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Southern goes head-to-head with UCONN, Owls lose to Huskies 70-62

Aaron JohnsonSports Editor 

When the defending national championship UConn Huskies scheduled the Southern Connecticut men’s basketball team for an exhibition game, they probably expected a lot of the same from last season.

An easy double digit victory with little to no difficulty. But this year was nothing like last, the Huskies were in a dogfight with the No. 2 ranked Owls before pulling away late for a 70-62 win.

Newcomer junior Desmond Williams lead Southern with 19 points, nine rebounds, and three assists in his first game with the Owls since transferring this year. Owls’ head coach Mike Donnelly said despite not winning the game, he was happy about the goals his team accomplished.

“Aside from not winning the game I thought we achieved our goals going into tonight’s game so I’m proud of our guys,” he said.

The Owls’ swarming defense suffocated the Huskies during the game, forcing the defending champions into 21 turnovers and just 36.9 percent shooting from the field. Senior guard Ryan Boatright lead UConn in scoring with 19 points.

UConn head coach Kevin Ollie said the Owls played well and can beat any team in the country.

National anthem right before UConn game @southernctowls @southernnews

A photo posted by Aaron Johnson (@ayy_ayy_ron11) on Nov 11, 2014 at 4:02pm PST

“That is not a Division II team, they can beat a lot of Division I teams. I expect big things from them,” he said. UConn forced several bad shots during the game as the Owls’ defense had 16 points off turnovers.Boatright said the Huskies are still growing as a team and have a lot of room to improve.

“We got a young team man,” he said. “I think we just came out and we were a little nervous, had the jitters and stuff like that. We just made a lot of mistakes and we gotta clean them up. We gotta watch film and just clean them up and learn from our mistakes.”

Southern made it clear early that they were not going to be blown out. Senior co-captain Luke Houston played well against the Huskies backcourt of Boatright and Sam Cassell, Jr. finishing with 14 points, five rebounds, and two assists. Williams said Houston and fellow senior captain Tylon Smith, helped him get through his first game with their leadership abilities both in the game and while sitting on the bench.

“Luke and Tylon helped me out more than I can even imagine,” he said. “They’re just great captains and it’s everything you can ask for.” Sophomore guard Michael Mallory, the NE-10 freshman of the year last season, played well for the Owls as he finished with 11 points. He said although not too many people believed Southern would have a chance against UConn, he and his teammates never had a doubt. 

National anthem right before UConn game @southernctowls @southernnews

A photo posted by Aaron Johnson (@ayy_ayy_ron11) on Nov 11, 2014 at 4:02pm PST

“I think we played better than most people thought we were gonna play,” said Mallory. “Even though we have the tag of No.2 it’s still D-I vs D-II. So it’s supposed to be a blowout. But we fought hard and I’m really happy with everyone and how hard we fought and stuck together really.”

Mallory shot just 2 for 13 from the field, but was able to get to the free throw line eight times as he constantly drove the basket against UConn’s 7-foot center Amida Brimah, who finished with 12 points, 11 rebounds, and four blocks for the Huskies.

“It’s nearly impossible to score against that guy,” said Mallory. “That guy is lanky. He has great timing and he doesn’t foul a lot. You just gotta really pick your spots and really get into his body. But I’m not gonna lie, it’s extremely hard to score on that guy.”

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