Isaiah Whaley returned from a one-game absence and hit the tie-breaking 3-pointer with 3:54 remaining in overtime as No. 22 UConn earned a 70-63 victory over VCU on Friday in the third-place game of the Battle 4 Atlantis at Paradise Islands, Bahama.
Whaley scored 16 points after sitting out Thursday’s four-point loss to Michigan State as a precaution after he fainted following UConn’s double-overtime win over Auburn.
R.J Cole led UConn (6-1) with a season-high 26 points as the Huskies survived shooting a season-worst 33.3 percent and withstood committing 22 turnovers. Andre Jackson grabbed 14 rebounds to help UConn to a 52-35 advantage on the boards.
Jayden Nunn scored 21 points but was the only Rams player to reach double figures. Vince Williams was held to nine points on 3-of-14 shooting as VCU (3-4) shot 35.5 percent, misfired on 16 of 21 3-point tries and missed 10 free throws to negate a defensive showing that totaled nine steals and eight blocks.
After the game was tied 56-all in regulation, Whaley struck first in overtime when he was open at the left wing and sank an uncontested 3-pointer.
The Huskies then hit four three throws to take a 63-56 advantage with 83 seconds left but struggled to close it out.
Two free throws by Nunn made it 65-59 with 56 seconds left but Jalen DeLoach missed two free throws for VCU. The Rams got the offensive rebound after DeLoach’s second miss but Nunn missed a layup with 36 seconds remaining.
VCU was within 67-63 lead on a layup by Nunn with six seconds left and Whaley finally clinched it by converting a 3-point play on a dunk and a foul with four seconds left.
Before overtime, two free throws by Williams put VCU up 56-53 with 2:32 remaining and the Huskies tied it on Whaley’s 3-pointer with 1:05 to play. After Whaley’s tying shot, both teams had chances to win it.
VCU’s Mikael Brown-Jones had a 3-point try go in and out of the hoop with 43 seconds left and Cole missed a 3-point try at the regulation buzzer.
Cole’s 3-pointer gave the Huskies a 19-18 lead with 7:58 remaining before halftime and VCU used a 10-1 run to take a 28-20 lead on a layup by Keshawn Curry with 2:20 left. UConn missed 12 straight shots before Whaley and Gaffney converted layups in the final 46 seconds to make it 28-26 by halftime.
–Field Level Media
