National Basketball Association
Connecticut 66, Michigan St 62
When: 5:30 PM ET, Friday, November 9, 2012
Where: Ramstein Air Base, Ramstein
Officials:
# Jim Burr, # Tim Clougherty, # Pat Driscoll
Attendance:
3086
By SportsDirect Inc.
Connecticut 66, No. 14 Michigan State 62: Shabazz Napier scored a game-high 25 points as the Huskies held on to win the Armed Forces Classic at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.
Ryan Boatright, who twisted his ankle early in the second half, added 13
points and DeAndre Daniels added 12 as the Huskies (1-0) gave coach Kevin
Ollie a victory in his debut. Ollie, an assistant the last two seasons,
replaced retired Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun.
After Keith Appling’s three-point play put Michigan State (0-1) up 58-56 with 5:34 left, Napier and Boatright connected on back-to-back 3-pointers to put the Huskies ahead for good. Napier’s two free throws with 13.6 seconds left gave UConn a 64-60 lead.
Appling led Michigan State with 17 points and Branden Dawson added 15 as the Spartans lost for just the third time in their last 36 season openers.
The Huskies made 13 of their first 15 shots and led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but Michigan State clawed back to within 40-33 by halftime. Napier led UConn with 14 points in the first 20 minutes and Appling had 11 for the Spartans.
GAME NOTEBOOK: UConn has three Germans on the team: Enosch Wolf, Niels Giffey and Leon Tolksdorf. … UConn improved to 81-29 in season openers. … Michigan State’s Derrick Nix led all rebounders with 10. The Spartans had a 34-25 edge on the boards.
Top Game Performances
| Michigan St |
|
Connecticut |
|
Keith Appling 17 |
Scoring |
Shabazz Napier 25 |
|
Keith Appling 4 |
Assists |
Ryan Boatright 4 |
|
Derrick Nix 11 |
Rebounds |
DeAndre Daniels 8 |
|
Derrick Nix 4 |
Free Throws Made |
Shabazz Napier 6 |
|
Branden Dawson 5 |
Steals |
Ryan Boatright 5 |
|
Gary Harris 1 |
Blocks |
Tyler Olander 4 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Michigan St
|
62 |
37.5 |
4-17 |
10-13 |
9 |
38 |
3 |
9 |
15 |
| Connecticut
|
66 |
46.3 |
6-13 |
10-13 |
13 |
25 |
10 |
11 |
12 |