Say this about Uconn coach Jim Calhoun. He knows how to coach in big games. The Hall of Famer who’s guided the Huskies to two national championships and six Big East Tournament victories came away with an impressive five-point road victory over No.7 ranked Indiana (17-2) in Bloomington- snapping the Hoosiers’ 29-game home winning streak.

Despite suspending starting guard Jerome Dyson (14.3 PPG ranks 2nd on team) and backup guard Doug Wiggins, Calhoun’s young team still came away with an impressive come from behind 68-63 victory over Kevin Sampson’s strong perimeter oriented Hoosiers Saturday.

“It obviously isn’t something that is making me particularly happy,” Calhoun acknowledged to The Hartford Courant the previous night at an Indiana hotel.

“This particular suspension is mine, no one else’s. I took the action based upon what I felt was in the best interest of our basketball team and the university.”

It just makes Connecticut’s (14-5, 4-3 Big East) well earned road victory over a tough opponent in a great atmosphere all the more impressive. The Huskies were led by starting point guard A.J. Price who had a solid all around game finishing with 14 points, six rebounds and six assists.

The junior out of Amityville, New York led a balanced attack which featured five Huskies hitting double digits including Craig Austrie who replaced Dyson in the starting lineup and scored nine of his team best 15 from the charity stripe down the stretch. The junior who usually comes off the bench for Calhoun shoots better than 93 percent from the line and did in the Hoosiers by going nine-for-12 to put away the game.

Uconn showed enough poise to offset 11 three-pointers including six from Indiana’s Armon Bassett- two more by his lonesome than their four from downtown.

Part of the reason the Huskies prevailed was that they were able to limit one of the best freshmen in the country Eric Gordon to 14 on five of 16 shooting including just one-for-five from behind the arc. The talented guard who stars for his hometown school entered averaging better than 22-per-game including over 41 percent from three. Uconn was able to get him into foul trouble (four fouls) and limit his effectiveness.

One of the big differences in the two teams was the Huskies’ ability to score inside. They were plus-18 inside the paint thanks to bigs Jeff Adrien (11 pts), Stanley Robinson (11 pts) and 7-3 giant Hasheem Thabeet (12 pts on six-of-seven FG). That kind of size advantage gave them a decided edge (34-16) despite Indiana senior power forward D.J. White getting 13 despite four fouls.

The Huskies aren’t known as a great free throw shooting team but they got their share going to the line 18 more times than the Hoosiers (six-of-eight), finishing a respectable 18-for-26.

They won despite the Big Ten’s No.1 shooting team jumping out to a quick nine-point lead on three treys. Trailing 16-4 in the first half, Calhoun’s club went on a 12-1 run to go up 19-16 with over seven minutes left, never relinquishing the lead.

Their aggressive D limited the Hoosiers to 37.1 percent overall and just 27.6 pct in the first half.

This was a very good win for the Huskies who clearly are improving. They recently beat No.13 Marquette by 16. This could be a dangerous team come March. Especially with the solid mix of guards and inside presence.

One thing is certain. Don’t bet against Calhoun. He might be a little arrogant but the guy knows how to win. I don’t think I’d want to see them in my bracket come tournament time.