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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) -- Caron Butler made the wait worthwhile.
The freshman scored 20 points in an impressive college debut to
lead No. 12 Connecticut to an 83-71 victory over Louisville on
Wednesday in the fifth-place game of the Maui Invitational.
Butler, a 6-foot-7 swingman, missed the Huskies' first three
games because of an NCAA violation regarding payment of his prep
school tuition. He lived up to his recruiting hype right away,
making a 3-pointer with his first college shot and power dunking on
his second.
"You always want to make your first every game, but that one
helped me get rid of all the jitterbugs," he said. "I was really
nervous because there were so many expectations from so many
people."
The Huskies (3-1) also got senior center Souleymane Wane back
from a three-game suspension for violating NCAA rules involving
phone calls. He made his presence felt with eight rebounds.
"Souleymane's presence is special for us and Caron offensively
changed our look and gave us another option," Connecticut coach
Jim Calhoun said.
Albert Mouring had 23 points to lead the Huskies, who were
beaten 80-66 in the opening round by Dayton.
"We looked like we were going to win even when we were down
three at halftime," Calhoun said. "We had some terrific defensive
performances and we ran well. We played like winners in the second
half."
Marques Maybin had 25 points to lead Louisville (2-2) despite
being limited to nine minutes in the second half because of foul
trouble.
Connecticut took the lead for good at 47-45 on two free throws
by Taliek Brown with 16:15 to play. Butler stole the ball and went
in for a dunk, and Edmund Saunders then scored on a rebound to cap
a 9-0 run that gave the Huskies a 62-49 lead with 11:13 to play.
Butler entered the game about six minutes in and his first shot
and points were the 3 with 11:15 remaining in the half. His first
college dunk came 20 seconds later and gave the Huskies a 22-17
lead.
"Caron has a chance to go with some of the special players
we've had here," Calhoun said.
Saunders had 13 points and 12 rebounds as the Huskies finished
with a 45-31 advantage on the boards.
"We didn't want to go home with two losses," Saunders said.
"In the second half we played Connecticut basketball."
Calhoun said Saunders benefitted most from the return of Wane.
"Edmund was our only other experienced big man and Soul eats
space," Calhoun said. "We looked different. We were bigger,
stronger on the boards."
Louisville started an all new front line, including two freshmen
at the forward positions.
"There were a lot of things we didn't do really well and they
dominated us on the boards," Cardinals coach Denny Crum said.
"Overall I'm really pleased with what we did here. I don't think
the freshmen knew what to expect. This will really help us down the
road."
Maybin wouldn't blame the officiating for his limited minutes.
"If you play fundamental defense you won't get into that kind
of trouble," he said.
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ALSO SEE
Mens College Basketball Scoreboard
Louisville Clubhouse
Connecticut Clubhouse
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