Connecticut tops Rice

HARTFORD, Conn. - Rashad Anderson didn't want to miss a minute of practice after Connecticut was upset by Massachusetts 10 days ago.

The junior guard slept in the locker room that night, got up about 3 a.m., and shot around until almost sunrise. He was still firing Sunday, scoring 27 points to lead the 11th-ranked Huskies to an 81-72 victory over Rice.

"Coach tells me to shoot every time I touch the ball," Anderson said. "I've been pressing the last two games and I just said forget about everything. I'm just going to play. I want to be that leader to help out my teammates."

Anderson had a reserve role in the early part of last season but worked himself into the starting lineup to help UConn win its second national championship. Coach Jim Calhoun bristles when his players take quick shots as they did in the 61-59 loss at UMass, but has made an exception when it comes to Anderson.

"I want him shooting shots. That's what he's supposed to do for us," Calhoun said. "That's one of his jobs for us."

Josh Boone added a career-high 20 points and dominated inside with 14 rebounds for the Huskies (5-1).

UConn struggled on offense, shooting just 38 percent from the field, but Boone anchored a frontcourt that outrebounded the Owls 61-34 and the Huskies' 31 offensive rebounds led to 24 second-chance points.

Michael Harris led Rice (5-2) with 22 points and nine rebounds.

Anderson, who finished one point shy of his career-high, was 5-of-14 from 3-point range. He hit three 3s during a 13-5 run that gave the Huskies their largest lead, 69-53 with 10:03 left. Anderson's last 3 in the run turned out to be UConn's final field goal of the game and the Huskies would need all of that 16-point cushion.

The Owls got within eight down the stretch, but the Huskies went 11-of-17 from the free throw line the rest of the way. Anderson was 7-of-8 from the line during that stretch.

Freshman Rudy Gay made his first start Sunday when Calhoun shuffled his lineup after the loss. He finished with 10 points, nine rebounds and had three of UConn's 10 blocks.

"It was a physical game and probably more physical than we really anticipated," Rice coach Willis Wilson said. "There were just a couple of things that they were able to do that we really didn't have an answer for. In particular, offensive rebounds."

Lorenzo Williams added 13 points and five steals for the Owls.

Down eight points in the first half, Rice got a spark off the bench Brock Gillespie. The senior guard scored eight points over a 7-minute stretch, including two 3-pointers. His lay-in with 6:02 left cut the UConn lead to 32-30 and Williams' basket after a UConn turnover got the Owls even at 32-all.

The Huskies countered with a 9-2 run with Anderson scoring five points and they went on to lead 47-40 lead at halftime.

The Huskies got a big defensive lift from Ed Nelson, a 260-pound reserve forward who transferred last year from Georgia Tech. Nelson banged with Harris for most of his 18 minutes and helped neutralize the powerful 6-foot-6, 240-pound forward. Harris scored 25 points against the Huskies last year in Rice's 92-83 loss.

"My mission was to go out there and just prove that he's not going to push me around," Nelson said.

That was just what his coach was looking for.

"Ed gave us a sense of toughness inside," Calhoun said. "And we need that right now."