HARTFORD, Conn. — The UConn men’s basketball team used a triple-double from point guard Tristen Newton to beat Buffalo, 84-64, at the XL Center on Tuesday. Newton, a transfer from East Carolina, finished the game with 22 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, four steals and a block.
When Newton grabbed his 10th rebound with 1:20 left in the game, the first UConn triple-double since Daniel Hamilton recorded one in December 2015 against Central Connecticut, head coach Dan Hurley turned to the crowd, waving his arms. He subbed Newton out shortly after to a standing ovation from the entire XL Center.
UConn, 3-0, made just five of its first 25 shots and trailed for the first time of the season when Zid Powell made a fastbreak layup that made it 12-11 with 11:16 to go in the opening half. After Adama Sanogo made the third 3-pointer of his career on a pick-and-pop play with point guard Hassan Diarra at the 15:42 mark, the Huskies went scoreless from the field for nearly six and a half minutes.
Though he shot 3 of 10 from the field to start things, Newton, who struggled through the first three halves of the season, was the player of the game for UConn. In the first half alone Newton led the team with 15 points, five rebounds, seven assists and four steals while on the court for 18:51 of the first 20 minutes.
Joey Calcaterra, who struggled in the Huskies’ first two games from deep, made back-to-back 3-pointers to get the Huskies separation on the scoreboard, 39-24. He finished the game with 15 points and three 3-pointers on five attempts.
UConn scored 17 points off Buffalo turnovers and closed the first half on a 21-8 run.
It took the Huskies nearly three minutes to get points in the second half – but a sequence that included Nahiem Alleyne’s and Alex Karaban’s first made 3-pointers of the game gave UConn a 20-point lead, 56-36, with 14:29 to go.
As a team, the Huskies shot 26.1% from three, 6 of 23, and improved from the free throw line, going 22-28 (Newton made 14-17 from the stripe).
After shooting 3 of 7 from the field in the first half, Sanogo went 1-for-4 in the second to finish the game with 11 points and six rebounds.
Alleyne (12), Calcaterra (15), Karaban (10) and Newton (22) joined their captain with double-figure scoring.
UConn will head back to Storrs for its next game against UNC-Wilmington inside Gampel Pavilion on Friday, beginning at 8:30 p.m.
