NCAA Game Summary - Connecticut at Louisville
01.21.2006
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Louisville, KY (Basketball News) - Marcus Williams scored 15 points and Rudy Gay tallied 12, as third-ranked Connecticut downed No. 17 Louisville, 69-58, at Freedom Hall.
Coupled with top-ranked Duke’s 87-84 loss at Georgetown and No. 2 Florida’s 80-76 setback at Tennessee on Saturday, Connecticut (16-1, 4-1 Big East) will most likely take over the top spot in next week’s college basketball polls.
In the present, the Huskies shot 51 percent from the floor and made 19-of-23 free throws to defeat a Cardinals’ squad playing without leading scorer Taquan Dean, who sat out with an ankle injury.
In Dean’s absence, Louisville (13-5, 1-4) was held under 60 points for the third straight contest, all losses. David Padgett, a transfer from Kansas, picked up some of the scoring slack with 27 points, but Terrence Williams was the only other Cardinal to reach double figures with 10 points.
Trailing 37-36 early in the second half, UConn went on a 10-2 burst to take the lead. Gay and Rashad Anderson made perimeter jumpers, Hilton Armstrong and Jeff Adrien converted slams and Josh Boone’s two free throws with 11:02 left gave the Huskies a 46-39 lead.
Padgett scored five straight points several minutes later to cut the deficit to 50-46, but Marcus Williams drained a jumper and an Anderson jump shot and trey sandwiched around Padgett’s layup gave UConn a 57-48 edge with 6:04 left.
Juan Palacios’ jumper with 4:17 left got the Cardinals within 59-55, but Connecticut scored the next eight points capped by Williams’ layup to seal the victory.
UConn led by as many as 12 points in the first half and held a 30-27 edge at the break.
