Huskies' woes continue

Louisville, Ky. - UConn's hole keeps growing deeper with every damaging loss. For every shovel of dirt tossed out, two more fall on the collapsing Huskies.

It just may be too late for them to dig out before their postseason chances are buried by an avalanche of defeats.

Louisville was the latest opponent to add to UConn's misery Monday.

The Huskies lost for the sixth time in eight games, trailing from start to finish in an 82-69 Big East Conference defeat at Freedom Hall. It was the most points that UConn has given up in a game this season.

"As a whole, everybody is pretty discouraged," senior Gavin Edwards said. "We just have to pull together. We have to figure something out.

"This is getting out of hand right now."

There's no sign that the Huskies (13-9, 3-6) will stop the unraveling over the final nine regular-season games.

Repeating a nightmarish theme, UConn committed mistake after mistake, allowing equally desperate Louisville (14-8, 5-4) to enjoy the evening.

The Huskies had 18 turnovers - 73 in the last four games - and shot 37.5 percent from the field while falling to 0-5 in true road games. For the first time since 2000-01, they've lost five straight conference road games dating back to last season.

Yet despite another wildly inconsistent performance, associate head coach George Blaney, as well as several players, insisted they are better than they've played as of late.

It's hard to believe that just nine days before UConn celebrated an upset of then-No. 1 Texas.

"They knew at that point they were good," Blaney said. "And we are good. We're just not playing very well. We really need to get that confidence back and stop turning the ball over. That continues to be a major problem for us."

Jerome Dyson led the way with 18 points but hit only 6-of-17 field goal attempts. Kemba Walker added 15 points and Stanley Robinson had 14 points and 11 rebounds. Foul shooting (23-for-28) kept the Huskies in the game.

The Huskies got basically nothing out of their bench when called upon for extended duty because of foul trouble.

Defensive breakdowns contributed to Louisville sinking 10-of-22 3-pointers. Edgar Sosa scored a team-high 15 points.

"I thought we played brilliantly," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "We picked ourselves up off the mat after three really discouraging losses and played good basketball. It was fun to see."

It became quickly apparent that UConn was in trouble.

Thirty-one seconds into the game, Louisville seized a 5-0 lead. Sosa drove past former Rice High School teammate Walker for a layup. Samardo Samuels blocked Dyson's shot. And Jerry Smith buried a 3-pointer.

Fouls mounted for both teams. Three UConn starters - Dyson, Alex Oriakhi and Ater Majok - sat for the last 8:43. The Cardinals still maintained momentum, taking a 48-34 halftime lead. The Huskies were already a mess, racking up more turnovers (10) than field goals (7-for-27). Louisville's point total was a season high for a UConn opponent in any half.

Trailing 68-49, the good Huskies showed up. They went on a dazzling 17-5 spurt. Dyson's 3-pointer and Robinson's inside basket cut the gap to 73-66 with 9:22 left.

Then the bad Huskies returned. Over the next eight possessions, they missed four shots and had four turnovers, going scoreless for almost six minutes. Sosa's medium-range jumper started an 8-0 run.

"We ended up getting back into a slump," Robinson said.

UConn fell to 2-3 without coach Jim Calhoun, who could return as early as Saturday's home game against DePaul.

Something has to jolt the Huskies out of their funk.

"We just can't keep playing like that," Dyson said. "The same thing is happening game after game."