Jan 13, 2002

Box Score?|? Quotes

PHILADELPHIA (AP) - Taliek Brown scored 10 of his 16 points in the second half and made a key defensive stop late in the game to lift Connecticut to a 70-65 win over Villanova Sunday.

Caron Butler led the Huskies (10-3, 4-0 Big East) with 19 points, while Tony Robertson had 10. Brook Sales scored a career-high 22 points to pace three Villanova (9-4, 2-2) players in double figures. Also, Ricky Wright had 17 points and Gary Buchanan added 16.

Brown's three-point play midway through the second half capped a 17-5 Huskies' run and gave them their largest lead of the game, 57-46 with 8:50 left. Villanova pulled to 61-57 on Wright's layup with 5:15 left.

The Wildcats still trailed 65-61 when Brown tied up Buchanan as he drove to the basket with 1:13 left. Connecticut hit 4 of 6 free throws in the final 23 seconds to secure the win.

"I knew he (Buchanan) was the only guy that could make shots for his team, and I didn't want him to score on me," Brown said of the defensive stop. "We always had them but we couldn't put them away when we wanted to. Luckily, I was able to step up at the end."

"Taliek has great competitive instincts," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "He was all over the place and did a great job on Buchanan, whose one of the best 3-point shooters in the league."

Buchanan, who connected on 35 of 66 3-pointers entering the game, made just two in six attempts Sunday.

Villanova outscored the Huskies 27-16 at the free throw line, including 12-0 in the first half. Connecticut scored 28 points off 20 Wildcat turnovers.

Butler scored nine points during a 19-9 Connecticut run to start the contest. The Huskies hit eight of 14 shots during the run, but missed 7 of their next nine and Villanova pulled even, 23-23, with 5:24 left in the half. Connecticut tallied 13 of the final 22 to take a 36-23 lead into halftime.

"When you play Connecticut, you know you're going to get a team that will battle on every possession," Villanova coach Jay Wright said. "They were just a little bit tougher. We are trying to be that way, but are just not there yet."

The contest was the first of three at the First Union Center this season for Villanova, which normally plays its home games at the Pavilion.