Adama Sanogo collected 27 points and 14 rebounds as No. 3 UConn survived its second-worst shooting performance of the season and remained unbeaten with a 68-46 victory over Butler Saturday night in Indianapolis in the Big East opener for both teams.
UConn (12-0, 1-0 Big East) is off to its best start since winning its first 19 games in the 1998-99 season, the first of its four championship seasons. The Huskies have won each game by double digits, and they entered with their highest ranking since 2009.
Sanogo posted his second double-double of the season and made 13 of 21 shots as UConn grabbed a season high in rebounds, which included 18 offensive boards, while outrebounding Butler 54-30.
Jordan Hawkins added 12 points as the Huskies shot 39.4 percent on a night where starting guards Tristen Newton and Alex Karaban combined for 10 points on 3-of-17 shooting. It was only the second time this season UConn did not make at least 40 percent of its shots from the floor.
Manny Bates scored 16 points and Chuck Harris added 12 for Butler (8-4, 0-1), which shot a dreadful 29.6 percent and was outscored 25-7 in the final nine-plus minutes. No other Bulldogs had scoring totals in double figures, with Eric Hunter Jr.’s 1-for-10 shooting performance headlining Butler’s struggles.
The Huskies missed 12 of their first 16 shots before scoring 10 straight points to take a 19-12 lead on a layup by Donovan Clingan with 7:32 remaining in the first. UConn took a 28-20 lead at halftime after Nahiem Alleyne heaved in a 3-pointer from the left side just before the buzzer.
UConn opened a 13-point lead a little over two minutes into the second half and held a 41-31 lead on a basket by Clingan with 12:50 remaining.
With Sanogo getting a breather, the Bulldogs pulled within 43-39 on a basket by Harris with 9:43 left. However, the Huskies expanded the lead to 57-42 with 5:28 left on a reverse layup and a jumper by Sanogo in a span of 30 seconds before icing the game on the big man’s thunderous two-handed dunk with 3:40 remaining.
–Field Level Media
