STORRS, Conn. — While a light snowfall graced the UConn campus on Wednesday evening, there was a blizzard taking place inside Gampel Pavilion.
A sold-out crowd turned up to see the UConn men’s basketball team at the on-campus arena for the last time this season. Fans were greeted by “#WeSeason” rally towels at their widely-unused seats. It was a white-out against No. 20 Providence for Senior Night and beers only cost $2.
After turning the ball over three times on their first four possessions, the Huskies turned their own disruptive defense into momentum on the other end and eventually pulled away in the second half for an 87-69 victory.
Jordan Hawkins, who struggled early on, led a balanced offense with 20 points and six rebounds. Alex Karaban and Adama Sanogo each finished 16 points, while Karaban added eight rebounds and Sanogo had five boards with three blocks. Tristen Newton scored 12 points, adding seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals.
A mid-range shot from Noah Locke put the Friars up four at the seven-minute mark but a wild sequence that featured two layups from Sanogo, a corner 3-pointer from Hawkins that caused pandemonium in Gampel and a dunk from Newton that gave the chaos a second wind. The 9-0 scoring run gave UConn a 27-22 advantage less than two minutes after it began.
Jared Bynum made his first four 3-point attempts to keep Providence in the game in the first half; his third ended the Huskies’ run and kept the Friars within two points. Hawkins gave the Huskies a five-point lead later in the half before Bynum made his fourth and Locke tied the game at 32 with 1:10 left until the break. In the final minute, Karaban made a layup and Nahiem Alleyne hit a straight-on 3-pointer to give the Huskies a 37-32 lead when the buzzer sounded.
The scoring run continued into the second half as Hawkins opened it with a 5-0 run of his own to put the Huskies up by 10. Providence didn’t go away, however, and fought to get its deficit back down to two. Hawkins, continuing to push his rocky start out of the picture, was fouled on a 3-pointer and got another to fall shortly after. Alleyne, celebrating his senior night, made his third 3-pointer of the game to put the Huskies up six.
Alleyne, who was acknowledged during the Senior Night festivities alongside Joey Calcaterra, Newton and Richie Springs, finished with nine points on 3-for-3 shooting from range.
UConn’s defense held Providence without a made shot from the field for more than eight minutes. Meanwhile, the Huskies used an 18-2 scoring run to blow the game open. The lead grew to as many as 19 before Friars’ center Ed Croswell got a layup to fall.
UConn (21-7, 10-7 Big East) shot 53% from the field and held the Friars to 41.5%. The Huskies worked their way to a 40-20 rebounding advantage and scored 15 second-chance points.
The Huskies head to Madison Square Garden on Saturday looking to avenge their loss to St. John’s at the XL Center earlier in the season.
