Hartford, CT – The curtain was lowered on the rivalry between Connecticut and Syracuse as Big East mates Wednesday night, and the Huskies extended the road woes of the outgoing sixth-ranked Orange with a 66-58 win at the XL Center.
Ryan Boatright scored 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting for the Huskies (17-6, 7-4 Big East), who got 15 points and six rebounds from Omar Calhoun.
"It was a great game by our guys," said Connecticut head coach Kevin Ollie. "We played with energy, effort and focus."
Michael Carter-Williams had 15 points for Syracuse (20-4, 8-3), which has lost three straight on the road for the first time since dropping five in a row from Jan. 14-Feb. 11, 2009.
Connecticut and Syracuse were charter members of the Big East Conference in 1979-80. The Orange are headed to the ACC next season.
"It's been a great series. Connecticut and Syracuse have had so many great games over the years...The league wasn't able to be kept together. I feel bad about the whole thing," said Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim.
The Huskies were down one in the second half before Calhoun heated up from beyond the arc. He nailed three of UConn's four 3-pointers during a 16-6 surge that put the home team up 55-46 with 6:13 remaining.
The advantage reached 10 at 59-49 on a pair of Niels Giffey free throws nearly three minutes later.
Carter-Williams hit a layup to close the gap to 63-57, but Syracuse couldn't convert another basket over the final 2:14.
A back-and-forth first frame ended with Boatright draining a 3-pointer. The buzzer-beating shot gave UConn a 29-24 edge.
Game Notes
Shabazz Napier had 10 points and seven assists for the Huskies ... Brandon Triche, Syracuse's leading scorer, finished 3-of-15 with nine points ... The Orange were held to 35.4 percent shooting ... The Huskies beat Syracuse at home for the first time since Feb. 11, 2009, snapping a two-game skid.
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