Connecticut lost its coach this week, but found its swagger.
Jerome Dyson scored a career-high 32 points and UConn
overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to upset top-ranked Texas
88-74 on Saturday.
Kemba Walker had 19 points and 10 assists, and Stanley
Robinson added 17 points and 12 rebounds for UConn (13-6), which
again was without coach Jim Calhoun, who missed his second game on
a doctor-ordered leave of absence.
"We've got to play for him," said Dyson, who said Calhoun was
proud and excited on the phone after the game. "We know these wins
will help him get better, because it will take some of the stress
off him having to worry about us, and he can focus on getting
himself better."
It was the Longhorns' second consecutive loss after winning
their first 17 games, and all but ensures that Texas will fall from
the top spot in the poll on Monday.
"I think it has been great for the younger guys to go through
this and realize that right now, at this time of year, the
intensity has got to go up," said Texas coach Rick Barnes.
The win likely will put the Huskies back into the Top 25
after they missed the poll for the first time in 36 weeks. It was
their second straight victory after three consecutive losses, and
UConn's first win over a ranked opponent this season in five
attempts.
"Now you know you're good, you know you can play," said
George Blaney, Calhoun's longtime assistant, who is running the
team in his absence. "You just beat the number-one team in the
country, so that should tell you that you're good."
Damion James had 23 points and seven rebounds for Texas
(17-2), and Avery Bradley added 15 points for the Longhorns, who
lost to Kansas State 71-63 on Monday.
"It's tough, and I'd be lying to you if I said it ain't,"
said James. "We'll get back on a roll now. I know me and I know
this team and we'll get back going. Maybe this is what it takes to
bring us back down to reality."
Texas controlled this game early. The Longhorns led 42-34 at
the half, and 44-34 after UConn committed its 17th turnover of the
game on the second-half inbound pass.
That's when Dyson got going. He made two steals, one of which
he converted into a fast-break dunk to pull the Huskies to 44-41.
A 13-0 run gave UConn a 58-52 lead.
The Huskies tied the game at 52 on a free throw by Ater Majok
with 12:52 to play, and the sellout crowd erupted when the Huskies
took their first lead of the half when Dyson hit a pull-up jumper
on their next possession.
A reverse layup by Walker gave UConn a 10-point lead at
68-58, and his 25-foot 3-pointer as the shot clock was expiring
made it 71-58 with 6:11 left.
Dyson extended the lead to 15 with another 3-pointer with
4:55 left.
"Once we started making a big play here and a big play here
and the crowd got going, the energy just went through us," Dyson
said.
UConn came into the game 1-6 all-time against the nation's
No. 1 team and had never before hosted a top-ranked team on campus.
They had only one previous home game against a No. 1, losing to
Kansas in 1997 in Hartford.
Dyson, whose previous career high had been 27, scored 18 in
the second half. Walker had 17 after intermission.
Texas nibbled away at the lead, cutting it to 11 late. But
Connecticut, which had been shooting 67 percent from the foul line,
was 26 of 37 in this one and hit enough down the stretch to win.
The Longhorns jumped out to an early 20-11 lead, capitalizing
on nine UConn turnovers and the shooting of James, who had nine
early points.
UConn hit five of its first six shots and outrebounded Texas
5-0 to start the game, but needed a 9-0 run to tie it.
The Longhorns kept coming in waves, using 12 players in the
first half, eight of whom scored. They forced 16 UConn turnovers
before intermission, but the Huskies had just four after that.
"That was my point of emphasis in the second half," said
Walker, who had eight of the Huskies' turnovers, all but two before
intermission.
Texas committed 30 personal fouls. Guard Dogus Balbay picked
up his fourth with 8:39 left and Dexter Pittman got his fourth less
than a minute later and fouled out with 3:15 remaining.
Connecticut was ranked as high as 10th in late December but
fell out of the Top 25 this week after a three-game losing streak.
The Huskies are now 19-4 when Calhoun has missed games.
This was the first meeting between the two teams since Texas
defeated Connecticut 82-78 in the regional semifinals of the 2003
NCAA tournament.
