Williams Is the Key for Texas

Fredie Williams was told to be ready.

It had been so long since he played for Texas, he could have been forgiven if he wasn’t quite up to the task of guarding No. 15 Connecticut’s speedy guards.

But extended time on the bench didn’t hamper Williams, who came up with two critical defensive plays in the final minute Monday night to lift Texas to a 60-56 victory over the Huskies at Austin, Texas.

After Texas (13-3) had tied the score at 54, Connecticut guard Taliek Brown took the ball up court looking to take back the lead.

Brown had badly beaten Williams off the dribble a few minutes earlier and tried to do it again. This time, Williams picked him off with his right hand and led a fast break down the floor that James Thomas finished with a putback layup for a two-point Texas lead with 40 seconds left.

“I sat on his left side because I knew he was going to cross over from his right,” Williams said. “I stuck my hand out and got it.”

On the next possession, Brown tried to take it down the lane again only to have Williams poke it away to teammate Darren Kelly. Kelly was fouled and made two free throws to make the score 58-54.

Williams started the first three games of the season but had been relegated to minimal spot duty.

Texas Coach Rick Barnes turned to Williams after Connecticut (13-4) victimized the Longhorns for several transition baskets.

“I told Fredie that he better be ready,” Barnes said. “It’s hard to do what he’s done, because he started for us at the beginning of the year and he hasn’t been playing. But he has never, ever stopped working hard.”

No. 9 Georgetown 99, No. 18 Seton Hall 91--Kevin Braswell scored 26 points and Georgetown remained one of two unbeaten Division I teams with the victory in a Big East Conference game at East Rutherford, N.J.

The Hoyas, 16-0 overall and 4-0 in the Big East, and top-ranked Stanford (15-0) are the only teams not to have lost this season.

Braswell, who began the game averaging 9.4 points, came up with his season-high point total and none was bigger than the three-pointer he made with 8:50 left after Seton Hall (11-5, 2-3) had got within one point after trailing by as many as 12 in the second half.

OTHER GAMES

Utah 58, San Diego St. 39--Nick Jacobson scored 13 points at Salt Lake City as Utah stayed unbeaten in the Mountain West Conference.

Utah (11-6, 3-0) won its fourth game in a row and its 40th consecutive home conference game as its defense held the Aztecs (10-6, 0-3) to 32% shooting.

Brigham Young 91, UNLV 63--Trent Whiting scored 17 of his game-high 26 points in the first half, leading the Cougars (13-4 overall, 2-0 Mountain West Conference) past the Rebels (10-7, 1-2) at Provo, Utah.