FAMU loses in first-ever meeting with UConn
HARTFORD, Conn. – Florida A&M’s first ever tangle with UConn didn’t go the way Rattlers head coach Eugene Harris envisioned.
FAMU got a game-high 18 points from Jermonte Bush, but a sloppy first-half that included offensive miscues and lackluster defense resulted in a 93-54 setback to the Huskies at the Hartford Civic Center.
“They’re a very good basketball team,” said Harris of UConn. “They’re very physical, got good outside shooters and got the seven-foot-three (Hasheem Thabeet) who’s hard to match up with.”
Thabeet wasn’t the only problem the Rattlers faced early on. Instead, the story of this game was the slow start for FAMU. They didn’t score their first points of the game until Oliver Price converted on a putback with 11:47 left in the first half, fell behind by as many as 18, and looked out of sync on a few of their possessions.
UConn used it all to their advantage as Husky guard Jerome Dyson fueled an 11-0 start with a short bucket midway through the half. Each time the Rattlers tried to gain some momentum, the Huskies used both their inside and outside game to keep FAMU off balance.
Jeff Adrien’s dunk with under nine minutes to go in the period increased the host’s lead to 25-7. That came after Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun called a second consecutive 30-second timeout to help keep his troops from losing focus.
That didn’t seem to be an issue for the Huskies, especially in the second half, as consecutive buckets from Adrien and Stanley Robinson extended a 43-15 lead to a 52-21 advantage. Thabeet’s dunk with 14:25 left put UConn in cruise control en route to a tough loss for FAMU.
Adrien and Robinson each scored 16 points for UConn while Dyson added 15. Leslie Robinson contributed eight points in a losing cause for the Rattlers.
Despite the win, Calhoun wasn’t all that impressed with his team’s effort.
“I don’t know if our team’s mood was into it early,” he said. “You get a big lead, you relax a little. That’s human nature. But we did do a better job with our focus in the second half.”
The Rattlers got a scare in the first half as Lamar Twitty had to leave the game at the 12:40 mark with a leg injury. He later returned in the period and finished with seven points.
“He banged his knee a little bit, but he’s okay,” said Harris.
The Rattlers head back to the Sunshine State to open conference play at Bethune-Cookman before traveling to Gainesville to battle the defending national champion Florida Gators.
Harris believes this contest gave his team some much-needed “training” for when they head into January.
“It’ll help us out down the road and get us ready for our conference games,” said Harris. “I have nothing but praise for UConn basketball.”
