No. 10 Connecticut beats Providence 75-57
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Jamal Coombs-McDaniel, who isn't a scorer, had a career-high 25 points and Kemba Walker, the Big East's No. 2 scorer, had 22 as No. 10 Connecticut beat Providence 75-57 on Sunday night.
Coombs-McDaniel, whose previous career high was 13 points and who averages 4.5 points per game, finished 10 for 17 from the field and also pulled down a career-high eight rebounds as the Huskies (19-5, 7-5) seemed to straighten out their offense after losing three of four, including two home games.
Walker, who came in averaging 22.9 points, had 14 in the second half. He and Coombs-McDaniel scored all the points in a late 12-0 run that ended any thought of Providence continuing their domination of Connecticut.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Marshon Brooks, the Big East's leading scorer at 24.1 per game, finished with 25 on 7-of-22 shooting including missing seven of eight 3-point attempts.
The Friars (14-11, 3-9), who have lost three of four, had won four of the last five and six of the last nine games against the Huskies.
Connecticut struggled to score during its recent funk, facing a zone defense in each game. The Huskies had shot better than 40 percent in just one of their last four games, dragging their season mark to 42.6 percent, 14th in the 16-team conference.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}They shot 59.3 percent (16 of 27) in the second half against Providence when they took control of the game. After shooting 1 of 7 from 3-point range in the first half, Connecticut made six of nine shots from beyond the arc in the second.
Providence played without freshman guard Gerard Coleman, who didn't play for "failure to fulfill his responsibilities as a student-athlete," the school said in a statement released before the game.
Coombs-McDaniel, a 6-foot-7 sophomore forward, came into the game with a career-high 13 points against Iona last season. He had grabbed seven rebounds three times.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Walker, a player prominently mentioned for postseason honors, shot 29.5 percent from the field over his last five games and averaged 15.2 points in that span.
Providence dropped to 2-4 against ranked teams this season. The Friars have home wins over Louisville and Villanova.