of Memphis’ whopping 24 turnovers.
Despite Gilbert’s return, the Huskies played with just eight scholarship players as forward Sid Wilson’s knee injury kept him out of the lineup.
The host Tigers’ lineup took a hit before the game when it was revealed that starting forward D.J. Jeffries would miss the game, not to mention at least the next month of action, with a knee injury. A 6-foot-7 forward, Jeffries is a starter averaging 10.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.
Freshman guard Jayden Hardaway, head coach Penny Hardaway’s son, started in Jeffries’ place.
UConn took a one-point lead after a sloppy first half that included a combined 25 turnovers, 15 by the Tigers. But the Huskies were unable to stay in front and fell to 10-2 this season when leading at the half.
Memphis, which has struggled a bit from the free throw line this season, made 11 of its last 13 down the stretch to hold off the Huskies.
Memphis guard Alex Lomax went 8-for-8 from the line and finished with 13 points.
Memphis missed five of its first six shots in the game, two of which were rejected by Akok in the early going. Its defense, along with an early 3-pointer by Vital, helped UConn take a quick 7-4 lead.
But things changed quickly as the hosts were able to get out in transition and go on an 11-0 run. UConn went scoreless for five minutes and four seconds of action and Memphis suddenly had an eight-point advantage.
Turnovers, however, continued to mount for both teams and the Huskies took advantage to bounce right back with an 11-0 run of their own. Another 3-pointer by Vital as well as an impressive dunk by the UConn senior on the break put his team back on top.
Memphis committed 13 turnovers in the game’s first 15-plus minutes while UConn had nine of its own.
Whaley gave the Huskies a big lift with six points and four rebounds in the opening half, coming off the bench to help UConn take a 31-30 lead at the break.
MaCio Teague scored 19 points with five 3-pointers and Baylor set a program record with its 18th win in a row. Teague made consecutive 3-pointers in a 36-second span to cap a 14-0 run in the first half that put the Bears (19-1, 8-0 Big 12) ahead to stay. He hit two more 3s early in the second half before TCU made a run.
Corey Kispert’s three-point play with 1:33 left put his team ahead for good and he added a jumper with 34 seconds remaining, helping Gonzaga extend its winning streak to 15 games.
Tyrique Jones had 19 points and 18 rebounds, and Xavier opened a big lead early and ended the Pirates’ 10-game winning streak.
Derek Culver had 19 points and 14 rebounds to give coach Bob Huggins another milestone win. Huggins earned his 877th career win to move past Kentucky’s Adolph Rupp into seventh place in Division I.
Nate Reuvers scored 15 points, D’Mitrik Trice had 14 and Aleem Ford added 13 to help Wisconsin edge Michigan State.
Luwane Pipkins scored 22 points and made six consecutive free throws in the final minute for Providence.
Javonte Smart scored 13 of his season-high 21 points in the last 16 minutes and LSU extended its winning streak to 10 games.
Brandon Johns Jr. scored a career-high 20 points and Michigan won at Madison Square Garden for the 10th straight time.
Sabrina Ionescu had 24 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds for her 23rd career triple-double and fifth of the season in just 27 minutes, leading Oregon to a win over Colorado.