National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Connecticut 78, Maryland 77
When: 6:30 PM ET, Friday, November 8, 2013
Where: Barclays Center, Brooklyn, New York
Officials: # Gary Maxwell, # Tim Kelly, # Dwayne Gladden
Attendance: 12687

No. 19 Connecticut 78, Maryland 77:
Shabazz Napier collected 18 points, seven rebounds and seven assists before fouling out late as the Huskies held off a furious charge from the visiting Terrapins to take the season opener.

Niels Giffey scored 13 points off the bench and Omar Calhoun added 10 points for Connecticut (1-0), which nearly squandered a 17-point lead. Ryan Boatright scored nine points but missed the front end of a one-and-one opportunity with 26 seconds left to leave the door open.

Nick Faust scored 17 points and Evan Smotrycz added 13 and nine rebounds for Maryland (0-1). Dez Wells and Jake Layman chipped in 13 points apiece.

Giffey went 3-for-3 from 3-point range in the first half as the Huskies cruised into the break with a 48-36 lead. The Terrapins cut it to 59-50 six minutes into the second before Napier and Calhoun nailed back-to-back 3-pointers.

Napier stole the ball from Wells and pushed it ahead to Boatright for a transition dunk and a 67-50 lead with 11:59 left, but Napier was called for a technical foul on the way back down the court and Maryland used that momentum shift to rip off an 11-0 burst behind nine points from Layman. The Terrapins whittled the deficit to 78-77 on Wells’ jumper in the lane with 39 seconds left, but Wells missed jumpers on two straight possessions in the final 14 seconds as Connecticut held on.

GAME NOTEBOOK:
Maryland G Seth Allen sat out with a broken foot and will miss 8-10 weeks. … DeAndre Daniels and Amida Brimah each blocked three shots for Connecticut. … Wells committed six turnovers to go along with six assists and seven boards.
Top Game Performances
 
Maryland   Connecticut
Nick Faust 17 Scoring Shabazz Napier 18
Dezmine Wells 6 Assists Shabazz Napier 7
Evan Smotrycz 9 Rebounds Shabazz Napier 7
Dezmine Wells 7 Free Throws Made Shabazz Napier 6
Roddy Peters 2 Steals Ryan Boatright 2
N/A Blocks Amida Brimah 3
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Maryland 77 42.1 8-19 21-28 15 28 0 5 13
Connecticut 78 51.7 10-23 8-13 16 28 6 10 13