THURSDAY'S SCORES
@UConn 80,
Morehead State 70
UCONN 80, MOREHEAD STATE 70
STORRS, Conn. - Senior forward Lamontray Harris posted his ninth career double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds, while senior guard A.J. Hicks dished off a career best nine assists as the Morehead State men's basketball team battled Connecticut for the entire 40 minutes before falling 80-70 at a sold-out Gampel Pavilion Thursday in a 2K Empire Classic game.
The Eagles trailed by as many as 13 in the first half but cut the game to four at the break (37-33) and fell behind by 16 in the final half but kept battling, cutting it to less than 10 in the waning moments. The Eagles slipped to 1-1.
Harris canned 6-of-8 shots and grabbed nine defensive rebounds in 28 minutes. Hicks was held without a made field goal but had the career-best day in distributing the ball.
Besides Harris, the Eagles had four others reach double-figures in the point column. Sophomore forward Malek Green chipped in 14, while junior guard Jordan Walker shrugged off foul trouble and still scored 13. Sophomore guard De'von Cooper drilled a trifecta of triples and scored 11, while sophomore forward James Baker came off the bench for 10 - tying his career high – with just his second career double-figure performance.
The Eagles also won the stat battle for points off turnovers (18-13) and second-chance points (13-11).
The Huskies, whose front line stood 6-8, 6-9, and 6-10, only out-rebounded the Eagles 41-36.
After shooting only shooting 27 percent in the opening 10 minutes, the Eagles finished the night at 40 percent (25-of-62) and canned nine three-pointers.
Josh Carlton ended with a 17-point, eight-rebound effort for the host team.