UConn’s Second Half Spurt Defeats DePaul

The UConn Huskies took it to DePaul in the second half by shooting a remarkable 70.8% from the field in the half to hand the Blue Demons a 81-69 defeat at Allstate Arena on Saturday night.

DePaul (11-16, 2-12) led 37-34 at the half and did some things well defensively in the first half but didn’t get the job done in the second half.

“I thought that in the first half, we made it reasonably difficult on UConn,” said DePaul coach Oliver Purnell. “That needed to be our recipe for winning the game, but clearly it was different totally in the second half.”

Connecticut (19-7, 9-5) guard Shabazz Napier led all scorers with 28 points including 17 points in the second half.

“The second half we gave up wide open shots and they’re a really good perimeter shooting team,” Purnell said. “We’ve got to contest the shots that they take.”

East Aurora guard Ryan Boatright and freshman guard Omar Calhoun chipped in with 17 points apiece.

“We just got back to our principles in the second half,” said Connecticut coach Kevin Ollie. “We got back to who we are.”

Junior forward Cleveland Melvin led the Demons with a double-double of 20 points and 10 rebounds.

“We wanted to slow down Napier and Boatright and get stops and be patient on offense,” said Melvin. “It definitely was working in the first half. We kind of let that go in the second half and their guards came up with big plays.”

Brandon Young contributed with 13 points for DePaul. Senior guard Worrel Clahar scored 10 points and dished out seven assists.

Next up DePaul welcomes the Louisville Cardinals to Allstate Arena on Wednesday night.

Box Score

Notes:

- Saturday is the 11th meeting between the two programs... Connecticut leads the series, 10-1, with a nine-game winning streak.

- The loss was the first this season when DePaul was leading at halftime... the Blue Demons are 8-1 when leading at halftime this season.

- Cleveland Melvin moved into 17th on DePaul's all-time scoring list... he recorded his seventh double-double of the season and 14th of his career.

- Brandon Young reached double-figures for the 25th time this season.

- Worrel Clahar reached double-figures for the ninth time this season and the fourth time in the last six games.