Feb 2, 2002
By STEVEN WINE
AP Sports Writer
MIAMI – Elton Tyler made a tie-breaking layup with 13 seconds left and6-foot-1 Michael Simmons blocked a shot with five seconds remaining to help No.15 Miami beat No. 17 Connecticut 68-66 Saturday night.
A frantic finish included four lead changes in the last 2:18 and fourbaskets in the final minute.
Miami (19-3, 6-3 Big East) avenged a 76-75 loss four weeks ago atConnecticut.
The Huskies (14-5, 6-2) lost consecutive games for the first time thisseason. They were beaten Wednesday at Rutgers, snapping their six-game winningstreak.
Caron Butler’s 3-pointer gave the Huskies their final lead, 64-63, with 55seconds left. John Salmons banked in a 22-footer with 33 seconds to go to putMiami ahead 66-64.
After UConn’s Taliek Brown tied the game on a layup with 23 secondsremaining, the Hurricanes quickly pushed the ball upcourt, and Salmons foundTyler breaking in from the weak side for the easy basket.
Following a timeout, Simmons blocked Ben Gordon’s 3-point try. UConn’sJohnnie Selvie grabbed the rebound in the lane but James Jones stripped theball, and it rolled out of bounds as time expired.
The game drew a crowd of 10,135, the largest for a Hurricanes game at MiamiArena since Feb. 27, 1999, against Rutgers.
Miami has won five consecutive games against ranked teams, including threethis season.
Salmons led Miami with 20 points, and Tyler had 16. Darius Rice, theHurricanes’ leading scorer, was shut out in the first half and finished withsix points.
Selvie scored 17 points for the Huskies, while Butler added 13 but was5-of-17 from the field. Freshman Emeka Okafor added 12 points.
Connecticut took a 15-7 lead as the Hurricanes missed 15 of their first 19shots. But the Hurricanes scored nine consecutive points late in the half,including a 3-pointer by Marcus Barnes for their first lead, 25-24.
Miami was ahead 32-27 at halftime and there were 17 lead changes in thesecond half.