Some postgame notes & quotes following UConn's 63-61 win over Syracuse.

Jim Calhoun, on why the team seems to be playing better defensively since the suspensions of Jerome Dyson and Doug Wiggins (who has since returned):
"That's a very good question. One of those guys (Dyson) I thought was our best individual defender. We're playing better team defense right now, out of necessity. Things happen out of necessity. They have an understanding that, if they don't play together, good things aren't going to happen."

A.J. Price, on the same topic:
"Everybody's talking, everybody understands what their assignment is. We're just playing team 'D,' finding guys who are scorers, and everybody's communicating and rotating."

Price, on the similarities between Syracuse's 2-3 zone and the 2-3 zone UConn played for most of the night:
"It was very similar, because they usually extend so much. They come out very far, past the 3-point line. We had to do that because of (Donte) Greene, and his ability to shoot from anywhere, and (Jonny) Flynn."

Some random quotes on Hasheem Thabeet, who blocked seven more shots on Wednesday and influenced about twice that:
Calhoun: "He's such a difference-maker."
Price: "He's a game-changer, the eraser. Guys beat you off the dribble, I got beat a couple of times, and he was right there to get my back. That's why he's such a dominant player on defense."
Jim Boeheim: "He's good. He's the best shot-blocker in country down there."

Rim Rattlings:
* Calhoun pulled ahead of Boeheim on the all-time wins list with 767 and now stand alone in 10th place. Lou Henson is ninth with 779. Calhoun is now 25-22 all-time against Boeheim (24-22 at UConn).
* Syracuse's Jonny Flynn turned 19 on Wednesday. Flynn, a freshman guard, played all 40 minutes and now has played every minute of each of the Orange's last five games, one of which went to overtime. That's 205 straight minutes.
* Next up: UConn's final non-conference regular-season game, on Saturday against Georgia Tech at 4 p.m. at Gampel Pavilion.