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Men's Basketball: Hamilton Triple-Double Sparks UConn Past Central in 99-52 Win

Despite an ugly start to Wednesday's game, UConn pulled away for a blowout win against its in-state rival.

Shonn Miller throws down on an assist from Daniel Hamilton in UConn's rout of Central Connecticut.
Shonn Miller throws down on an assist from Daniel Hamilton in UConn's rout of Central Connecticut.
Ian Bethune/The UConn Blog

Daniel Hamilton and Shonn Miller did the heavy lifting Wednesday afternoon, as UConn overcame a slow start to rout Central Connecticut in a 99-52 win at the XL Center.

Hamilton finished with a triple-double, posting 11 points, 11 rebounds and 11 assists. Miller finished with 25 points, marking his first 20-point game as a Husky and falling three points shy of his career high of 28 against Radford in 2014.

The game was slow and ugly at the start. UConn (8-3) led 11-6 at the second media timeout, and the teams had already combined for 10 turnovers. The Huskies managed to pull ahead by 14 with 8:09 left in the half, but Central (1-9) came back and only trailed by five with 4:46 remaining.

UConn kicked into gear after that. Jalen Adams replaced Kentan Facey, giving UConn a four-guard look with Miller at center. The Huskies went on a 13-1 run to pull ahead by 17. Facey came back in late and finished on a cutback as time expired in the first half to put UConn up 20.

The second half was routine for the Huskies, who buried the Blue Devils early and did not let up. Hamilton was able to pursue his triple-double without worrying about the score, and Ollie was able to work with different lineups.

Though Phil Nolan got the start in place of Amida Brimah, Kentan Facey made the case to take the job with a stellar performance. The junior finished with 10 points, 12 rebounds and was plus-53. Nolan, meanwhile, was plus-1 and played only five minutes, a figure hampered severely by his three fouls in the first half.

UConn had a 91-40 lead before the final media timeout of the game, so walk-on Christian Foxen got to see out the final 4:10 of the game. The Rocky Hill native threw down a dunk and put in a layup after fellow walk-ons Mike Noyes and Nnamdi Amilo got on the board.