No. 8 UConn men stay unbeaten, hold off Oklahoma State
Dec. 2—STORRS — During UConn's dazzling display of all-around basketball late in the first half, junior Andre Jackson picked off a pass and took off on a breakaway.
Jackson might have finished off the steal with one of his patented out-of-this-world dunks if not for being knocked down by Oklahoma State's Bryce Thompson far from the basket.
Oklahoma State tried just about everything to try to slow down the sizzling Huskies in Thursday's Big East-Big 12 Battle at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion.
Nothing worked.
No. 8 UConn ended the first half with a 23-3 run to carry a 17-point lead into the locker room and then finished with a 74-64 victory.
"This was a big win for us," junior Adama Sanogo said. "They thought they had a chance to win the game. They did not."
The Huskies have won their first nine games for the first time since the 2013-14 national championship team accomplished the feat. They've also won each of their first nine games by double digits, something that no other UConn program has done.
Right now, they look scary good and every bit deserving of their ranking, which is their highest in the Associated Press Poll since reaching the same spot on Jan. 2, 2012.
"I don't know if No. 8 is high enough for this team," Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. "I watched them play every one of their games up to that point and I saw a team, for what it's worth, that's capable of winning a national championship. They've done a tremendous job here."
UConn's Big Three of Sanogo, Jackson and sophomore Jordan Hawkins led the way, combining for 57 points. Sanogo chipped in 20 points and six rebounds while Hawkins had a career-high 26 points, 18 in the first half.
"Caught fire early and my teammates did a great job getting me the ball," said Hawkins, who scored just two points in the previous game. "Everything felt like it was going in."
Jackson made an impact in a variety of ways in his return to the starting lineup, finishing with 11 points, seven rebounds, six assists, three steals and zero turnovers.
UConn's performance helped calm the nerves of coach Dan Hurley.
"I was a little agitated yesterday all day because I knew this was a very dangerous game and a team with a lot of talent and a lot of length and could match-up with a lot of things that we bring," Hurley said. "It was a team looking for a signature win to really change things for them.
"Tonight, it built my confidence in the group, to get that type of separation versus that team and be able to keep it double digits. I believe in this team."
Foul trouble and UConn's harassing defense help prevent the Cowboys (5-3) from making it a close game. The Huskies scored 27 points off of 17 OSU turnovers.
The Huskies didn't shoot the ball particularly well (37.5 percent), got out-rebounded (39-35) and still won by a comfortable margin.
"It's really good to be a team that's an NCAA caliber team, especially after our trip," Hurley said. "But there's enough things to be disappointed in and some things that we've got to get better at."
Apparently, the Huskies took Hurley's advice from earlier in the week.
Hurley talked about the Huskies ignoring the hype and staying focused while preparing them for Thursday's tough test. He said after Wednesday's practice: "No one is drinking the poison."
They certainly didn't play like they were "drinking the poison" on Thursday, their first game since returning from winning the Phil Knight Invitational in Oregon and entering the top 10.
"We're definitely 100 percent following that advice," Jackson said. "Prior to the season, nobody looked at us as a top 25 team. We take that every day to practice with us. We've got a chip on our shoulder as a team. We've got something to prove and we're going to continue to prove that."
Early on, UConn battled for the lead with a stubborn opponent. The Cowboys attacked the basket and made 10 of their first 16 shots. Their best inside player, Moussa Cisse, watched from the bench with two fouls.
Trailing 28-25, the Huskies cracked down on defense and took off, scoring 15 straight points and going on a 23-3 run overall. They turned OSU turnovers into baskets.
"We came into the huddle and we were talking to each other that we have to get stops," Jackson said.
Redshirt freshman Alex Karaban's two free throws handed UConn the lead for good at 29-28. Hawkins heated up, accounting for seven of the team's next nine points. Then Jackson's nifty pass set up Karaban's basket for a 40-28 edge.
John-Michael Wright's 3-pointer handed OSU its first points in almost four and a half minutes.
The Huskies stayed in high gear.
After a steal, Jackson ended up on the floor after contact from Thompson and then made two free throws. Joey Calcattera and Hawkins drained back-to-back three for a 48-31 edge at half.
"Thrilled with how we handled the last half of the first half," Hurley said. "Obviously, our spurtability was on display with the shooting. We were not good defensively but then we were great for the last 10 minutes of the first half."
UConn's work was far from finished.
The Cowboys closed a 20-point gap to 11 (56-45) in the second half on Avery Anderson's driving basket.
It was only a temporary scare.
Jackson and Calcaterra buried consecutive threes, bringing the crowd back into the game and extending the lead to 19 with 9:52 remaining. They kept their streak alive of not trailing in the second half this season.
UConn racked up another quality win, also beating Iowa State, Alabama and Oregon in the last four games.
News and notes
Hurley was disappointed with UConn having just 11 assists but happy the Huskies had only seven turnovers. "We were better with the ball." ... Jackson started for the first time this season, replacing Nahiem Alleyne in the lineup. ... The Huskies stretched their Gampel Pavilion winning streak to 14 in a row. ... Students lined up outside Gampel hours before the game and packed the stands. ... Former UConn standouts Caron Butler and Hasheem Thabeet attended the game.
