By WILLIAM S. PAXTON Associated Press
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) _ Tyler Polley paced a balanced UConn offense with 12 points in a 66-56 victory over Saint Peter's on Wednesday. Nine of the 10 Huskies who played finished with at least a basket.
Freshman Jalen Gaffney added 10 points and five assists, while Akok Akok had seven points, eight rebounds and five blocks. Polley was 4 of 6 on 3-pointers and UConn (7-3) shot 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from the perimeter.
Aaron Estrada had 12 points and Daryl Banks III scored 10 to lead the Peacocks (2-5), who shot 62.5 percent (5-for-8) on 3s.
The two teams combined for 51 turnovers, with UConn scoring 22 points on 25 mistakes by Saint Peter's. The Peacocks scored 19 points on UConn's season-high 26.
Christian Vital and James Bouknight each scored seven points and UConn shot 61.7 percent (13-for-21) to lead 40-22 at the half. It was the Huskies' largest halftime lead of the season, with the previous being nine (36-27) against Miami.
Tied at 10, UConn outscored Saint Peter's 22-4 in just over eight minutes to take a commanding 32-14 lead with 3:55 to play in the first half.
The UConn bench, which scored just five points in a loss to Indiana last week, had 16 at the half, led by Bouknight, and contributed 26 overall. BIG PICTURE Saint Peter's: The Peacocks had won three of their last four coming into the UConn game, but have struggled on the road, falling to 0-3.
UConn: The Huskies were coming off a seven-day break, but once again followed a tough loss with a decisive victory to avoid its first multi-game losing streak of the season. UP NEXT
Saint Peter's is on a four-game road trip with the second stop coming Sunday at Long Island University.
UConn plays New Hampshire on Sunday in the second of a three-game homestand.
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