September 20, 2024
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Robinson, Thabeet overpower UMaine UConn shuts down Bears’ inside game

HARTFORD, Conn. – Stanley Robinson scored 32 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots Saturday afternoon as he led the University of Connecticut to an easy 105-60 men’s basketball victory over Maine.

The first meeting in 15 years between the former Yankee Conference foes turned out to be no contest as Connecticut took control of the game midway through the first half.

The Huskies (8-2) had a 53-28 lead at halftime and coasted to their third straight win and fifth in six games. Maine, which suffered its third straight loss, drops to 4-7.

Robinson, a sophomore from Birmingham, Ala., achieved his career high on a variety of alley-oop dunks, midrange jump shots, high-flying putbacks and 3-point shots.

UConn outrebounded Maine 59-29 with 22 Husky rebounds coming on the offensive glass. Those boards led to 25 second-chance points.

“They’re relentless rebounders, especially on the offensive glass,” UMaine coach Ted Woodward said. “They attacked the glass very well.”

The Huskies also racked up 12 blocked shots, with eight from Hasheem Thabeet, and made things hard for Maine center Brian Andre, who went 0-for-6 from the floor and had just two points, both of which came at the free-throw line.

Andre had a team-high five rebounds. He was leading the Bears with 13.4 points per game going into the matchup.

“We knew coming in that our strength was their strength,” Woodward said of the inside play. “… For years they’ve been one of the best shot-blocking teams in the country. That’s what they do.”

Jeff Adrien added 19 points and 13 rebounds for UConn, his fifth double-double of the season, while Thabeet added 16 points and 10 rebounds, and A.J. Price had 17 points and nine assists.

Junior Bernal had 16 points to lead Maine.

Robinson, charged with a technical foul with 11:09 remaining in the first half and Connecticut leading by 18-13, took over the rest of the first half.

The sophomore scored Connecticut’s next three baskets, two of them on alley-oop dunks, as he led the Huskies on one run of 13-3 and another of 22-9 to send UConn into halftime with the commanding lead.

The Huskies began the second half with nine unanswered points against the overmatched Black Bears and continued the onslaught, widening the gap to 66-33, 80-43 and the 45-point final margin.

It was Connecticut’s first 100-point game since Dec. 3, 2006, a 106-55 win over Texas Southern.

Woodward said he was pleased with the way the Black Bears played, especially with just 14 turnovers.

“UConn’s a very good ball team. I felt that we were able to stick with our game plan and do some things we wanted to do,” he said. “We broke their press pretty well; for us to have 14 turnovers against them was pretty good. We ran through our offense, although I would have liked us to make more shots.”

HUSKIES 105, BLACK BEARS 60

Maine (4-7) Connecticut (8-2)

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP

Barnies 2 6 0 0 5 Adrien 7 11 19

Cook 2 4 0 0 4 Robinson 13 18 32

Andre 0 6 2 4 2 Thabeet 3 7 10 13 16

Bernal 6 16 3 5 16 Dyson 1 6 2

Socoby 1 7 1 2 4 Price 6 12 17

Hanzlik 0 1 0 0 0 Beverly 0 0 2

Hight 2 3 2 2 7 Wiggins 1 7 3

Uhrin 1 1 0 0 2 Kelly 1 2 4

McNally 3 8 0 0 6 Edwards 3 6 10

Costigan 2 4 1 2 5 Hornat 0 0 0

Peay 2 4 0 0 4 Lindner 0 1 0 0

TchknBfia 2 7 1 2 5 Bailey 0 0 0

Totals 23 67 10 17 60 Totals 35 70 27 38 105

Maine 28 60

Connecticut 53 105

3-pt. goals – Maine (4-16): Barnies 1-2, Bernal 1-2, Hight 1-2, Socoby 1-5, Hanzlik 0-1, McNally 0-1, Costigan 0-1, Peay 0-1, Tchekane Bofia 0-1; Connecticut (8-19): Price 4-8, Robinson 3-5, Wiggins 1-2, Dyson 0-4

Attendance: 12,244


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