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Napier, Lamb power UConn to win over UNC-Asheville

Nov 25, 2011 - 2:59 AM Paradise Island, Bahamas (Sports Network) - Shabazz Napier and Jeremy Lamb both scored 23 points, as No. 4 Connecticut opened the Battle 4 Atlantis with a 73-63 victory over UNC-Asheville.

Napier, who notched the 9th triple-double in UConn history on Sunday, added seven assists for the Huskies (5-0), who advanced to play UCF on Friday.

Matt Dickey paced the Bulldogs (2-3) with 18 points, while Jeremy Atkinson added 14 points and nine boards and J.P. Primm finished with 10 points.

The Huskies, who own the nation's longest win streak at 16 games, led by as many as 17 points during a strong first-half showing.

Lamb, playing with a sore right ankle, paced UConn over the first 20 minutes of play, pouring in nine points on 4-of-7 shooting and pulling five boards. Napier, meanwhile, willingly played facilitator, handing out six assists.

The Bulldogs battled, though, making it a 34-26 game on Keith Hornsby's layup with 2:04 left before the break. Atkinson added a breakaway layup, but Napier countered with the Huskies' final five points to make it a 39-28 game at intermission.

The Huskies carried the momentum into the second half.

They never relinquished the lead, as Napier scored 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, including a 3-of-5 performance from beyond the arc, and his backcourt mate Lamb added an efficient 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

In all, the Huskies shot 53.2 percent from the field, and went 9-of-22 from beyond the arc.

Game Notes

The Huskies' mark for consecutive wins is 23, which was set in 1995-96...Napier's triple-double came in Sunday's win over Coppin State. He totaled 22 points, 12 boards and 13 assists.