Basketball beats UConn at Dome

Tech defeated UConn in a game played at the Georgia Dome, 65-52.

In a rematch of the two teams that met in the 2004 National Championship game, the two played to a different outcome this time, with Tech taking the decisive victory.

"Slowly but surely I think we're maturing. We're really growing up. Our perimeter again was very strong, and the bench also helped us," said basketball Head Coach Paul Hewitt.

Tech led for most of the game, stretching its lead to double digits before ending the first half with the score at 33-25.

The Jackets extended their lead after Thaddeus Young scored on a three point shot that went in at the buzzer.

Tech never trailed for the rest of the game and led by as much as 20 points late into the second half and UConn never come as close as 10 points the rest of the game.

Thaddeus Young scored 14 points to lead the Jackets. Javaris Crittenton, Anthony Morrow, and Mario West all reached double figures.

Morrow anchored Tech's offense for much of the first half, scoring 10 points during a 13-2 run.

The junior guard bounced back after failing to score during the NC State game.

During the game, Tech had 18 points off the bench. D'Andre Bell, the sophomore forward, has scored 13 points in his last two games after scoring 13 in the first 22 games.

"Our freshmen and sophomore in particular have really stepped up. Alade Aminu didn't score today but he made some important contributions. And of course the freshmen are playing very well," Hewitt said.

Crittenton continued his offensive resurgence after being limited during the Jackets' four game losing streak.

The star freshman point guard struggled early on in the game, accumulating two fouls, two turnovers in just nine minutes into the game.

He picked it up in the second half, scoring nine straight points to extend Tech's lead.

"In the Memphis game, we were down and [Crittenton] sat most of the second half, but Mario West came in and did a good job. So we had confidence that even though Javaris had two fouls, we could still play well," Hewitt said.

The offensive turnaround has sparked the team and allowed Crittenton to lead Tech to its third straight victory.

"After the four game losing streak, we all came together and talked and we knew what we had to do. I think everybody just stepped it up," Crittenton said.

The Jackets played well in areas where the team has struggled this season. The team shot well from the free throw line, making 17 shots on 18 attempts. Throughout the season, Tech has failed to win when it did not score more than 70 points. The game marked the first time Tech accomplished the feat.

"We're a good defensive team. The two bad stretches of basketball we've had this season were because we didn't guard. When we defend, we've played with the some of the best teams in the country. We've got to make sure we're consistent with all our defensive fundamentals," Hewitt said.

The Huskies shot poorly throughout the game and finished with a 30.9 shooting percentage. The team finished just 12 of 21 on free throw shots. The Jackets also out-rebounded the Huskies, grabbing 29 rebounds to UConn's 21.

"If you match both interior defenses, it would probably be a wash. But what they did was lock us up and wouldn't let us run stuff.

Then we made incredibly poor choices and some of that has to be ball pressure," said UConn head coach, Jim Calhoun.

The 52 points scored by the Huskies mark its lowest point total of the season.

Going into the game, UConn had averaged 73 points. The Huskies have lost nine of 13 of its last games after winning its first 11 games.

"It was a hard-fought game, a defensive struggle. We made some mental mistakes in our pressure and they capitalized. But we didn't think we could score consistently in a half-court setting. I thought the run in the second half that Javaris led was more about our defense, our rebounding and getting in transition to get some easy baskets," Hewitt said.

With identical 15-8 records and 4-6 conference records entering the game, both teams faced a must-win situation in order to keep their NCAA Tournament hopes alive. The Jackets hope to further improve their position to make it to the final 65 with the win on a nationally televised game. Tech now faces only conference opponents for the rest of the season. The team finished with a 12-2 non-conference record for the season, losing only to then #5 UCLA and Vanderbilt.

Both were played away from Alexander Memorial Coliseum. The Jackets can now only hope to return to play at the Georgia Dome come early April for another National Championship shot. Tech next faces Duke at Durham on Sunday. The Blue Devils were on a four game losing streak before beating Boston College on Wednesday night, 78-70.