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No. 13 Connecticut beats Seton Hall 71-63

Jan 7, 2010 - 5:15 AM By PAT EATON-ROBB Associated Press Writer

STORRS, Conn.(AP) -- His Connecticut teammates say Jerome Dyson is a quiet leader.

On Wednesday night, the senior guard led the team in points (16), assists (10), and rebounds (nine), and made the key plays down the stretch for the 13th-ranked Huskies in a 71-63 victory over Seton Hall.

"He just put on, I thought, one of the better performances to make a team win," UConn coach Jim Calhoun said. "He made us win offensively."

Gavin Edwards and Kemba Walker each added 15 points, and freshman Alex Oriakhi scored a career-high 12 to go along with seven rebounds and five blocked shots.

"I told myself, `I want this to be my game,' and that's exactly what happened," Oriakhi said. "I just posted up strong and wanted the ball."

Stanley Robinson chipped in 10 points to help UConn (11-3, 2-1 Big East) to its 10th consecutive win over the Pirates (9-5, 0-3), who have dropped four straight.

Freshman Jeff Robinson had a career-high 17 points and nine rebounds for Seton Hall, one game after putting up 15 points in an overtime loss to Virginia Tech in Cancun, Mexico.

Jeremy Hazell, who averaged 39.5 points in his first two conference games, was held to 13, hitting just five of 20 shots.

Herb Pope, who leads the conference in rebounding, finished with 10 points and 14 boards as Seton Hall outrebounded UConn 42-36.

"We're going to win a game," Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez said. "And once we beat somebody, we're going to get confidence, and I really believe this team is going to get better and better and get on a roll."

Connecticut led for much of the game and was up by seven points early in the second half, before the Pirates went on a 13-6 run to tie it at 46.

A 3-pointer from Hazell gave the Pirates their first lead of the half, 53-52 with just over 8 minutes left, and they were up 57-54 with 6:30 left before UConn took the game over.

A steal and layup by Dyson and his alley-oop pass to Stanley Robinson made it 67-61, and the Huskies closed the game on a 17-6 run.

"We knew we couldn't let them get in control of the game," Dyson said. "We knew if we got stops then the offense would come easily, because when we get on the break, that's when our offense is at its best."

Connecticut blocked three shots on Seton Hall's first three possessions, and led 21-12 midway through the first half after a 7-0 run. But Dyson was held to just two foul shots in the half, missing all four of his shots.

Hazell missed his first five shots, but Jeff Robinson had 10 points and six rebounds as the Pirates trailed 35-31 at halftime.

UConn blocked 13 shots, after having 11 against Notre Dame on Saturday. The Huskies lead the nation with more than nine blocks a game.

Stanley Robinson has scored in double figures in 20 straight games, and needs just 22 points to reach 1,000 for his career.

Seton Hall has dropped five of its last six games, including four to Top 25 teams.

The Pirates have not beaten the Huskies in Connecticut since March 1, 1997, and have lost eight straight against ranked opponents.