With the scored tied at 17 against Division II UMass-Lowell with just under nine minutes remaining in the first half, the UConn men's basketball team needed someone to go on a run - and Jerome Dyson was happy to do it.
Dyson scored 12 consecutive points, including two 3-pointers and a thunderous dunk, and the Huskies went on a 24-4 run to end the half never looking back as they cruised to an 88-50 win at Gampel Pavilion in their final exhibition game.
"I thought we did a good job," said coach Jim Calhoun. "Obviously, we rebounded well. And, of course, Jerome just had a terrific game."
The River Hawks gave UConn a tougher game than AIC, who the Huskies beat by 39 in their first exhibition game on Wednesday, primarily because of the play of their senior captain Max Corman, who finished with 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
Except for a few open looks from Corman, the Husky defense was more stout than in their first game and allowed the River Hawks to shoot only 29.3 percent from the floor. Perimeter defense is one area Calhoun is not worried about.
"I do think we're doing a great job defensively on the outside, regardless of who we're playing," Calhoun said.
The Huskies' size, speed and depth proved to be too much for the River Hawks. Dyson finished with 32 points and was backed up by 15 from Kemba Walker. Freshman Alex Oriakhi finished with 14 rebounds - giving him 30 in his first two games.
UMass-Lowell coach Greg Herenda was quick to point out how talented the 2009 Huskies are - maybe even more so than the group that reached the Final Four last year.
"Defensively they're as good in transition as I've seen in a long, long time," Herenda said. "Maybe even better than they were last year."
Although he is pleased with the results of the the first two tune-ups for the regular season, Calhoun is concerned with the progression of Junior Charles Okwandu. Okwandu finished with just four points and two rebounds while committing four fouls in only 10 minutes.
"If there's one negative out of today it's that Charles didn't play well," Calhoun said. "He didn't play well in our first game and he didn't play well tonight."
Calhoun knows Okwandu is a better player than he's shown - and he'll have to be once the regular season starts and the opponents get bigger.
"Charles has got to come, otherwise I have to play Stanley at the four," Calhoun said. "I did that too much today and I don't like doing that."
With the regular season kicking off Friday against William and Mary, Walker could not be more pleased with the result of the two preseason games.
"I think we played tremendous basketball, our whole preseason was great," Walker said. "It all started in practice - guys coming to work every day. It carried onto the game. I think we played pretty well. I'm very happy going into Friday."
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