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BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Connecticut's Ryan Boatright and Rodney Purvis combined for 41 points to lift the defending National Champions to an 80-65 victory over the Columbia men's basketball team Monday night.
The Lions (6-4) went toe-to-toe with the Huskies (5-4) nearly the entire way, but UConn went 5-of-8 from downtown in the second half to pull away late.
Maodo Lo scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting. Luke Petrasek added 10 points and four assists off the bench.
Columbia found itself in an early 9-0 hole after six points by Boatright 2:01 into the contest. Steve Frankoski came off the bench and provided instant offense, burying a pair of 3-pointers on back-to-back possessions to trim the deficit to three at the 17:16 mark of the first half.
Isaac Cohen capped the 11-2 run with a backdoor layup to tie the game at 13-13 at the 13:11 mark of the period. The teams proceeded to trade buckets until Kyle Castlin and Lo ran a picture perfect give and go to give the Lions the lead, 17-15, with 11:51 before the break.
Lo put Columbia ahead by five at the midway point of the frame with a nice drive to the basket. The Lions led by as many as 25-19 after Cory Osetkowski knocked down a mid-range jumper with 8:18 on the clock.
Rodney Purvis knocked down a pair of big 3-pointers for UConn, sparking an 8-2 run to tie the game at 29-29 with 4:25 remaining in the half. From there, the teams battled back and forth, but Boatright scored UConn's final eight points of the frame, including a 3-pointer from the top of the key with the clock winding down that gave the Huskies a 39-36 advantage at the half.
Columbia scored the first five points of the second half to go ahead by two, but could not pull away. However, Boatright had the answer again to put the Huskies back on top, 47-46, with 16:18 remaining. Both teams went cold from the floor, allowing UConn to remain in front by a slim margin.
Down by one, the Lions had several opportunities to take the lead, but their shots were just off the mark. With 6:46 to go, Purvis drilled his third triple of the game to make it 58-52.
A 9-1 run, all 3-pointers, by the Huskies opened the margin to 67-56 with 4:05 remaining and drilled two more treys to put the game away.
The Huskies shot at a 57.1 percent clip for the game and went 9-of-16 (56.3 percent) from beyond the arc from the game. The Lions held a 32-22 edge on points in the paint and received a boost from the bench for the second straight game, outscoring UConn's reserves, 29-12.
Columbia returns to action Sunday, December 28 when they face Colgate in Levien Gymnasium at 2 p.m. Tickets are still available for the game and can be purchased by clicking here. Fans can also catch the action live on the Ivy League Digital Network.
