Hurricanes Fall Short To Connecticut, 76-75
Jan 5, 2002
By DONNA TOMMELLEO
AP Sports Writer
STORRS, Conn. – Johnnie Selvie made two free throws with 5.7 secondsremaining as Connecticut beat No. 21 Miami 76-75 Saturday night, snapping theHurricanes’ 14-game winning streak.
Selvie was fouled as he tried to put back a Tony Robertson miss. It was abit of redemption for Selvie who, a minute earlier, threw away a pass with 1:04left. The turnover led to a Darius Rice 3-pointer that put the Hurricanes up75-74 with 36.5 seconds left.
Miami (14-1, 1-1 Big East) had one more chance to score as John Salmons tookthe inbounds pass, drove the lane and put up a shot that missed wide.
Caron Butler led the Huskies (8-2, 2-0) with 18 points. He scored threepoints in a 7-0 run to open up the second half to give UConn its first lead,45-42, with 15:58 left.
The Huskies trailed 43-38 at the break but worked their way back bydominating the post and getting most of their starters back after a foul-filledfirst half.
The Huskies outrebounded the Hurricanes 41-28 and outscored Miami 40-26 inthe paint. Selvie finished with 12 points and had a team-high eight boards, allin the second half.
The Hurricanes rallied back from three 10-point deficits in the second half.
Foul trouble kept Selvie, Butler and center Emeka Okafor on the bench formost of the first half. Butler played just 10 minutes, while Selvie and Okaforplayed six and four minutes, respectively, in the opening period.
The Hurricanes took advantage, shooting 13-for-14 from the line in the firsthalf.
UConn’s reserves contributed 15 points in the first half, keeping theHuskies nearly even with the Hurricanes while the starters were out.
The Huskies tied Miami seven times in the first half and were down 33-31when the ‘Canes went on a 7-0 run with 2:40 left. Rice had five points in thespurt to give Miami a 40-32 lead with 1:30 left.
Taliek Brown kicked off a 5-2 UConn run to end the period and pull theHuskies within four.
Rice led Miami with 22 points, and Salmons added 17.
Top-ranked Duke (12-0) remains the only unbeaten Division I team.Fifth-ranked Oklahoma State (12-1) and No. 4 Virginia (9-1) both lost at homeSaturday.
