FINAL SCORE: Connecticut 89, Vermont 73 | Box Score | Highlights
HARTFORD, Conn. – Kemba Walker scored 42 points as Connecticut battled back from a halftime deficit to top the Vermont men's basketball team 89-73 on Wednesday night at the XL Center in downtown Hartford, Conn. The Catamounts led 36-33 at the half and were led by a career-high 26 points from senior
Evan Fjeld (Durham, N.C.) as they fall to 1-1 on the year.
Vermont had no answer for Walker, who scored 21 in each half as he finished the night 15-for-24 from the floor. UConn outscored the Catamounts 56-37 in the second half and also controlled the boards, owning a 44-30 edge on the glass.
Fjeld hit 10 of his 18 attempts and added three blocks for the Catamounts, who also got a career-high from junior
Matt Glass (Underhill Center, Vt.) who went 6-for-7 from three on his way to 24 points.
Glass and Fjeld led the Cats in the first half, as Vermont took a three-point lead into the locker room. UVM came out hot, taking an early 9-2 lead and would stretch it to 16-11 after a three from freshman
Sandro Carissimo (Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.) as the Cats hit six of their first eight attempts from the floor. A 7-0 run would put Connecticut on top 18-16 as Walker netted 17 of the team's first 27 points.
With the Huskies up 29-23, Vermont responded with seven straight on a Fjeld lay-up and with Glass hitting a three and an elbow jumper on back-to-back possessions to give UVM a 30-29 edge. The Cats tallied six of the last eight points in the frame to go on top heading into the break. Glass paced Vermont with 15 points, while Fjeld added 12 as Vermont shot 50 percent from the floor in the stanza.
Connecticut (2-0) built a cushion early in the second half with a 13-4 run that snapped a 43-43 tie and gave the home team a 56-47 advantage with 13:15 remaining in the contest. A three by Glass would cut it to six again at 56-50, but the Huskies opened the game up with a 21-7 push over a span of 6:26 that made it 77-57.
“I thought we did a pretty good job in the first half controlling the tempo and I thought we were able to score,” said Vermont head coach
Mike Lonergan. “In the second half they just killed our 1-3-1 zone and our man and just dominated the glass. I am hoping that these kind of games toughen us up.”
Vermont finished the game shooting 47.4 percent from the floor, but committed 19 turnovers. Roscoe Smith added 15 points off the bench for UConn, while Alex Oriakhi was the only other Husky in double figures with 11.
The Cats return to action on Saturday when they travel to face Quinnipiac starting at 3 p.m. The game will be televised on NESN and can be heard live on Champ 101.3 FM, The Zone 960 AM and on the internet at www.UVMathletics.com with the audio stream provided by SportsJuice.com.
NOTES: The two teams last met in the first round of the 2004 NCAA Tournament … The game was televised live on SNY and ESPN Full Court … Freshman
Brian Voelkel (Pleasantville, N.Y.) added six rebounds, four assists, three points and three steals for the Cats … Junior
Pat Bergmann (Burlington, Vt.) matched a career-high with six points off the bench … All 13 Cats played in the contest, including 10 in the first half.
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