UConn 85 Pitt 76 (1/11/95) | The Boneyard

UConn 85 Pitt 76 (1/11/95)

nomar

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Thanks to www.uconnhuskygames.com, I was able to watch this game, in which the Huskies famously erased a 25-point deficit.

Previously, I recapped UConn's 77-36 win over Virginia from 1993 (UConn 77 UVA 36 (1993))

My bullet point notes:

*Some of the UCHG videos are from recordings of replays on ESPN Classic. This one's off someone's crappy VCR.

*Ron Perry was rocking some massive peak lapels.

*Uconn came in 10-0 (1 of 2 undefeated teams; Clemson was the other). The visiting Huskies were ranked #2 (as were the Lady Huskies, according to Perry).

*UConn came in shooting 49%/39% on the season. I miss those days. KO was averaging 12 ppg and shooting over 60% from the field and 80% from the line coming into the game.

*Donny Marshall did not play, having been suspended following a scrape with SJU's Charles Minlend. UConn started Knight, King (in for Donny), Allen, Sheffer and Ollie. Fair, Hayward, Rudy Johnson and even Uri Cohen-Mintz got a lot of burn.

*This was a bad Pitt team, coached by Ralph Willard. They came in 4-7. Their best player was Jaime Peterson, who started along Orlando Antigua, Chris Gant, Jason Maile, and Andre Aldridge. Chad Varga missed the game.

*The Huskies came out of the gate like they'd just been woken up. Sloppy play: turnovers, missed bunnies, Sheffer pulled a Purvis. Coach Ollie would have been all over PG Ollie. UConn had 16 to's in the first half.

*They were down 7-2 at the under-16, then 14-2, then 18-4, then after the Huskies cut it to 20-13, Aldridge's back-to-back 3s sparked a 20-2 run, giving Pitt a 40-15 lead with about 4:30 on the clock.

*Pitt was using a 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone. UConn missed their first 5 3s.

*Ray was quiet offensively in the first half; he did score 8 points and made some nice passes, including a touch pass on a break and an alley-oop to Kirk.

*Calhoun left Kirk in with 2 fouls and he picked up his 3rd with 5 minutes left. Back came in Cohen-Mintz, who grabbed a couple big boards but twice traveled when he thought he actually was Donny Marshall rather than his replacement.

*Ray started the comeback with his first bucket, then Sheffer converted an and-1 after going coast-to-coast. The Huskies started pressuring Pitt and really turning them over. Pitt had 4 to's in a row without getting a shot off due to some intense half-court trapping.

*Pitt led 45-30 at halftime.

*Sheffer started the 2nd half with a 3.

*Pitt called a TO after the Huskies had cut the lead to 49-39, leading to some product placement for US Air and MCI, both of which of course have gone the way of the real Big East.

*UConn methodically chipped away at the lead, cutting it to 55-41, then 57-50, then 57-55, and then started running Pitt out of the building. Ray made a great baseball pass to Doron. Rudy had a couple big offensive boards/put-backs. UConn really got out in transition, even after made baskets and FTs.

*UConn took their first lead (63-62) on a Fair 3-pointer with about 8 minutes to go. Then Ray took over. He scored 19 in the second half.

*UConn widened the lead to 74-67, then 85-71 -- capping a 70-31 run! If the game had gone on for another 20 minutes, UConn would've won by 30. Pitt was tired and UConn was feeling it.

*The Pitt players looked exhausted. They finished with 25 to's and shot 1-11 from 3 in the second half until Antigua hit a meaningless one with 12 seconds left.

*In sum, it was less fun to watch than I anticipated, because of how awful the first half was. But now you don't have to. So you're welcome.

CONNECTICUT 85 NAME FG 3FG FT R PF Tyler Phommachanh A MIN
K. King 4-7 0-0 0-0 4 4 8 0 13
R. Allen 12-20 2-6 1-4 8 1 27 4 35
T. Knight 5-8 0-0 1-2 7 2 11 0 30
D. Sheffer 5-10 2-5 2-4 4 1 14 3 31
K. Ollie 2-5 0-2 2-2 4 2 6 8 36
N. Willingham 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 1
R. Johnson 4-6 0-0 3-4 3 3 11 0 18
B. Fair 2-8 1-5 0-0 0 1 5 1 20
E. Hayward 0-0 0-0 2-4 1 1 2 0 5
U. Cohen-Mintz 0-2 0-1 1-2 3 2 1 1 11
TOTALS 34-66 5-19 12-22 37 17 85 17 200

PITTSBURGH 76 NAME FG 3FG FT R PF Tyler Phommachanh A MIN
C. Gant 3-8 0-0 5-8 15 3 11 2 33
O. Antigua 4-12 1-6 0-0 5 4 9 3 30
J. Peterson 6-12 0-0 6-6 13 4 18 1 40
A. Aldridge 2-9 2-9 8-8 5 4 14 4 40
J. Maile 4-10 2-5 1-3 3 4 11 1 29
G. Thomas 2-8 1-6 0-0 1 1 5 1 18
S. Aggelou 2-4 2-4 2-2 0 0 8 1 10
TOTALS 23-63 8-30 22-27 46 20 76 13 200

Halftime Score - Pittsburgh 45, Connecticut 30; Team Rebounds - Connecticut 3, Pittsburgh 4; Turnovers - Connecticut 20, Pittsburgh 25; Technicals - None; Attendance - 6,798; Game Officials - Jody Silvester, Ted Valentine, Joe Mingle.
 
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*In sum, it was less fun to watch than I anticipated, because of how awful the first half was. But now you don't have to. So you're welcome.

What??!!!It was a blast to watch!:p
 
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Remember the game vividly. Did not think for a moment we were out of it down 25, and when we had cut it to 15 by halftime told my son we were going to win.

Randy Smith had a great column in the JI the following afternoon. I can't find it online but I still have a cut out of it --

"Put yourself at Fitzgerald Field House with the scoreboard reading 'Pitt 40, Visitor 15'. At that moment, all hidden doubts concerning your team and yourself have emerged, and are staring you smack dab in the face. If you're a phony, the conditions will expose you as a phony. If you're a pretender, you'll be exposed as a pretender. If you've got an ounce of quit in you, you'll quit. Adversity sometimes brings out the best in athletes and sometimes the worst, but it always brings out the real athlete -- good, bad, or somewhere in between. Down 25 in the other guy's building is a time for truth telling . . . ."
 
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Calhoun was in a pissed off mood that day, from what I recall he got hit by a bus that day while riding a bike, the floor was also in horrible condition.
 

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