# 2012–13 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team

The 2012–13 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2012–2013 NCAA Division I basketball season. The Huskies split their home games between the XL Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on the UConn campus in Storrs, Connecticut. The Huskies are a member of the Big East Conference. This season marked the first for new head coach Kevin Ollie, a former Husky, who replaced Jim Calhoun, who retired in September 2012 after 26 seasons as head coach.

## Previous season

The Huskies finished the 2011–12 season 20–14 overall, including 8–10 in Big East play. The Huskies, reigning champions of the 2011 NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Tournament were eliminated in the first round of the 2012 tournament by a number-8-seeded Iowa State.

## Preseason developments

After the 2011–12 season, the Huskies were barred from postseason play for 2012–13 due to several years of poor Academic Progress Rate (APR) scores. They had already lost two scholarships for the 2011–12 season due to APR sanctions. As a result of the postseason ban, rising senior forward Alex Oriakhi announced he would transfer to Missouri for his final season of eligibility. Under NCAA rules, he can play immediately at Missouri because Connecticut's postseason ban covers his entire remaining eligibility.
Two other players transferred. Redshirt freshman Michael Bradley initially planned to transfer to Western Kentucky, but was denied immediate eligibility by the NCAA, and chose instead to transfer to Vincennes, an Indiana junior college. Rising junior Roscoe Smith was released from his scholarship and ultimately transferred to UNLV.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Kyle Bailey | 21 | Guard | 6'3" | 175 | Senior | Lancaster, New Hampshire | Graduated |
| Michael Bradley | 25 | Forward-center | 6'10" | 235 | Freshman | Chattanooga, Tennessee | Transferred to Vincennes |
| P. J. Cochrane | 14 | Guard | 6'2" | 200 | Senior | Newtown, Connecticut | Graduated |
| Andre Drummond | 12 | Center | 6'10" | 275 | Freshman | Middletown, Connecticut | Declared for NBA draft |
| Jeremy Lamb | 3 | Guard-forward | 6'5" | 185 | Sophomore | Norcross, Georgia | Declared for NBA draft |
| Alex Oriakhi | 34 | Forward-center | 6'9" | 245 | Junior | Lowell, Massachusetts | Transferred to Missouri |
| Roscoe Smith | 22 | Forward | 6'8" | 205 | Sophomore | Baltimore, Maryland | Transferred to UNLV |
| Ethan Waite | 40 | Guard | 5'10" | 155 | Senior | East Hartford, Connecticut | Graduated |

## Regular season

The Huskies traveled to St. Thomas for the Paradise Jam tournament in mid-November. UConn faced Wake Forest in the first round and won 77–71. The second game matched the Huskies against in-state Quinnipiac, coached by Tom Moore, who spent 13 years as a member of the UConn coaching staff. UConn found itself in a ten-point deficit with under five minutes to go, and managed to tie the score by the end of regulation. The game went to two overtimes before UConn prevailed 89–83.
In the Championship game, UConn came from nine points down to take a brief two-point lead with just over two minutes to go, but gave up nine straight points, and ended up with the loss 66–60. The Lobos hit all 21 of their free throw attempts in the game, leaving UConn in the runner-up position.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 1, 2012* 7:00 pm | | American International | W 78–63 | – | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (5,349) Storrs, CT |
| November 6, 2012* 1:00 pm | | UMass Lowell | W 100–62 | – | XL Center (5,538) Hartford, CT |
| Regular Season ||||||
| November 9, 2012* 5:30 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 14 Michigan State Armed Forces Classic | W 66–62 | 1–0 | Ramstein Air Base (3,086) Kaiserslautern, Germany |
| November 13, 2012* 7:00 pm, SNY | No. 23 | Vermont | W 67–49 | 2–0 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (7,962) Storrs, CT |
| November 16, 2012* 6:30 pm, CBSSN | No. 23 | vs. Wake Forest Paradise Jam Quarterfinals | W 77–71 | 3–0 | Sports and Fitness Center (2,673) Saint Thomas, VI |
| November 18, 2012* 9:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 23 | vs. Quinnipiac Paradise Jam semifinals | W 89–83 $^{2OT}$ | 4–0 | Sports and Fitness Center (2,875) Saint Thomas, VI |
| November 19, 2012* 10:00 pm, CBSSN | No. 21 | vs. New Mexico Paradise Jam Championship | L 60–66 | 4–1 | Sports and Fitness Center (3,022) Saint Thomas, VI |
| November 25, 2012* 4:00 pm, SNY | No. 21 | Stony Brook | W 73–62 | 5–1 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (8,474) Storrs, CT |
| November 29, 2012* 7:00 pm, SNY | | New Hampshire | W 61–53 | 6–1 | XL Center (8,705) Hartford, CT |
| December 4, 2012* 9:00 pm, ESPN | | vs. No. 25 NC State Jimmy V Classic | L 65–69 | 6–2 | Madison Square Garden (11,840) Manhattan, NY |
| December 7, 2012* 7:00 pm, SNY | | Harvard | W 57–49 | 7–2 | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,113) Storrs, CT |
| December 17, 2012* 7:00 pm, SNY | | Maryland–Eastern Shore | W 84–50 | 8–2 | XL Center (8,841) Hartford, CT |
| December 21, 2012* 7:00 pm, SNY | | Fordham | W 88–73 | 9–2 | XL Center (10,265) Hartford, CT |
| December 29, 2012* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | | Washington | W 61–53 | 10–2 | XL Center (12,720) Hartford, CT |
| January 1, 2013 8:00 pm, ESPNU | | at Marquette | L 76–82 $^{OT}$ | 10–3 (0–1) | Bradley Center (14,159) Milwaukee, WI |
| January 8, 2013 7:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY | | DePaul | W 99–78 | 11–3 (1–1) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,156) Storrs, CT |
| January 12, 2013 2:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY | | at No. 17 Notre Dame | W 65–58 | 12–3 (2–1) | Joyce Center (9,149) Notre Dame, IN |
| January 14, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN | | #1 Louisville | L 58–73 | 12–4 (2–2) | XL Center (14,287) Hartford, CT |
| January 19, 2013 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Pittsburgh | L 61–69 | 12–5 (2–3) | Petersen Events Center (12,510) Pittsburgh, PA |
| January 27, 2013 2:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY | | Rutgers | W 66–54 | 13–5 (3–3) | XL Center (12,768) Hartford, CT |
| January 31, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | at Providence | W 82–79 $^{OT}$ | 14–5 (4–3) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (10,180) Providence RI |
| February 3, 2013 2:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY | | South Florida | W 69–64 $^{OT}$ | 15–5 (5–3) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (9,205) Storrs, CT |
| February 6, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPNU | | at St. John's | L 65–71 | 15–6 (5–4) | Madison Square Garden (8,441) Manhattan, NY |
| February 10, 2013 12:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY | | at Seton Hall | W 78–67 | 16–6 (6–4) | Prudential Center (7,634) Newark, NJ |
| February 13, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN | | #6 Syracuse Rivalry | W 66–58 | 17–6 (7–4) | XL Center (13,518) Hartford, CT |
| February 16, 2013 12:00 pm, ESPN | | Villanova | L 61–70 | 17–7 (7–5) | XL Center (15,165) Hartford, CT |
| February 21, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN | | Cincinnati | W 73–66 $^{OT}$ | 18–7 (8–5) | XL Center (11,131) Hartford, CT |
| February 23, 2013 8:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY | | at DePaul | W 81–69 | 19–7 (9–5) | Allstate Arena (8,662) Rosemont, IL |
| February 27, 2013 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | | #7 Georgetown Rivalry | L 78–79 $^{2OT}$ | 19–8 (9–6) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| March 2, 2013 2:00 pm, Big East Network/SNY | | at Cincinnati | L 56–61 | 19–9 (9–7) | Fifth Third Arena (12,432) Cincinnati, OH |
| March 6, 2013 9:08 pm, ESPNU | | at South Florida | L 51–65 | 19–10 (9–8) | USF Sun Dome (5,198) Tampa, FL |
| March 9, 2013 12:00 pm, ESPNU | | Providence | W 63–59 $^{OT}$ | 20–10 (10–8) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | 23 | 23 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
| Coaches | RV | RV | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |