It took A.J. Price two minutes and 33 seconds to knock down his first shot of the game, a 3-pointer to give Connecticut an early 7-2 lead. More than 35 minutes and seven 3-pointers later, he had finished off Marquette exactly how he started.

Price was hot from everywhere in Connecticut's 93-82 victory over the Golden Eagles Wednesday night, going 12-of-20 from the field and 8-of-13 from downtown to finish with 36 points. His performance, as well that of Stanley Robinson (19 points, 10 rebounds), carried the Huskies on a night where their second leading scorer, Jeff Adrien, could only muster two free throws.

"Lazar (Hayward), Wes (Matthews) and even Jimmy (Butler) did a really good job on Jeff Adrien," Marquette coach Buzz Williams said. "I think he's the heart and soul of their team."

But the game was all about Price.

The senior guard, who came in to the game fourth on the Huskies in scoring at 12.3 points per game, hit big shot after big shot to halt a number of Golden Eagle runs. His 3-pointer with 8:09 left in the first half helped squash a brief Marquette three-point lead and was the second consecutive 3-pointer for the Huskies in a huge 16-0 run. His final 3-pointer, with 1:12 remaining, put Connecticut up eight, 89-81, and ended any chance of a Marquette upset.

"When I look what A.J. did, I think of Ben (Gordon), I think of Ray (Allen) and I think of Richard (Hamilton) — some of the best players we've had," Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said. "Some of those best players that we've had that can really light up the gym."

Maurice Acker, who played 33 minutes in place of the injured Dominic James, said Price was nearly unstoppable.

"He had a great night," Acker said. "All the shots were falling. There's nothing we can do about that."

While Price shot his way to a great game, Robinson dunked his way.

The 6-foot-9 junior forward slammed home a number of thunderous dunks en route to perhaps his best game of the season. His 19 points were a season-high.

"Stanley's absolutely one of the most wonderful kids," Calhoun said. "I couldn't have been happier with his performance."

Despite playing with its biggest size disadvantage so far this season, Marquette found a way to prevent the big bodies of Thabeet and Adrien from dominating on the offensive end. Although Thabeet did finish with 14 points and 15 rebounds, almost all the damage came in the second half, allowing the Golden Eagles to stay with the No. 2-ranked Huskies for 38 minutes.

Thanks primarily to Thabeet and Robinson, Connecticut dominated Marquette 46-26 on the boards, leading to a 26-4 advantage in second-chance points. Williams didn't chalk the deficits up to effort, however.

"As it relates to the game, I thought our guys absolutely competed their guts out," Williams said. "Even though we lost, I don't know if I've been more proud of their effort in a loss or a win."