Box Score
LEXINGTON, Ky. – Earlier this season, the Hartford men's basketball team opened eyes when it traveled to Baylor and took the second-tallest team in the NCAA down to the wire before falling by two. Unfortunately for Hartford, some of the eyes opened were those of the tallest team in the NCAA, the Kentucky Wildcats. The third-ranked Wildcats controlled the action from the outset at Rupp Arena on Tuesday night, defeating Hartford, 104-61.
Joe Zeglinski led the team with 19 points, continuing his hot shooting after setting a season high with 25 against Sacred Heart. Milton Burton scored 18, a career high for the junior college transfer. Morgan Sabia added 16 on 4-of-8 shooting from beyond the arc.
After an 18-day layoff since falling to Sacred Heart in their last game, the Hawks (2-10) came out with a very different look on the court to start the game. Junior Milton Burton was back in the starting lineup for the first time since November 28 against Dartmouth, and junior Joel Barkers made the first start of his collegiate career. It was the sixth time this year that all five starters came from the junior class.
The Wildcats (14-0) never trailed the game, paced by 19 points each by Darnell Dodson and DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins added 12 rebounds for a double-double fresh off his recognition as the SEC Rookie of the Week last week. The Wildcats have already claimed six of the league's seven Rookie of the Week awards on the year.
Kentucky put the game away when they came out of halftime on a 14-0 run to go up, 71-31. A Joe Zeglinski lay-up ended the tear, but it was too little, too late for the Hawks.
The game was played in front of a sell-out crowd of 24,340, one of the largest ever to see a Hartford game in person. It was also aired on ESPN2, just the second time a regular-season Hawks game was broadcast on the ESPN family of networks.
Junior Andres Torres left the game late in the first half when he hit the deck at half court with an injury to his right knee. Torres, who came into the game second in the America East with 5.4 assists per game, has started every game this season. He will have an MRI back in Hartford to determine the extent of the injury, although he walked back to the bench with his teammates at the start of the second half.
Against the Wildcats, he was matched up primarily with freshman sensation John Wall, who managed just five points while Torres was in the game. Unable to create his own shot against Torres, Wall was content to dish off to his teammates, finishing the game with a Wildcat-record 16 assists.
Hartford is back in action on Saturday when they travel to St. Francis (PA) for their final non-conference matchup of the season. The Hawks and the Red Flash will tip off at 3 p.m., with the action airing on the flagship station of Hartford basketball, WDRC-1360.
