El-Amin Sparks UConn Victory

Seton Hall was riding a three-game winning streak when it ran into a somewhat lame, but very game No. 6 Connecticut on Sunday at Hartford, Conn.

The Huskies (15-4, 4-3 Big East) rallied behind scoring leader Khalid El-Amin, who had been nursing a deep thigh bruise, to defeat the Pirates, 66-56. El-Amin said by Sunday morning he wasn’t sure if he could play.

“I just wanted to go ahead and give it a shot,” said El-Amin, who led the Huskies with 16 points. “I was able to run, I was able to compete and I wanted to come out here and play.”

El-Amin, a junior point guard, leads Connecticut with a 17-point average. He injured his right leg Thursday in a win against Providence and has practiced only lightly since.

Seton Hall (13-4, 5-2) kept it close early behind the three-point shooting of sophomore guard Darius Lane and post defense of 6-foot-11 freshman Samuel Dalembert.

The Huskies regained the lead for good on a 12-8 run, fueled by El-Amin’s six points. Albert Mouring’s three-point basket with 8:35 left capped the spurt to give Connecticut a 25-24 lead. The Huskies took a 36-32 lead at halftime.

No. 9 Michigan State 91, Illinois 66--Charlie Bell scored 20 points and Morris Peterson had 18 as the Spartans (15-5, 6-1 in the Big Ten) gave Coach Tom Izzo a victory over the Fighting Illini (11-7, 3-4) at East Lansing, Mich., on his 45th birthday.

No. 15 Oklahoma State 67, Baylor 51--Brian Montonati scored all 13 of his points in the first half when the Cowboys (16-2, 5-1 in the Big 12) took control and coasted to a sloppy victory over the Bears (10-8, 1-6) at Stillwater, Okla.