Leave it to Jim Calhoun to sum up Ryan Boatright's night as follows:

“He played awful tonight,” Calhoun said. “He made a big play (but) he was awful tonight. It’s the first game that I would say, for a really good player, he was awful … he was part of the problem when he came in. He read the scoreboard and thought it was time for us just to go. And he hurt us a little bit. But being the kind of competitor he is, he makes a big shot to put the game away.”

Boatright's 3-pointer was the big shot in UConn's 79-71 win over Fairfield. He followed by grabbing a rebound and hitting Jeremy Lamb with a long pass for a dunk, then hitting a pair of free throws to seal the deal.

“It was wide-open,” Boatright said. “The shot clock was going down, I was in rhythm. I just took it and knocked it down. I’ve been in a lot of pressure situations in my life. I know how to deal with them.”

But Calhoun wasn't pleased with the rest of Boatright's night. He wasn't pleased with watching his team squander a 22-point lead to to just three late in the game, either.

“We looked at the scoreboard and decided it was time to go home for Christmas,” Calhoun said.

Calhoun also was hit with his first technical of the season, by Michael Stephens with about 6 1/2 minutes left in the first half. And he was quite cranky after the game, particularly when asked about the Andre Drummond/Michael Bradley scholarship situation.

“We gave you the information at the time, which was correct," he said. "My first responsibility wasn’t to tell the press what was going on, because It’s none of your business. It’s a private matter between two young men.”

Perhaps Calhoun was most peeved about the fact that this is the last game he'll be able to coach until Jan. 7 at Rutgers. In fact, after a Christmas Night practice, he won't even be able to coach during practices until after the Jan. 3 Seton Hall game.

That's different than what happened last year to Bruce Pearl, who was suspended Tennessee's first eight SEC games for lying to the NCAA but was able to coach during practices -- and even coach a non-conference game vs. UConn in the middle of the penalty.

The difference is that Pearl's penalty was levied by the SEC; Calhoun's by the NCAA.

“Call Indianapolis," Calhoun shrugged. "They sent us an interpretation, telling me simply that I can’t coach the team."

Calhoun will meet back up with his team on Jan. 4 in New York, where the Huskies will be staying in between the Seton Hall and Rutgers games.

"I'm going to miss the team, obviously," he added. "It’ll be very difficult for me, but they’ll be in good hands. We're 10-0 ... and I'll see them in New York."

*** While Tyler Olander’s team got the victory, Ryan Olander got a lot of bragging rights in the battle between brothers. Both players went scoreless in the first half, but Ryan wound up with eight points and eight rebounds, including a powerful dunk late in the game that brought the Stags to within six.

Tyler finished with just two points and two boards.

Worse for Tyler, he was soundly rejected by his brother midway through the second half.

“They’ll be talking about that for a while,” said Stags coach Sydney Johnson.

Said Ryan about the sibling showdown: “It was exciting, but I’m glad it’s over now. It’s an experience not many people can say they’ve had. I’m lucky to share that with my family.”

The Olanders mother, Tracy, led the pregame Pledge of Allegiance, and the entire family wore t-shirts that said “FairConn” on the front.

Groundhog Day doesn’t officially come for another 10 days, but college basketball’s version will transpire this afternoon at the XL Center in Hartford.

After sitting out the last four games, Tennessee men’s coach Bruce Pearl will emerge, cast his rather large shadow on the sideline in the Volunteers’ 2 p.m. (CBS) showdown with UConn, then crawl back into his hole for four more games once today’s matchup is over.

Back in November, Pearl was suspended for the Vols’ first eight Southeastern Conference games by league commissioner Mike Slive for violating NCAA rules and misleading investigators. That came on top of the university’s self-imposed sanctions, which dock Pearl $1.5 million in salary over the next five years and banned him from participating in off-campus recruiting for a year.

However, smack dab in the middle of those first eight SEC games is the non-conference test with the eighth-ranked Huskies (15-2). Pearl admitted it’s a bit of an awkward situation and said he considered sitting out the UConn game, as well, but quickly figured doing so would serve no purpose.

(By the way: didn't Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald get fired for lying to NCAA investigators? Count me as one who thinks Pearl got off fairly lightly).

Here's what Bruce Pearl had to say about Saturday's bout with UConn. He admits he "thought about" not coaching the game -- in the midst of his eight-game suspension from SEC games -- but didn't know what purpose that would serve Pearl believes his school's self-imposed penalties are enough:

http://utsports.tv/mens-sports/bruce-pearl-comments-jan-19/

Interesting situation with Bruce Pearl, who'll be docked about $1.5 million over the length of his current contract after admitting to lying to the NCAA. That's a lot of dimes back. His original crime? Excessive phone calls to recruits. Sound familiar? (Yes, I know, there is a lot more to UConn's situation -- most notably, the program's association with Josh Nochimson).

It's worth wondering whether Pearl should actually keep his job. Patrick Sellers and Beau Archibald, after all, each "resigned" after allegedly lying to or misleading NCAA investigators.

Pearl will still get paid handsomely, and still have multiple avenues to make up for his lost wages. While this seems like a severe penalty, I'm inclined to believe he'd prefer to lose this money than to give up multiple scholarships or suffer a postseason ban, thus hurting his product on the basketball court. The NCAA could still impose stiffer penalties, but I highly doubt it.

Anyway, we'll see Brucie in Storrs this winter. Could be an interesting pregame chat with Jim Calhoun.