PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Corey Chandler gave Rutgers a boost with a baseline jumper just before the halftime buzzer, and Rutgers trails No. 15 UConn by only six, 43-37, at halftime.

Chandler started to show some rhythm toward the end of the first half with smooth-looking jumper off a screen and roll, but Jeff Adrien has been too much for the Scarlet Knights to handle, posting a game-high 16 points in the first half.

Craig Austrie has complemented Adrien's frontcourt play with fine shooting in the backcourt, making both of his threes to tally eight points. Stanley Robinson has seven and Doug Wiggins has five for the Huskies, who are welcoming back sophomore guard Jerome Dyson (three points) after his suspension last month.

One of the biggest surprises has been absence of Hasheem Thabeet in the Huskies' scoring line, as the sophomore center did not tally a point in the first half, going 0-for-3 and grabbing five rebounds.

Rutgers, on the other hand, has gotten much of its scoring from its bench and from one player in particular in guard-forward combo Earl Pettis, who has a team-high 11 points on 5-of-5 shooting (1-for-1 from three) from the field. Corey Chandler has dropped in eight and Byron James added seven to the Scarlet Knight's scoresheet, which also shows the home team shooting a solid 48.4-percent clip.

But it hasn't been able to overcome what UConn has done so far, hitting 53.6 percent of its shots and nine of its first 10 free throws. Rutgers, meanwhile, has only gotten to the line four times so far.

The second half is about to get going so we'll turn our attention to the two teams taking the floor for the final 20 minutes of tonight's game.