Huskies Survive Seton Hall Run

January 23, 1999 / 10:36 PM EST / AP

Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun became the winningest coach in school history Saturday, but his top-ranked Huskies made him sweat out his 287th victory.

Richard Hamilton had 24 points in the Huskies' 62-47 victory over Seton Hall, the lowest totals for both teams this year.

Connecticut (17-0 overall, 9-0 Big East) was coming off an emotional 70-68 overtime victory on Wednesday against Miami when it ran into the charged-up Pirates, led by the speedy Shaheen Holloway.

The Huskies trailed 31-29 at the half, but got a dozen points from Hamilton and were 12-of-17 from the free throw line in the second half to slowly pull away.

After Duane Jordan hit a free throw to put the Pirates up 32-29 to open the second half, Connecticut tied it on Khalid El-Amin's 3-pointer. Rimas Kaukenas regained the lead for the Pirates (11-7, 5-4) with a jumper at the 17:35 mark.

Hamilton then keyed an 8-2 run with a three-point play and a 3-pointer and Connecticut didn't trail after that.

Connecticut held Seton Hall to 28 percent shooting from the floor in the second half. The Pirates had 16 points in the period.

Connecticut, the only unbeaten Division I team, outrebounded Seton Hall 36-28, led by Jake Voskuhl's 13 boards.

The first half saw seven lead changes and three ties.

The Huskies used an 11-0 run, keyed by Hamilton's 3-pointer, to build a 23-14 lead in the first half.

Seton Hall broke out of a six-minute shooting drought with 6:29 remaining in the first half with a 9-0 run to tie the game at 23. Kaukenas opened the run with a 3-pointer and Holloway followed with two straight layups. Ramon Cespedes' jumper at the 5:00 mark tied the game.

Kevin Freeman put the Huskies ahead 25-23 with two free throws at 3:54 to go. The Pirates then closed out the first half with 6-4 run, fueled by Holloway's two 3-pointers to take a 31-29 lead at the break.

Holloway had 16 points for Seton Hall.

Calhoun passed Hugh Greer as the winningest coach in school history. Geer was 286-112 record in 17 seasons from 1946-63. In his 13th season at Connecticut, Calhoun is 287-118. Calhoun also has the best record of any coach at Northeastern, 250-137 from 1972-86.

Connecticut leads the Seton Hall series 25-15 and has won nine of the last 10.