Hofstra and 12th ranked Connecticut are about to square off in the second round of the NIT Season Tip-Off at Gampel Pavilion with the winner moving on to a Thanksgiving Eve semi-final game at Madison Square Garden against the winner of tonight's LSU-Western Kentucky contest. It is only the second time Hofstra and UConn have hooked up in men's basketball with the other being an 80-78 Husky win in the first round of the 1976 NCAA Tournament at the Providence Civic Center. Both Hofstra and UConn posted first round NIT Season Tip-Off wins at Gampel Pavilion last night with the Pride edging Yale 68-63 and the Huskies defeating Colgate 77-63. Stay tuned for constant updates of this key early-season non conference game for the Pride taking place at one of the best college basketball venues in the nation.
Starting lineup for Hofstra
Charles Jenkins, guard; Cornelius Vines, guard; Nathaniel Lester,guard; forward Miklos Szabo; center Greg Washington
Starting lineup for UConn
Stanely Robertson, guard; Gavin Edwards, forward; center Alex Oriakhi, Kendall Walker; guard Jerome Dyson, guard
First half action
19:32- Lester draws foul going to bucket and knocks down both free throws 2-0 Hofstra
17:05- Oriakhi hits one of two free throws- 5-2 UConn
16:20- Lester gets Hofstra's first field goal on driving lay-up, 5-4 UConn
15:35- Vines with three pointer to give Hofstra 7-5 lead
15:20- TV timeout. Not a sellout crowd but UConn student section is packed and loud.
15:06- Jerome Dyson with bucket and draws the foul and completes three point-play- 10-7 UConn
14:05- David Robertson scores to make it 14-7 UConn. Huskies on 9-0 run. Tom Pecora calls timeout
14:56- Hofstra turns it over in their backcourt and Walker converts lay-up- 12-7 UConn
12:00- Hofstra now has gone over three minutes without a bucket. UConn press is giving Pride fits
11:38- TV timeout- As the game approaches the midway point of the first half UConn has done an effective job shutting down Hofstra's best offensive weapon Jenkins, who is 0-4 from the floor. Hofstra as a team is 2-14 from the floor (14%)
11:14- Jenkins gets first bucket while drawing foul to end Hofstra drought. Misses free throw.14-9 UConn
10:20- Dyson with three pointer- 17-9 UConn
9:04- Walker with two free throws. 19-9 UConn
8:08- Halil Kanacevic with put back after grabbing two offensive rebounds. 19-11 UConn
7:51- Media timeout. Hofstra still struggling offensively shooting 16% on 4-24 shooting. Lucky to only be down by eight considering those numbers. UConn is shooting 37% on 6-16 shooting.
7:02- Walker with transition bucket. 23-11 UConn. Pecora calls timeout.
6:16- Vines with three pointer. 23-14 UConn. Jim Calhoun calls timeout
6:03- Lester with steal at mid-court and goes coast to coast for lay-up- 23-16 UConn
5:37- Robinson hits one of two free throws. 26-16 UConn.
5:06- Chaz Williams with his first field goal. 26-18 UConn
4:10- Vines with another three pointer. 28-21 UConn
3:46- Media timeout. Hofstra on 10-7 run since Pecora's timeout with 7:02 left following a Walker transition bucket that made it 23-11 Huskies. Hofstra still struggling from floor with 21% shooting on 8-34 shooting so if the Pride can hang in there these 3:46 and head into the locker room down by single digits they will be very fortunate.
1:25- Jenkins with transition bucket. 30-23 UConn
0:0- Oriakhi has desperation three-pointer bounce in and out. Hofstra goes into halftime down 30-23, which is a minor miracle considering they shot 22% on 9-40 shooting. Jenkins has been held to four points on 2-10 from the floor. Vines leads all scorer with nine points on three three-pointers. It will be interesting to see what kind of adjustments Pecora and Calhoun make in the locker room. Be back for second half action in a few.
Second half action
19:44- Robinson with one of two free throws. 31-23 UConn
19:10- Vines with fourth three pointer of the game. 31-26 UConn. An angry Calhoun calls timeout.
18:51- Edwards with bucket and the foul. Converts free throw. 34-26 UConn.
17:47- Backcourt violation on Williams on pass from Kanacevic
16:58- Jenkins with steal and goes coast to coast for bucket and foul. Converts free throw. 34-29 UConn
16:31- Washington block leads to Jenkins scoring on transition. 34-31 UConn. Calhoun calls timeout
15:49- Williams turnover leads to Robinson alley oop dunk on other end. 36-31 UConn.
15:21- Walker goes straight down the middle for bucket. 38-31 UConn and Pecora calls timeout.
14:40- Greg Washington scored long range jumper. 38-33 UConn.
13:56- UConn turns the ball over. Media timeout. 40-33 UConn. Hofstra continues to hang in there but if they don't vastly improve on their current 24% shooting it is hard to envision pulling off this upset.
13:46- Jenkins makes two free throws. 40-35 UConn
13:14- Oriakhi makes one of two free throws. 41-35 UConn
12:22- Williams with steal and goes coast to coast for bucket. 41-39 UConn
11:53- Media timeout. Hofstra is on 6-1 run to pull within two. Still only shooting 27% but have held UConn to 36% from the floor. UConn's Walker heading to free throw line for two shots after timeout.
11:32- Kanacevic showing some range for a big man with three pointer to make it 43-41
10:30- Kanacevic with another three to make it 48-45 Hofstra
10:11- Vines with three pointer to make it 51-45 Hofstra. Timeout Huskies. Hofstra now with four straight three-pointers to pull into the lead and stun the Gampel Pavilion crowd.
9:10- Vines with three from corner to make it 54-45 Hofstra. Five straight treys for Hofstra
8:21- Kanacevic just picked up fourth person foul to send Edwards to line for one and one. Hits both free throws to cut Hofstra lead to 54-50
7:47- Williams shoots air ball with shot clock winding down. Media timeout. UConn has answered Hofstra run with five straight points and get the crowd back in the game. UConn student section just booed the Hofstra dance team as they performed on the floor. Hofstra shooting 11-24 in the second half.
7:25- Szabo gets goaltending call under the basket to end 7-0 UConn run. 56-52 Hofstra
7:11- Dyson knocks down two free throws. 56-54 Hofstra
6:40- Edwards with bucket and foul. Hits free throw to make it 58-57 Hofstra.
5:20- Dyson knocks down two foul shots to give UConn a 59-58 lead. Hofstra with four players with four fouls including Vines, Szabo, Williams and Kanacevic
5:09- Pecora calls timeout
3:31- Robinson blows right by Kanacevic for bucket to make it 65-52 UConn. Having four fouls clearly limited his defense on that play.
2:46- Lester gets fouled by Stanley Robinson. Pecora calls timeout. 65-62 UConn
2:46 After timeout- Lester knocks down two free throws. 65-64 UConn
1:58- Jenkins gets steal and heads to the bucket but is called for charging. Still 65-64 UConn
1:39- Vines called for fifth personal foul and is out of the game. Dyson hits two free throws to make it 67-64 UConn.
1:29- Jenkins makes two free throws. 67-66 UConn
1:00- Dyson with pull-up jumper to make it 69-66 UConn.
50.1- Jenkins called for charge
40.3- Dyson hits two free throws to make it 71-66 UConn. Huskies are 11-11 in half from charity stripe and 25-30 from game.
28.7- Dyson hits two free throws to make it 73-67 UConn
19.2- Washington called for double dribble. Looks like Hofstra's valiant effort at a monumental upset is going to come up just short.
0.0- Final score 76-67 UConn. Huskies outscore Pride 31-13 in last nine minutes after Hofstra had gone up 54-45 with four straight three pointers. Would have been a huge signature win for Hofstra had they been able to pull it off but Pride being in foul trouble combined with Huskies nearly perfect second half from the free throw line proved too much in the end. Will be back with post game reaction in a few.
Hofstra post game press conference
Pecora said Hofstra is "past the point of playing for moral victories" but was pleased with the effort his team showed tonight against a national powerhouse. He said tonight's game in an atmosphere like Gampel Pavilion will go a long way toward helping the Pride for the remainder of the season. "We had that one stretch to go up by nine, and then we kind of lost our way on offense a little bit and they got back into it but if we play with that kind of effort consistently, we'll have a chance to be a pretty good team," he said.
UConn press conference
Coach Calhoun said he felt his team got a "gut check" for the first time this season when they were down nine with nine minutes to go. He was impressed with how Coach Pecora slowed the game down. "I'm very happy with the way we came back," he said. "I would rate this as a very good win."
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