Connecticut Huskies vs Providence Friars Match Player Stats On Feb 10, 2021

Nate Watson scored 13 of his 17 points in the second half Wednesday as Providence rallied to post a 70-59 Big East win over Connecticut in Providence, R.I.

Held to one field goal attempt in the first half, Watson got going after halftime as the Friars (10-10, 6-8) snapped a three-game losing streak and won for just the second time in six games.

David Duke added 17, while A.J. Reeves stuffed the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

R.J. Cole came off the bench to score 14 points and dish out six assists for the Huskies (8-5, 5-5), while Tyrese Martin added 13 points before fouling out in the last minute. UConn hit only 40.3 percent of its field goal attempts and missed on all 10 of its 3-pointers in the second half.

The key stretch came in the first eight minutes of the second half, when Providence used an 18-8 burst to wipe out a halftime deficit and establish a 51-42 cushion. The Huskies pulled within 58-55 when Martin converted a layup with 3:57 left, but Watson canned a jump hook at the 2:57 mark to start a game-sealing 7-0 burst.

Playing without leading scorer James Bouknight (elbow) for the seventh straight game, UConn scored on its opening possession and then went into a four-minute offensive drought.

But Providence wasn't much more efficient offensively, managing to boost its lead to only five points on two Duke foul shots with 13:07 left in the half that gave it a 13-8 edge. From there, the Huskies managed to find a little bit of rhythm.

They rattled off eight straight points to gain a lead, 16-8, then rebounded after the Friars expanded their next lead to six points. Josh Carlton's putback with 20.6 seconds remaining enabled UConn to head for halftime with a 34-33 advantage.

In a virtually even half, the Huskies carved out slight but critical edges in bench points (16-10), points in the paint (16-10) and second-chance points (7-2).

--Field Level Media