Written by Adrian Beecher
Orlando, Fla- Daniel Hamilton’s double-double led the way for the UConn Huskies in their 72-58 win over Memphis in the AAC Mens Basketball Championship game. The Huskies had a total of 5 players in double digits to help in the first ever AAC Championship win for UConn, after being in the championship game the previous 2 seasons.
Memphis got the first buckets of the game with a 3-pointer from Trashon Burrell. Then the Huskies answered right back at the other end of the floor with Sterling Gibbs drilling a triple to tie the game at 3 with 17:27 left to play in the half.
Both teams struggled shooting in the early minutes and we were still tied up with 14:55 left to play in the half, the score 6-6. That’s when the Huskies opened up a 14-1 run over the next 5 minutes to make it 10-7 UConn.
The Tigers continued to fight back with the help of their star player Dedric Lawson, cutting to 9 points as he put in two quick layups to make it 20-11 with 8:08 left in the half.
UConn continued to put the pressure on and with 5:38 left in the half, the Huskies were back on top by 13.
Daniel Hamilton’s first field goal of the game with 1:28 left in the game put the Huskies up by 16 points, their biggest lead of the game up to this point. The Memphis Tigers were able to put in the last two buckets of the half to cut the lead to 13.
Daniel Hamilton’s 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists led the UConn Huskies at the half, while it was Lawson leading the way for Memphis with 11 points and 5 rebounds.
Both teams came out of the locker room with fire in their eyes, as UConn’s Shonn Miller slammed in a dunk and then Shaq Goodwin answered right back at the end with a dunk of his own. After that it was Miller again at the other end, this time drilling a triple that extended the Huskies lead to 16 with 18:56 left to play.
Memphis got the first buckets of the game with a 3-pointer from Trashon Burrell. Then the Huskies answered right back at the other end of the floor with Sterling Gibbs drilling a triple to tie the game at 3 with 17:27 left to play in the half.
Both teams struggled shooting in the early minutes and we were still tied up with 14:55 left to play in the half, the score 6-6. That’s when the Huskies opened up a 14-1 run over the next 5 minutes to make it 10-7 UConn.
The Tigers continued to fight back with the help of their star player Dedric Lawson, cutting to 9 points as he put in two quick layups to make it 20-11 with 8:08 left in the half.
UConn continued to put the pressure on and with 5:38 left in the half, the Huskies were back on top by 13.
Daniel Hamilton’s first field goal of the game with 1:28 left in the game put the Huskies up by 16 points, their biggest lead of the game up to this point. The Memphis Tigers were able to put in the last two buckets of the half to cut the lead to 13.
Daniel Hamilton’s 7 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists led the UConn Huskies at the half, while it was Lawson leading the way for Memphis with 11 points and 5 rebounds.
Both teams came out of the locker room with fire in their eyes, as UConn’s Shonn Miller slammed in a dunk and then Shaq Goodwin answered right back at the end with a dunk of his own. After that it was Miller again at the other end, this time drilling a triple that extended the Huskies lead to 16 with 18:56 left to play.
Memphis then caught fire, going on a 11-1 run, cutting the Huskies lead to just 4 points with 12:29 left to play. But it wasn’t long before UConn extended their lead again.
“What I think we did more in the second half, we played defense without fouling. First half, we fouled them and put them on the line, and they made all their free throws and we pushed the lead for them. Then when they made shots, it opened the game up for them. In the second half, we did defend without fouling for the most part in the beginning.” said Memphis’ Dedric Lawson of their ability to come back in the 2nd half.
“What I think we did more in the second half, we played defense without fouling. First half, we fouled them and put them on the line, and they made all their free throws and we pushed the lead for them. Then when they made shots, it opened the game up for them. In the second half, we did defend without fouling for the most part in the beginning.” said Memphis’ Dedric Lawson of their ability to come back in the 2nd half.
With 7:53 left in regulation, the Huskies had pulled out to a 17-point lead on Memphis, with the score 55-38. After this, it was a back and forth game, with each team trading baskets. With 4:53 left to play, the Huskies were still on top by 17.
Memphis continued to fight though, drawing back within 8 points with 3:07 left to play as Trashon Burrell put in a layup. But then the Huskies started to solidify the win, as Omar Calhoun drilled a triple to start a 10-2 run down the stretch that made it 72-56 with just 53 second left to play. Memphis was able to get one last basket and that was all she wrote.
Memphis’ Lawson finished the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds, leading the team in both categories.
UConn’s Daniel Hamilton finished the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds and was named the tournaments most outstanding performer.
UConn head coach Kevin Ollie spoke of Hamilton’s performance in the tournament after the win, “Yeah, he just played great. I know the young man's legs are tired. I played him 55 minutes, 56 minutes, 55. Then I played him pretty much the whole game against our next opponent. Then he came out and played in the championship game against Memphis. So, I mean, everybody's tried to stop him. And then he's doing everything, rebounding, he's getting assists. So credit him staying with his team and he's just really, really mature right now. He's stayed focused. He's getting really prepared for each and every game.”
With the win, UConn punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. They were announced as a 9 seed in the South bracket. They will face the Colorado Buff’s on Thursday March 17th.,
Hamilton said that he is going to enjoy this win briefly before he goes back to work getting prepared for Colorado, “We got to enjoy for today and then we are right back at it tomorrow. I know I'm going to go in the gym and get some shots up. Because Colorado, we got to go in there, and we got to take care of business, and we just got to take it one game at a time and one day at a time and prepare right, make sure we get lots of fluids because we played a lot of minutes and just continuing to make sure we're ready to play.”
Memphis continued to fight though, drawing back within 8 points with 3:07 left to play as Trashon Burrell put in a layup. But then the Huskies started to solidify the win, as Omar Calhoun drilled a triple to start a 10-2 run down the stretch that made it 72-56 with just 53 second left to play. Memphis was able to get one last basket and that was all she wrote.
Memphis’ Lawson finished the game with 21 points and 11 rebounds, leading the team in both categories.
UConn’s Daniel Hamilton finished the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds and was named the tournaments most outstanding performer.
UConn head coach Kevin Ollie spoke of Hamilton’s performance in the tournament after the win, “Yeah, he just played great. I know the young man's legs are tired. I played him 55 minutes, 56 minutes, 55. Then I played him pretty much the whole game against our next opponent. Then he came out and played in the championship game against Memphis. So, I mean, everybody's tried to stop him. And then he's doing everything, rebounding, he's getting assists. So credit him staying with his team and he's just really, really mature right now. He's stayed focused. He's getting really prepared for each and every game.”
With the win, UConn punched their ticket to the NCAA Tournament. They were announced as a 9 seed in the South bracket. They will face the Colorado Buff’s on Thursday March 17th.,
Hamilton said that he is going to enjoy this win briefly before he goes back to work getting prepared for Colorado, “We got to enjoy for today and then we are right back at it tomorrow. I know I'm going to go in the gym and get some shots up. Because Colorado, we got to go in there, and we got to take care of business, and we just got to take it one game at a time and one day at a time and prepare right, make sure we get lots of fluids because we played a lot of minutes and just continuing to make sure we're ready to play.”