STORRS, Conn. _ The last line of defense of the UConn men's pride was finally breached. They lost at Gampel Pavilion, where they had not lost all season, and on Senior Night.
In a back-and-forth game, the Huskies again put forth an undeniably spirited effort, but ineptitude, particularly at the free throw line, proved their undoing in a 78-71 loss to Temple on Thursday night.
The Huskies finished 8-1 at Gampel Pavilion, where they last won every game 10 years ago. They finish this regular season at East Carolina _ and they are 0-8 on the road and, unless they win there and make a run in the conference tournament, will finish below .500 for the third season in a row.
The Huskies trailed 9-0 at the start, and 24-14 midway through the first half. They surged close, fell back, and then overcame Temple to take a six-point lead, 53-47, on Christian Vital's 3-pointer with 11:30 to play.
UConn still led by two with 7:36 to go when Alterique Gilbert took an elbow to the nose and went down. He was on the floor a good five minutes, there was a lot of blood to clean up, before being helped to his feet and led off the court by the medical staff, the Huskies having to finish the game without their floor leader.
Though the Huskies hung tough, Temple's shooting was spot-on down the stretch, and the Owls (22-8, 12-5 in the AAC) pulled away. Nate Pierre-Louis' jumper with 1:49 left opened up a 70-64 lead, and the game was then put to rest at the line. Shizz Alston Jr. finished with 34 points, going 12-for-14 from the floor. Quinton Rose scored 20, Pierre-Louis 13. The Owls shot 49.1 percent, including 7-for-12 on 3s.
Vital, coming off the bench, scored 26, with seven rebounds, carrying the Huskies offensively. Josh Carlton continued his effective play inside with 21 points and seven rebounds. The rest of the Huskies were a combined 8-for-32 from the floor, and missed free throws, 10 in the second half, haunted UConn (14-16, 5-12) to the finish. Tyler Polley scored 13.
The Huskies got off to a miserable start, missing their first seven shots, including three layups. Temple jumped out to a 9-0 lead on J.P. Moorman II's second-chance jumper with 16:11 left in the half.
Vital, coming off the bench for the fourth game in a row _ a little sooner this time _ got the Huskies on the board with a 3-pointer from the left wing, and ignited the offense. The Owls, shooting as well as they did against the Huskies in Philadelphia, opened a 24-14 lead on Alston's jumper with 7:45 to, then UConn finally got going.
Vital and Gilbert hit back-to-back 3s to cut into the deficit, and when Vital made a mid-court steal and took it in for the throw-down, the Huskies had a 10-1 run and were within one point, 25-24, with 4:49 to go, the Gampel crowd coming to life.
But Alston killed the buzz with a 3-pointer on the on the other end, and UConn continued to chase from behind, trailing 35-30 at the half. Alston had 17 points in the first half for Temple. Vital had 15, going 5-for-6 from the floor, 4-for-5 on 3s. Outside of Vital, the Huskies were just 5-for-24, but very much in the game.
Temple scored 11 points off UConn turnovers in the first half, and started the second with another basket off Tarin Smith's live-ball TO. But Polley hit a 3 to get UConn back in the flow. Vital's fifth 3-pointer cut it back to one point, and Carlton made one at the line to tie it at 39 with 16:50 left. Polley hit another 3, a tough shot at the end of the clock, to finally give the Huskies a lead, 42-41, with 15:22 remaining.
UConn stretched the lead to 50-45, but missed 10 of its first 13 free throws in the second half, allowing Temple to stay close. A flagrant foul call on Huskies freshman Brendan Adams aided Temple in a surge back to re-take the lead. Vital then hit two at the line to tie the game at 56 with 8 { minutes left.
