Hawkins leads No. 20 UConn over Seton Hall 64-55
STORRS, Conn. (AP) — Jordan Hawkins scored 20 points and No. 20 UConn used a big second-half run to beat Seton Hall 64-55 on Saturday.
Andre Jackson had a career high 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for UConn (20-7, 9-7 Big East).
Al-Amir Dawes and Tyrese Samuel each had 16 points for Seton Hall (16-12, 9-8), which trailed by 16 points with six minutes to play, before a late run that fell short.
UConn led by six points at halftime and just 36-34 after a 7-0 Seton Hall run early in the second half. The Pirates kept the Huskies without a field goal for a span of almost nine minutes, stretching back into the first half.
UConn responded by holding Seton Hall without a point for over 6 1/2minutes. A 3-pointer from Hawkins that capped a 14-0 run put the Huskies up 56-40.
Seton Hall made a run to cut the lead to six points twice, but could get no closer.
UConn led for all but two minutes in the first half.
A driving dunk by Hawkins gave the Huskies their first double-digit lead at 30-19. But UConn missed its final eight shots of the half.
Seton Hall’s Kadary Richmond, who scored 18 points in the Pirates January win over the Huskies, left the game early in the first half with an apparent back injury.
KC Ndefo kept Seton Hall in the game, scoring all 13 of his points in the first half, while hitting five of his first six shots. UConn led 33-27 at the break.
BIG PICTURE
UConn: The Huskies jumped a half-game ahead of Seton Hall and into fifth place in the Big East standings. The top five teams in the league will get byes into the the quarterfinals of the conference tournament next month. … The Huskies secured their second straight 20-win season after a five-year drought.
Seton Hall: The Pirates, who beat UConn 67-66 in New Jersey last month, have not swept a season series from UConn since 1992-93.
UP NEXT
Seton Hall: Hosts No. 16 Xavier on Friday.
UConn: Hosts No. 24 Providence on Wednesday.
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