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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- Connecticut has been used to closing the Big East regular season on top.
The 24th-ranked Huskies spoiled No. 9 Syracuse's chance at being outright champions with a 69-54 victory Saturday, and also ended their season on a positive note.
|  | | Khalid El-Amin, who led UConn with 19 points, drives against Syracuse's Allen Griffin. |
"That was a terrific win to wrap up a terrific season that
started with some bumps in the road," Huskies coach Jim Calhoun
said, referring to three losses in the first five conference games.
"We're heading to New York feeling good, not great, about
ourselves."
The Huskies (21-8, 10-6) finished tied for fourth in the league
with Seton Hall but will be the fourth seed in next week's
conference tournament at Madison Square Garden because they swept the Pirates during the season.
The Orangemen (24-4, 13-3) will finish tied for first with the
winner of Sunday's St. John's-Miami game. If St. John's wins, it
will be the No. 1 seed for the tournament. If Miami wins, Syracuse will get it.
"To get a piece of the title in a conference this good, you
have to be happy with that," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said.
"The regular season is the first of the three phases. Now comes
next week where everybody is playing for something, then the one
everybody plays for."
Connecticut had an 11-point lead late in the first half, but
Syracuse chipped away and took the lead 45-44 on a jumper by Ryan
Blackwell with 8:34 to play.
Jason Hart's driving jumper with 6:43 left brought Syracuse into
the game's final tie at 47-47 and the Orangemen didn't score again
for 2:32 as Connecticut took control with a 14-0 run that featured
consecutive 3-pointers by Khalid El-Amin, who finished with 19
points.
El-Amin's back-to-back 3-pointers gave him four for the game and made it 56-47 with 4:14 left. Tony Robertson scored on a rebound jumper 32 seconds later to make it 58-47. He capped the run with a free throw with 2:28 left that made it 61-47.
Preston Shumpert's jumper with 2:11 to play finally ended
Syracuse's scoring drought.
"The kids responded well to losing that lead and that's the
kind of response we'll need going into March," Calhoun said.
El-Amin was extremely upbeat after the game.
"Our confidence is through the roof, it's the most we've had
all year," the junior guard said. "If we're in a game with two
minutes left we're going to win the game. That's how we feel."
Kevin Freeman added 18 points for the Huskies, the defending
national champions and the Big East regular season winner five of
the last six seasons. Albert Mouring had 13 points.
Etan Thomas scored 13 points on 6-of-16 shooting and had 17
rebounds for the Orangemen, who finished just 1-for-12 from 3-point range, while Tony Bland added 10 points, all in the first half.
"We got good looks but they also played pretty good defense,"
Boeheim said. "Etan was tremendous but we went to him the whole game and for us to be successful we have to get looks for others as well."
Syracuse won the first meeting this season 88-74, outrebounding
the Huskies 47-31. Connecticut finished with a 39-38 rebound
advantage on Saturday.
"The last seven, eight minutes they got on the boards better
than we did and they made those 3s," Boeheim said.
Connecticut now starts defense of two tournament titles with the most confidence it has shown this season.
"I told the kids before the game that if we expect something
good to happen in March, and who knows, you have to beat a team like Syracuse," Calhoun said.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Syracuse Clubhouse
Connecticut Clubhouse
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