WASHINGTON – It's been 15 years since Connecticut shot this poorly. It's been 13 years since they Huskies scored so few points.
"Right now," coach Jim Calhoun said, "we're stuck in mud. And our wheels are spinning, particularly offensively."
The Huskies (14-7, 4-5 Big East) dropped their fourth straight Wednesday night, falling 58-44 to No. 14 Georgetown. UConn shot 30 percent from the field and scored in the 40s for the second straight game.
The numbers tell only part of the story.
The Huskies look like a team that has lost some focus. They were gambling on defense when they didn't need to. Shabazz Napier, who's out of a starting job, is 0 for 16 from the field in his last two games, and his body language shows it.
"I'm going to keep pushing them. We're going to keep pushing," Calhoun said. "Tomorrow (practice) is going to be longer. We're going to go after them. We're going to find people who want to do what they can do. We're not the most talented team in America. ... What I don't like to see is people mentally not stay in the task at hand."
The 44 were points were UConn's fewest since a 59-42 loss to Syracuse on Feb. 1, 1999. The shooting percentage hadn't been this low since a 23.8 percent effort against Syracuse on Feb. 8, 1997.
Even a shake-up in the lineup didn't help. After scoring 48 points against Notre Dame on Sunday, Calhoun started freshman Ryan Boatright and sophomore Roscoe Smith in place of Napier and Alex Oriakhi. Calhoun was hoping for more quickness and speed, but the Huskies didn't score any fast-break points in the first half and had only four for the game.
Boatright went scoreless in the game, and Smith finished with just two points. Oriakhi came off the bench to commit three of UConn's six first-half turnovers.
Even the usually reliable Jeremy Lamb had a tough game, shooting 1 for 9 in the first half and 4 for 18 for the game and finished with 14 points.
The spark for the Huskies was provided by freshman Andre Drummond, who scored 18 points and was unstoppable for the first 4 minutes. He dominated the paint for eight quick points to give UConn a 13-7 lead.
Then the Huskies went cold, missing 13 straight shots and 17 of 18. Georgetown took advantage, albeit slowly, meandering its way through a 24-8 run that really didn't get going until the final minutes of the half. A layup and a 3-pointer from Hollis Thompson, and a jumper and a layup from Henry Sims helped put the Hoyas up 31-21 at halftime.
"Our offense started out great," Calhoun said, "and ended up very poor."
Thompson's 3-pointer gave Georgetown a 13-point lead early in the second half, and only then did UConn start to show signs of an organized offense. Dunks by Drummond and Lamb and a layup by Drummond off an alley-oop pass cut the lead to eight.
DeAndre Daniels' driving layup made it 45-39 with 7:43 to play, but that was as close as the Huskies would get in the second half. Georgetown responded with a 10-2 run led by Jason Clark and Sims.
Thompson led Georgetown (17-4, 7-3) with 18 points. Sims had 13, and Clark added 11.
"We had people who felt down nine with 12 to go, the game's over," Calhoun said. "So they're going to gamble. Bang! You're not down nine anymore; you're down 11."
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Joseph White can be reached at http://twitter.com/JGWhiteAP