No. 2 Huskies state their case

UConn continues instate rule in win

Craig Austrie and freshman Kemba Walker scored 21 points each and No. 2 Connecticut ran away from Hartford, 99-56, last night in Hartford, the Huskies' 63d consecutive win against an instate opponent.

Walker, who started in place of injured A.J. Price, had five rebounds, while Jerome Dyson added 18 points and Jeff Adrien had 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Morgan Sabia, who fouled out with seven minutes left, had 15 points for Hartford (0-2), while Joe Zeglinski added 11.

The Huskies (2-0) could not shake the Hawks for more than a half. Hartford went on a 10-2 run to get within 43-42. But UConn started a 33-5 run a short time later and the rout was on. UConn scored 54 of the final 66 points.

"Yeah, they made their run, and we withstood that run and did our thing," Austrie said. "We're the No. 2 team in the country, and we have to expect things like that and we're only going to grow from things like that."

Price, who rolled his ankle in the Huskies' 81-55 win over Western Carolina Friday, was in uniform but did not play.

Hartford committed 34 personal fouls and the Huskies were in the bonus six minutes into the game.

UConn's last loss to another team from Connecticut was to Hartford in 1986, Jim Calhoun's first season with the Huskies. The 49-48 victory remains the Hawks' only win over the Huskies in 14 tries. The teams haven't played since 1998, a 95-58 UConn rout.

The loss dropped Hartford to 1-28 against Big East teams.

Pittsburgh 82, Miami (Ohio) 53 - Jermaine Dixon hit two 3-pointers while scoring 9 points during the No. 6 Panthers' 16-2 run to start the second half and Pittsburgh (2-0) went on to knock off the visiting RedHawks (1-2).

Levance Fields had 12 points and a career-high 12 assists and Sam Young and Dixon scored 14 points for Pittsburgh.

Purdue 87, E. Michigan 58 - Robbie Hummel scored 18 points, and the No. 11 Boilermakers routed the Eagles (1-1) in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off in West Lafayette, Ind.

E'Twaun Moore finished with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists, and JaJuan Johnson added 11 points for the Boilermakers (2-0).

Oklahoma 94, Mississippi Valley St. 53 - Blake Griffin overcame a sluggish start to finish with 20 points, 19 rebounds, and 6 steals and the No. 12 Sooners (2-0) beat the Devils (0-3) in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off in Norman.

Marquette 106, Chicago St. 87 - Wesley Matthews scored 26 points and Lazar Hayward added 21 to lead the No. 16 Golden Eagles (2-0) in Milwaukee.

Davidson 99, James Madison 64 - Stephen Curry had 33 points and nine assists and the No. 21 Wildcats (2-0) routed the Dukes in the first round of the NIT Season Tip-Off in Norman, Okla.

Georgetown 71, Jacksonville 62 - Greg Monroe delivered 14 points and seven rebounds in his college debut, and anchored a suffocating defense that helped the No. 22 Hoyas open their season with a win over the visiting Dolphins (0-2).

Villanova 107, Fordham 68 - Dante Cunningham scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed 11 rebounds to lead the No. 23 Wildcats (2-0) to a rout of the Rams, Villanova's 17th straight win at home.

Penn St. 74, NJIT 47 - The New Jersey Institute of Technology suffered its 35th straight loss, the most of any Division 1 team, falling to the host Nittany Lions in the Philly Hoop Group Classic.

The Highlanders' 35th straight defeat passed the previous NCAA Division 1 record for consecutive losses set by Sacramento State between Dec. 22, 1997, and Jan. 27, 1999. NJIT last won on Feb. 19, 2007, and is 5-55 since moving to Division 1 two seasons ago.

George Mason 89, Brown 52 - John Vaughan scored 18 points, leading the Patriots (2-0) to an easy win over the Bears (0-2) in Fairfax, Va.

Colgate 58, Central Connecticut 57 - Mike Venezia's jumper at the buzzer lifted the Raiders (1-0) past the host Blue Devils (0-2). Ken Horton had 18 points and 10 rebounds to lead Central Connecticut.

Quinnipiac 66, Army 64 - Jeremy Baker's putback with two seconds left lifted the host Bobcats (2-0) over the Black Knights (1-1) in overtime.

Women

Virginia 83, Tennessee 82 - Monica Wright scored 35 points and Britnee Milner made a free throw with 6.4 seconds left to help the No. 16 Cavaliers upset the No. 5 Lady Vols in Knoxville, Tenn.

Trailing, 80-75, with 1:44 left, Virginia (2-0) rallied.

Wright made a 3-pointer and Whitny Edwards converted a steal to tie the game at 80.

Alex Fuller gave Tennessee an 82-80 lead with a pair of free throws with 49 seconds left before Wright tied it with a jumper.

Shekinna Stricklen had a chance to give the Lady Vols the lead, but she missed a jumper with 9 seconds left and then fouled Milner, who made one of two free throws for the win.

Briana Bass and Glory Johnson scored 13 points each to lead Tennessee (1-1).

North Carolina 102, Kennesaw St. 68 - Jessica Breland scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds to lead the No. 4 Tar Heels (3-0) past the visiting Lady Owls (1-1).

Louisville 72, Austin Peay 42 - Angel McCoughtry scored 15 points and had seven rebounds to lead the No. 9 Cardinals (2-0) to a sloppy win over the visiting Lady Govs (1-1).

Texas 78, Old Dominion 44 - Brittainey Raven scored the host Longhorns' first 12 points and finished with 20 and No. 14 Texas (3-0) routed the No. 25 Lady Monarchs (1-1) to win the World Vision Classic.

Auburn 95, Temple 76 - DeWanna Bonner scored a game-high 29 points to lead the No. 20 Tigers (2-0) past the visiting Owls (1-1).

Rhode Island 66, Siena 60 - Sierra Cooper scored a career-high 23 points and pulled down 12 rebounds, powering the visiting Rams (1-1) past the Saints (0-2).

Villanova 61, Fairfield 45 - Laura Kurz scored 25 points and the visiting Wildcats (1-1) pulled away to beat the Stags (1-2).

Fairleigh Dickinson 59, Bryant 51 - In its first regular-season contest against a Northeast Conference opponent, the Bulldogs (1-1) had 23 turnovers and didn't have a double-digit scorer in falling to the Knights (1-0) in Hackensack, N.J.