Huskies beat 'Cuse to a pulp

Before Wednesday's game against Syracuse got underway, Jeff Adrien walked over to the student section and shouted four simple words - what day is it?

The fans went wild and answered, "Game day."

After 40 minutes of basketball, Hasheem Thabeet walked over to the student section and pointed to the crowd. Thabeet didn't say anything. After beating No. 22 Syracuse 63-49, he didn't have to say a thing.

In the first five minutes of play, the Huskies played against a 2-3 zone; a defense that seemed to give them trouble on the offensive end. At 15:44 things only got worse for UConn. Jerome Dyson collided with Syracuse's Andy Rautins and injured himself on the play. He had to be helped off the game and did not return to action.

With 10 minutes left to play in the first half, UConn trailed the Orange 15-19 and was still trying to find some offensive rhythm

"I think, in the first half, we did as good of a job defensively as we have done in a long time," said Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim.

"Jim's team came in here, as we thought they might, very hungry," said coach Jim Calhoun. They did a terrific job of zone in the first half; of matching up to us."

A big part of UConn's turnaround was Thabeet's defensive play. With 4:20 left to play in the half, Thabeet came up with blocks on two straight Syracuse possessions, including a 3-on-1 fast break stop, and eventually got a defensive rebound that led to a jump ball in UConn's favor.

"We have terrific defense, anchored by the best big guy in the country, far and away," Calhoun said. "[Thabeet] is a force on any single night and can change the basketball game. I'm telling you, I think the guy who can change the game more than any other single player in America is on our team."

As the half wound down, the Huskies fought their way back from a five-point deficit at the nine-minute mark and eventually regained the lead with 32 seconds to play.

After a Syracuse timeout, Kemba Walker stole the inbound pass underneath the Huskies' basket and tipped the ball to Craig Austrie for a lay up to put UConn up 30-27.

"That was a huge basket, because [Syracuse] would have had the chance to take the lead going into the half," said A.J. Price. "You get a cheap steal like that and push it to three, and that changes the momentum factor, and it gave us the momentum going into the half."

At the end of the first half, the Huskies held the Orange to only 34 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from behind the arc.

Coming out of the half, the game went back and forth between the Huskies and the Orange, with the two teams exchanging baskets in the first four minutes of play.

Three-and-a-half minutes into the half, Price was fouled by Syracuse guard Eric Devendorf on an and-one 3-pointer that gave the Huskies a 38-35 lead, one they would not relinquish. Price missed his free throw, but Thabeet came up with the rebound and put in a lay-up to put UConn up 40-35.

With the Orange sticking to a 2-3 defense, the Huskies made some offensive changes that enabled them to put points on the board - something they struggled with in the first half.

"In the second half, we were fortunate enough to make some adjustments and add some movement in our offense," Calhoun said. "We were able to get some isolation of Hasheem in the post and once we did that we basically used him as a wheel and we could kick the ball back out and get penetration off that and obviously make some threes."

The Huskies also made some changes on the defensive end, which was a big factor in helping UConn win the game, according to Price.

"We made a couple of adjustments at halftime of how we were going to play them," Price said. "And that really changed the game. We took them out of their offense, out of their flow and we just picked up defensive pressure. That was the difference in the game."

The Huskies' defense in the second half put Syracuse in two major offensive droughts. The first one sparked a 12-0 UConn run from the 13-minute mark to the nine-minute mark. UConn then gave up no points in the final 5:33 of the game.

Syracuse finished the game shooting 34 percent from the floor. Johnny Flynn led the Orange with 16 points.

Price led all players in scoring with 17 points, and Thabeet added eight points, 16 rebounds and seven blocks.

"Every time we step out there on those lines, it's a battle," Thabeet said. "We face new challenges every day, different opponents, different players and we go over there and we say, 'We're going to take you down.' We do that by playing great defense, staying together, five-as-one and we did a really good job at that day today."