UConn sports

The UConn football team has accepted an invitation to play in the International Bowl.

The International Bowl will pit UConn against Buffalo on Jan. 3 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The game starts at noon and will be seen on ESPN2.

“We are very excited to be playing in the International Bowl in the beautiful city of Toronto,” UConn coach Randy Edsall said in a statement. “I think it is a strong statement to the development of our program as we have now played in bowl games in back-to-back years for the first time our history. We worked with the executive director Ken Hoffman and his staff in 2004 when we played in the Motor City Bowl and had a terrific experience and we look forward to the same for this bowl”

UConn (7-5) got thumped by Pittsburgh 34-10 in its regular season finale Saturday. Buffalo (8-5) beat Ball State in the Mid-American championship game Friday.

- Neill

Ken Hoffman, the executive director of the International Bowl (and the Motor City Bowl) will be at Rentschler Field Saturday for the UConn-Pitt game.

Bernie Olivas and the Sun Bowl folks will be on hand, too. The Sun Bowl will immediately invite the Panthers if they win.

UConn’s bowl destination looked to be sewn up but that is slowly changing. There is a movement afoot that could send the Huskies to Birmingham, Ala. and the Papajohns.com Bowl.

The hitch is that Motor City Bowl execs want Ball State (which should beat Buffalo tonight in the MAC title game) to face a BCS school in the bowl. The Big Ten doesn’t have enough eligible teams, therefore it’s an open slot on the other side.

The thinking is that Hoffman and his crew would move the Big East team over to the Motor City and that would be probably be Rutgers, not UConn. That would probably send the Huskies to Birmingham.

It’s still complicated and it’s still unclear (if UConn wins and USF somehow beats West Virginia, the Huskies are probably going to the Sun Bowl). Hopefully we’ll get some answers before and after Saturday’s game.

- Neill

A few late-night notes from UConn’s 68-64 survival at Alumni Arena in Amherst (it’s just outside Buffalo, you dolts) Thursday:

– Craig Austrie and Jerome Dyson didn’t exactly play their best games. Neither, though, blamed their same-day travel schedule.

The two flew in a prop from Windham Airport to Buffalo Thursday afternoon. It was a small plane and a long flight according to most.

“I was a little cramped up from the flight,” Austrie said. “But once it’s game time there are no excuses.”

Said Dyson, who was 3-for-14 from the floor: “I don’t think so. I’m not going to say showing up to the game at that time affected me. I had opportunities to score and I didn’t. I feel like I played real solid on the defensive end.”

Dyson had his left knee heavily iced and was walking with a limp after the game, but UConn sports information director Kyle Muncy laughed as Dyson exited the locker room and accused him of “turning it on” when he saw a handful of reporters waiting to speak with him.

– Buffalo’s Rodney Pierce passed up on the final shot, but fans shouldn’t be too hard on him.

“He’s just really good,” UConn coach Jim Calhoun said.

Pierce scored 28 points, a career high. (Win or lose, everyone gets their career high against UConn these days)

Calhoun said he was “shocked” that Pierce didn’t take the final shot and that the Huskies were planning to double team him. Austrie has another theory.

“Jerome played excellent defense on him,” Austrie said. “I know he didn’t want to pass the ball.”

– If Pierce was good, Hasheem Thabeet may have been better. He had 21 points, a career-high 18 rebounds and was credited with four (he had about 7 or blocked shot.

“I saw Sports Illustrated talking about some of the great big men in the country and his name wasn’t there,” Calhoun said. “Somebody’s missing something. Tonight it was his game.”

– A.J. Price was kind of buried on the bench in the second half.

Kemba Walker was playing OK but it was kind of shocking to see Price out of the lineup in many key moments.

No one had a chance to ask Calhoun about it after the game (we got two questions in and the coach started rolling) but I’m sure he’d be pretty honest and just say that Kemba gave the Huskies the best chance to win.

– Donnell Beverly played for about 11 seconds Thursday. Calhoun inserted him to give the other guards a little break from guarding Pierce.

Pierce immediately went behind a screen and buried a wide-open three.

Calhoun could chuckle about the substitution after the game (only because he won, though)

“That was a nice move. I really want coach of the year for that one,” Calhoun said with a laugh. “Throw a guy in _ and I love Donnell Beverly, please _ but he falls down. Great coaching move.”

– This was the Huskies’ last game without Stanley Robinson. The 6-9 forward is expected to return after exams end when the Huskies battle Stony Brook Dec. 15.

“We will be a different team the next time we come to your local theater,” Calhoun said. “There will be a 6-9 and a 6-10 guy. We’ll look a little different.”

The 6-9 guy is obviously Robinson but Calhoun made it sound like the 6-10 guy (obviously Ater Majok) would be back at the same time. He was asked to clarify the news on Majok.

“As close as possible but we still need that certification,” Calhoun said. “We’re awful close to having Ater.”

They’ve been “close” for a while. We’ll see.

– Thabeet drew a chorus of boos from the crowd when he did a little dance to celebrate a second-half dunk. It was like a Truffle Shuffle-type thing.

The officials talked to Thabeet but didn’t issue a technical foul or the like.

“They told me not to do that,” Thabeet said.

- Neill

Just in case any of you Husky fans were worried, Craig Austrie and Jerome Dyson have arrived at Alumni Arena on the UB campus.

The two went to class Thursday morning, boarded a small charter plane and eventually made it to the team hotel around 4 p.m. They accompanied the team over to the arena shortly after.

We’ll see if there’s any jet lag involved tonight.

– In an unrelated issue, forward Gavin Edwards is sick. The 6-foot-9 junior labored through warm-ups and may be limited tonight.

- Neill

I’m in football country (Western New York) and there’s football weather (cold, snow on the ground) so I might as well update you on the Husky football team.

That silly basketball game the Huskies are playing tonight at Buffalo can wait.

Not much news on Randy Edsall’s Thursday afternoon conference call with reporters, but here you go:

– TE Steve Brouse is ready to go after missing the last six games with a broken leg. The senior will do more than play special teams (though any help on punt protection the Huskies will gladly take).

“He’s going to play offense,” Edsall said. “We’ll get as much out of him as we can. … He’s practiced well this week.”

The most glaring problem with Brouse out appeared to be on the punt team but Edsall said the Huskies missed Brouse most in the run game. Martin Bedard played OK but Brouse is bigger and stronger.

– CB Darius Butler didn’t practice but appears to be in line for a return in bowl season.

“He didn’t do any practicing,” Edsall said. “He was doing some jogging and running around a bit on his own.”

– LBs Greg Lloyd and C.J. Marck are both out of the lineup this week for what Edsall calls personal reasons.

The coach said earlier that Lloyd would probably return for a bowl game and he said Thursday that Marck should be back by then, too.

“All that will be taken care of with him by then,” Edsall said.

No new information on what “that” really is.

- Neill

Greetings from the Great White North. (Wait, is that a band or a fighter?)

OK, it’s just Buffalo but there’s snow on the ground and it feels like we’re at the North Pole.

Some basketball news of importance:

– Guards Jerome Dyson and Craig Austrie won’t be flying here with their teammates Wednesday evening. They have an important class on Thursday they can’t miss.

“They have a project due, which is a joint project,” coach Jim Calhoun said. “It involves negotiations within the classroom.”

That means Austrie and Dyson will take a commercial flight to Buffalo Thursday afternoon and hopefully make it to the arena in time for the 7 p.m. tip.

Calhoun said the duo is expected to arrive “about 4 o’clock.”

“It’s not what we want, but it’s exactly what’s required,” Calhoun said.

I’m heading over to UB (That’s Buffalo, not Bridgeport this week) to watch practice. I might have some more info later if my sled dogs get me back to the hotel in one piece.

- Neill

A quick update from UConn FB coach Randy Edsall’s meeting with the media Wednesday at the Burton Family Football Complex:

A few minor bombshells:

– RB Andre Dixon has been suspended indefinitely by Edsall. It’s the old “violation of team rules.”

“The young man made a mistake,” Edsall said.

Hopefully more info soon.

OK, it’s later. (Just before 2 o’clock)

I just got back from the UConn police station. Dixon was arrested for DWI (operation of a vehicle under the influence, actually) early Tuesday morning on the UConn campus.

He was pulled over at 1:43 a.m. by campus police for following too closely and failed a field sobriety test.

Dixon is due in court Dec. 15.

No official word but it doesn’t appear likely that he ever sees the field for the Huskies again.

– Another update:

Edsall put his foot down about the Syracuse job today. When asked about a Sporting News story in which former Syracuse WR Quadry Ismail offered his support for Edsall as the Orange’s next coach (and says he talked to Edsall about the job), Edsall slammed the door.

“It’s over, men. It’s done,” Edsall said. “How many times do you have to say it?”

Edsall says the conversation he had with Ismail took place over a year ago when the two were on a flight from Hartford to Baltimore.

The coach also said that contrary to the rumors, he hasn’t been contacted by former Orange greats attempting to guage his interest in the job.

“And I never spoke to Jim Brown, I never spoke to Floyd Little,” Edsall said.

– LB Greg Lloyd is out, as we already knew. Aaron Bryant will start.

“I think Aaron will do a fine job,” Edsall said. “Walk-on or not, he’s been in our program.”

But Edsall surprised some by saying LB C.J. Marck will not play against Pitt because he’s dealing with some “personal issues.”

– TE Steve Brouse will likely return to play against the Panthers.

“I really think that he will be (able to help),” Edsall said.

The coach said how much Brouse is going to play will be determined later this week.

– CB Darius Butler isn’t likely to play.

“He’s running in the pools. That’s all he’s doing,” Edsall said.

– Not much bowl talk. The Huskies are probably headed to Toronto for the International Bowl. Saturday’s game probably won’t change much.

“I’m not worried about anything else other than getting eight wins and being 4-3 (in the league),” Edsall said. “We can’t control anything else.”

– It’s not really Donald Brown against LeSean McCoy Saturday. But two of the top backs around will be on the field together.

“Donald’s probably a little more powerful, LeSean’s more shifty,” Edsall said when asked to compare the two.

– OK, it’s the dinner hour now and I’m nearly finished writing my daily work for The Post. I wanted to provide a few words of apology in advance.

Not to get you too involved in my boring routine (I know you don’t care) but it’s a busy week for me. I have to head to Buffalo with the basketball team Wednesday and there’s the game Thursday. I’m back Friday in time to finish up my football stuff and then the game’s Saturday morning. (I also have to find time in there to have a personal life but I’m not sure I can).

The reason I mention this is there were so many good stories, thoughts, words and emotion from the football players today at the Burton and I’m not going to get a chance to write about all of them.

A few notables, however: Rob Lunn was almost in tears (if almost means engulfed). Edsall was on the verge of crying, too, when talking about some of his players. Of course, a question about Syracuse’s head coaching job quickly shut off Edsall’s waterworks. For Lunn all it took was a mention of Scott Lutrus and the senior defensive tackle was back in story-teller mode of Lutrus’ wacky antics (most of them are probably lies but they’re great stories).

Edsall shared incredible stories about most all of the seniors. T Will Beatty is apparently a terrific cook. He fed the team and Edsall recently. … CB Terry Baltimore is going to be a singer or model or something in entertainment. Edsall is convinced of it. … DE Julius Williams once walked into Edsall’s office to talk about transferring but is seemingly glad he stayed now. … Dahna Deleston, Glen Mourning, Tyler Lorenzen, a lot of interesting things. I’ll get to as many as I can.

That 7:30 a.m. flight from Bradley is around the corner.

- Neill

One of Delaware State’s best players, forward Arturo Dubois, won’t play tonight against UConn.

A not-so-good team appears to have gotten worse.

Postgame update:

– As it turns out, it wasn’t THAT ugly. UConn won 79-49. There were spurts of great play and periods of not-so-great play.

Coach Jim Calhoun said five or six times during his postgame comments that he wasn’t disappointed. That usually means he WAS disappointed. I think I believe him, though.

“It wasn’t a negative game by any stretch of the imagination. It’s nice to see Gavin (Edwards) get out and get some points. It’s nice to see us shoot well from the foul line,” Calhoun said.

Edwards scored a career-high 17 points in just 16 minutes. A good showing considering the Huskies may add two talented forwards in the next two weeks.

– Spoke to Stanley Robinson briefly after the game. The once and future UConn small forward talked to a number of reporters at halftime of the game but I somehow missed him.

Anyway, Robinson says he’s all set to make his return to the team. He won’t play this Thursday against Buffalo but is on track to return Dec. 15 against Stony Brook.

Robinson left the team and the school this semester for “personal reasons” and has been working full-time in Willimantic. His boss? Former UConn forward Ruslan Inyatkin. He’s also been working out at Gampel Pavilion and with East Hartford High coach Anthony Menard.

Robinson says he’s grown up a lot.

“I’m a man now,” Robinson said.

He won’t be on scholarship, at least to start, but Robinson will probably earn it back eventually.

– He had 17 rebounds, 10 points and four blocked shots, but Hasheem Thabeet missed out on at least one blocked shot.

When Thabeet allowed Delaware State’s Frisco Sandidge to score on a 10-foot floater without attempting to jump and block the shot, Calhoun took exception.

“That was a little mistake I had,” Thabeet admitted after the game.

Calhoun said Thabeet was pretty mad at getting pulled from the game and briefly lectured.

“He told me ‘Next time they score on you I’m going to take you out,’ ” Thabeet said. “So I know he was going to say something to me. I just had to do all the little stuff he wants me to do.”

Thabeet responded soon after returning to the court. Forced to try and guard DSU sharp-shooter Donald Johnson on a switch, Thabeet sprinted to the corner as Johnson was about to release a three.

The 7-foot-3 Thabeet swatted Johnson’s triple into the fifth row of Gampel, smiling and pointing to the fan who caught the ball.

– A relative newcomer (or perhaps someone who wasn’t paying attention at the time) asked Jerome Dyson what Calhoun said to the Huskies when he called time out 46 seconds after the second half began.

“Say?” Dyson said smiling. “He didn’t say nothing to us.”

Johnson had just hit another 3-pointer (something he clearly demonstrated the ability to do well in the first half) and Calhoun wasn’t happy.

As is sometimes his style, Calhoun spent nearly all of the time out standing the court facing away from his team and thinking to himself.

No words were needed, it seems.

- Neill