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Connecticut 85, Virginia Tech 72 by Will Stewart, TechSideline.com, 1/27/01 Storrs, CT. - Albert Mouring scored a career-high 31 points to lead Connecticut to an 85-72 win over Virginia Tech Saturday as the Huskies snapped a five-game losing streak. The Hokies (8-12, 2-7 Big East) were surprisingly resilient on the road, but an early shooting funk and a second-half run by UConn (14-7, 3-5 Big East) doomed Tech to defeat. Tech was down 25-15 late in the first half and was suffering from a 5-20 shooting effort from the field, including 0-7 from three point range. Tech reeled off 9 straight to close the gap to 25-24, and the Hokies went into half time down just 32-28. And in the first four minutes of the second half, Tech outscored UConn 11-6 to take a 39-38 lead, the Hokies' first lead since they were up 7-6 early in the game. Unfortunately for Tech, UConn went on a 25-9 run to take a commanding 63-48 lead with 8:58 to go. The run was capped when a dunk by Mouring was followed by technical fouls on Tech and UConn. On the play, UConn was leading 57-47 when Mouring dunked on a breakaway. He was fouled hard by Tech's Joe Hamilton. UConn's Taliek Brown took exception to Hamilton's foul and got in the Tech junior's face, jawing at him at close range. Hamilton pushed Brown away, and a scuffle ensued. The referees broke up the skirmish, and after a lengthy discussion, called an intentional foul on Hamilton, and technical fouls on Hamilton and Brown. Tech's Brian Chase took the free throws on Brown's technical and made just one of two, making it 59-48, UConn. Mouring then took four free throws, two for Hamilton's intentional foul, and two for the technical. Mouring made all four free throws, boosting Connecticut's lead to 63-48, and the Hokies would never recover. Tech was led by Chase's 16 points on 6-11 shooting, including 3-7 from three point range. Chase now has a three-pointer in all 16 of the games he has played in this year for Tech. Bryant Matthews scored 15 for Tech, and Mibindo Dongo had his second straight double-figure game, scoring 10 points and leading Tech with 7 rebounds. Dongo also had 2 blocks did all his work in a limited amount of time on the floor, fouling out in just 14 minutes of play. Carlton Carter also suffered from foul trouble for Tech and played just 23 minutes, scoring 6 points. The Hokies had a better than average game statistically, turning it over just 13 times and totaling 13 assists, 5 blocks, and 7 steals. It was one of their better efforts on the road this year, but they were outrebounded 38-26 and were outshot at the free throw line. UConn went 28-33 (84.8%) from the line, and Tech went just 13-24 (54.2%). Tech had 24 fouls to UConn's 18. The Hokies' next game is Tuesday, Feb. 6th at Miami. Game time is 7:30, and it will be shown on ESPN+ (click the link for broadcast info).
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