If the Connecticut Huskies are to advance to the Big East Tournament semifinals, they will need to recover from a halftime deficit. UConn trails the Syracuse Orange 27-24 after a defensive-minded first half.

The teams both started slowly and the score was knotted at 12-12 nine minutes in, but Syracuse scored the next eight points to build some cushion.

UConn battled back, crashing the offensive boards to create second looks. The Huskies finished with seven offensive rebounds, three by Andre Drummond and two by Tyler Olander.

Jeremy Lamb paced the Huskies with eight points and four rebounds. UConn shot just 30.3 percent and Syracuse was not much better, entering intermission hitting at a 32.3 percent clip.

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