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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) -- January had been rough for
Connecticut as the defending national champions lost three games --
one more than all last season.
February started even worse with two losses in four games, but
the 18th-ranked Huskies may have started to turn things around
Monday night with a 59-50 victory over Seton Hall (No. 25 ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, No. 23 AP).
|  | | Seton Hall's Samuel Dalembert loses control of the ball as Jake Voskuhl tries to block his path. |
Connecticut used the old reliables of defense and rebounding and
a boost from a surprising source, sophomore Ajou Deng, to snap the
Pirates' five-game winning streak and spoil the day they returned
to the national rankings for the first time since 1993.
"Tonight we stuck with our defense. I thought we had some fire
in our eyes," Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said. "I thought we'd
score more points. I was happy we didn't get frustrated when we
didn't. If we play defense like this we can play with anybody in
the country."
Connecticut (18-6, 7-4 Big East) held the Pirates to 38 percent
shooting (18-for-53) and outrebounded them 44-30 in looking more
like the program that had lost five conference games over the last
two seasons combined.
"Losing to Notre Dame was tough and we wanted to just come out
and play hard, make a statement that we're still one of the best
teams in the Big East," Connecticut senior forward Kevin Freeman
said. "Deng gave us that extra guy coming off the bench and it
really helped. Coach talked to me about playing with more emotion
and fire. I tried to bring it out tonight. I wanted to do whatever
it would take to win."
The 6-foot-10 Deng, who had been expected to provide a lot to
the team that lost All-America Richard Hamilton, had struggled but
scored in double figures each of the last two games.
He came up big in the second half when the Huskies took control.
His jumper with 11:17 to play gave the Huskies the lead for good at
40-39 and started a 15-2 run in which he also hit a hook shot on
the baseline and blocked two shots.
"That's been three, four weeks in coming," Calhoun said of the
play of the native of Senegal, who also lived in England and Egypt
before attending St. Thomas More Prep in Connecticut. "He's
responding to the coaching and that's not always easy at
Connecticut."
Freeman's free throw with 5:27 to play capped the run and made
it 53-41. Darius Lane hit a 3-pointer and made three free throws
when he was fouled attempting a 3 to get the Pirates (18-5, 10-3)
within 53-47 with 3:40 left. But the Huskies went 4-for-5 from the
foul line the rest of the way, the last a free throw that capped a
three-point play for Khalid El-Amin with 25 seconds left that made
it 59-48.
"We needed a win so I was just trying to do anything to help,"
said Deng, who had six points, five rebounds and the two blocks in
21 minutes. "I'm playing harder, more aggressively than I was a
month ago. I tried to make plays at both ends of the court. Right
now I'm hungry. I wasn't a month go."
Albert Mouring had 17 points for the Huskies, while Freeman had
13 points and El-Amin 11.
"We played with intensity and with a purpose tonight. That's
what have to get back to," El-Amin said. "We did a great job of
defending the perimeter. We decided if they were going to beat us
it would to be the other guys not the perimeter players."
Lane finished with 17 points for the Pirates but was just
3-of-10 from 3-point range as the Huskies forced him a step farther
from the basket than he seems comfortable shooting from.
"It was very frustrating," Lane said. "I thought we were
coming back on them several times but we couldn't get the big
basket and they just played us tough. We didn't rebound, get our
shots or get the loose balls tonight. They're a great defensive
team and they played great tonight but when we got good looks we
didn't hit our shots and that made the difference."
The victory was the Huskies' 13th in their last 14 meetings with
Seton Hall. Connecticut won the earlier game this season, 66-56.
"Certainly you could the affects of our playing five games in
10 days but that takes nothing away from Connecticut," Seton Hall
coach Tommy Amaker said. "We had the shots but we had to work so
hard to get those shots. They locked us up as the expression
goes."
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Connecticut Clubhouse
Seton Hall Clubhouse
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Khalid El-Amin throws up the ally-oop to Kevin Freeman.
avi: 863 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
Khalid El-Amin finishes the drive with a layup.
avi: 465 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1
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