UConn Upsets No. 13 Marquette 89-73

[January 21, 2008]  STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Hasheem Thabeet had 15 points, seven rebounds and six blocked shots and Connecticut beat No. 13 Marquette 89-73 on Sunday, snapping the Huskies' seven-game losing streak against ranked teams.

The Huskies (12-5, 3-3 Big East) lived up to their defensive statistics and had one of their best offensive showings of the season.

It was the second straight big loss for Marquette (13-4, 3-3), which lost 71-51 to Louisville on Thursday. The Golden Eagles had their third poor shooting game in their last four, finishing at 40 percent (26-for-65), a number which they improved significantly with a scoring flurry over the game's final minutes.

Connecticut came into the game sixth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (36.8) and led the country in blocked shots (9.2). The Huskies finished with 10 blocks Sunday with the 7-foot-3 Thabeet, who was 3-for-3 from the field and 9-for-13 from the free throw line, leading the way.

Marquette shot a season-worst 30.4 percent in the loss to Louisville which included missing all 12 of its 3-point attempts. On Sunday, the Golden Eagles were 10-for-21 from beyond the arc.

Connecticut's last win over a ranked team was over then-No. 17 Washington in the regional semifinals of the 2006 NCAA tournament, the game before the Huskies lost to George Mason for the right to advance to the Final Four.

A.J. Price had 17 points and eight assists for the Huskies, who had lost two straight and three of four, while Jeff Adrien and Craig Austrie both had 15 points.

Lazar Hayward had 14 points for the Golden Eagles, who had won two of three, and Wesley Matthews added 13.

The Huskies were 33-for-39 from the free throw line while the Golden Eagles were 11-for-18.

Connecticut took a 12-4 lead as Marquette missed 10 of its first 11 shots from the field. The Huskies stretched the lead to 39-24 at halftime by holding the Golden Eagles to 27.6 percent (8-for-29), while hitting 51.7 percent (15-for-29).

The offensive struggles continued for Marquette at the start of the second half as the Golden Eagles missed seven of their first nine shots as the Huskies opened a 51-29 lead on a three-point play by Jerome Dyson with 13:49 to play.

The biggest lead was 67-38 on a foul line jumper by Thabeet with 9:30 to go.

The losing streak against ranked opponents was the Huskies' longest since it dropped 10 straight to Top 25 teams in coach Jim Calhoun's first two seasons at Connecticut.

[Associated Press; By JIM O'CONNELL]

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