Huskies Sink Pirates in Final Home Game of the Season

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STORRS, CT (March 1, 2004) – Junior All-America Emeka Okafor scored 25 points and pulled down 15 rebounds as eighth-ranked Connecticut outscored Seton Hall, 89-67, Monday evening in the regular season home finale before a sellout crowd of 10,167 on Senior Night at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.

The win, the Huskies fifth in a row, improves the UConn record to 24-5, 12-3 in the BIG EAST. The Pirates slip to 19-8, 9-6 in conference play. The win clinches a first-round bye for UConn in next week’s BIG EAST tournament in New York City.

Okafor was tremendous in what was likely his last game in Gampel Pavilion. He made 11 of 15 shots from the field, and with his game-high totals in points and rebounds, registered his nation’s-leading 19th double-double of the campaign. He now has 48 double-doubles in his spectacular UConn career. With his offensive rebound with 14:01 remaining, Okafor grabbed his 1,000th rebound in a UConn uniform. and stands fifth all-time on the UConn rebounding list. He added four blocked shots for good measure. Ben Gordon added 23 for UConn, drilling four three-pointers while making eight of 14 shots from the field, in breaking the 20-point barrier for the 12th time this season.

The Huskies bolted from the gate, opening up an 18-9 lead just 6:16 into the contest, as Gordon and Rashad Anderson, each scored five early points. The Pirates hung close, tying the score at 30 on a 3-pointer by Donald Copeland with 5:15 to play before intermission. The Huskies, however, outscored Seton Hall, 11-4, down the stretch of the half, as Okafor scored seven points and Anderson chipped in with four points. Anderson finished with 15 points.

The Huskies concentrated on getting the ball to Okafor in the opening moments of the second half, and he responded by scoring four consecutive UConn hoops over a 2:41 span. The Huskies led 54-42, and never led by less than nine the rest of the way.

Senior point guard Taliek Brown, playing before the home crowd for the final time, had seven points, five assists and four rebounds. Also playing their final game in a UConn uniform were Shamon Tooles, Ryan Swaller and Justin Evanovich.

UConn shot 52% (33 of 63) from the field, and held Seton Hall to just 36% (26 of 73) shooting from the field. The Huskies finished with 12 blocked shots.

Seton Hall was led by John Allen, who scored 17 points, and Andre Sweet, who had 12 points and 15 rebounds.

The Huskies will play their final regular-season game of the 2003-2004 campaign when they travel to Syracuse, NY to play Syracuse on Sunday, March 7. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m., and the game will be televised by CBS.

POST GAME QUOTES
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
It was our fifth straight win and ninth out of eleven, and I’m not telling you anything you don’t know, but we are starting to play better basketball this time of the season. Seton Hall came in, and I watched them beat Pittsburgh, I’ve watched them play – they’re a very physically tough team – and I thought the best player in the country took every single thing away from what Seton Hall wanted to do.

The only thing upsetting to me tonight was that it was Senior Night.

We’re playing very good basketball at the right time of year, and we’ve got a chance to win a Big East championship on Sunday. It’s in our hands.

On Emeka Okafor
He’s maybe as good a basketball player and total package person that’s ever graced this university…Take pictures and put them away, because he’s pretty special. And it showed tonight. That’s a good Seton Hall basketball team…I grabbed Andre at the end, and I said “you’re terrific” – I think he should be first team all BigEast – but I said “tell the young kid Whitney,” who’s going to be a terrific player, “don’t put stuff in the paper because you know I’m going to give it to Emeka.” He (Whitney) said “Okafor will have to go through me.” And he did.

And he cramped up in the back again and only had 25, 15 and 4 blocked shots. What he does is he just changes the game. It almost seems unfair….He went over a thousand rebounds tonight. When did the last junior have over a thousand rebounds?

With two or three minutes to go….and I saw 50 and I knew I was going to take him out, I said, “You know, everything seemed like a great idea at the time,” that he was going to graduate in three years. Then, it didn’t seem like that great of an idea.

He’s ready, in a whole bunch of different ways. He’s going to make the decision himself….He is a finance major, and millions do mean something to a finance major.

On Gordon
Ben was more aggressive. He was terrific tonight.

On blocks
Our kids blocked 12 shots, and they aren’t the home run kind. They’re the kind that lead to fast breaks. We really have worked on that. Emeka has really started that and everybody followed, and we talk about keeping the ball in play as much as we possibly can. It really makes it so much more difficult for the opposition.

Taliek Brown
I felt a lot of love from the fans. It felt real good. I felt appreciated and it felt good.

On chants of 1 more year
I wish I could.

We got out and ran, we played D and we executed.

On Ben Gordon
Whenever he is fired up like that you just have to give him the ball because he is going to knock his shot down.

On Syracuse beating Pitt yesterday
I think that motivated everybody. That was our focus, let’s get ready for Syracuse next week.

On 4 years
It went by really quickly.

Emeka Okafor
On this being your last game at UConn
It was something to remember. I was walking out there remembering when previous seniors, hearing the song, and feeling sad for them, and now it’s my turn. I got a little caught up – I didn’t want to cry in front of everybody. I can’t really explain it.

On the 2nd half run
We just got going. I think we had a 7 point lead at halftime and it was time to move on, time to separate, and put the game away.

What sparked the team in the 2nd half?
I think it was intensity in all aspects of the game – offensive, defensive, getting rebounds, blocks, executing our offensive, making sure we do the little things like hedging, recovering and things like that.

How was your back?
In the first half, it didn’t really bother me. It started to mess with me in the 2nd half here and there. It slowed me down a little.

On playing through the back pain
I was just thinking if this happens in the middle of the tournament, I’m not going to sit out and watch my team go out there without me. I have to learn how to deal with this. So I figured I have to condition myself. You get used to pain. The first time around is a shock, but the more times you play with it the more it dulls itself out.

What did you think of Ben Gordon’s play?
Ben was just being Ben. Ben realizes it’s that time of year where we really need him to pick up and get going, and he responded well.

Do you think the team’s peaking at the right time?
I think so. We have 5 losses. You could say we’re disappointed with 5 losses. But we learned a lot of things from those 5 losses. We lost those games in 5 different ways, ad every single time we lose it burns in our minds. It instills in us how we’re not supposed to play. I think we’ve come back pretty strong and these games are starting to show that.

Ben Gordon
We knew coming in they were a really tough team. They beat Pittsburgh and beat some other quality teams. We knew they were no slouches. So for us to win like this makes us really happy about our performance.

I just wanted to come out and have fun – that was my main focus. A couple of games before, I found myself not really having that much fun in the game. Tonight I wanted to have fun and just play basketball.

On coming out quickly and then getting Emeka involved in the 2nd half
I tried to be real aggressive coming out. Once the flow of the game started changing, I just started to kick it down to Emeka and he started doing his thing.

On the defensive effort on Andre Barrett
Andre is a really good player. Taliek did a tremendous job on him tonight. He (Barrett) beat him a couple of times in the first half, and Taliek just decided he was going to lock him down for the rest of the game.

On shooting better at Gampel
I think everyone playing on their home court is going to be more confident or be more assertive than away. This is a nice place to play. We have great fans and the support is tremendous.

On this being the team’s most complete game at both ends of the floor in a long time
We were struggling the last couple games prior to this one. We were playing good defense, but we shot the ball terribly or got out-rebounded. This is probably one of the first games in a couple games where we did everything. We kind of put everything together.

On Emeka Okafor’s play (25 points, 15 rebounds)
That’s something he’s going to do every night. He’s really consistent. He comes to play every night. That was a really good way for him to leave his legacy at UConn.

He’s one of those players that not much is going to stop him. He had some back spasms – it kind of hurt every time he walked down the court. But a person who has tremendous focus and he showed that tonight. He still had a real good game.

Was this your last game for UConn?
I don’t know. Time will tell. I think for me to make a statement like that it’s not really the time.

Rashad Anderson
On being looser as a team
We like to clown around with each other, we are like a family and that is what we try to do every game, and just in general during the day.

On seniors leaving
It is kind of sad, but you have to move on with your life. They are ready to move on, I’m happy for them. Everybody is on pace to graduate, it is a wonderful thing.

On what he is going to remember of the seniors
All of the road trips we have taken, all of the ups and downs. Being there for each other.

On if there is anyone he wants to play in the BIG EAST tournament
Without question…one game in particular, I’d like to be playing Pittsburgh Saturday night for the BIG EAST Championship. Sold out crowd.

On Emeka Okafor
He continues to amaze. If he is not the player of the year I don’t know who else is. Without a question he’s the best player in college basketball. He is just a hard worker, in the classroom and on the court. He just continues to get better at whatever he does. When he needs to get better he continues to work on it.

On what he likes about Emeka
When I get beat on the baseline I can always count on him. I don’t have to worry looking over my shoulder at coach and hearing the horn. Emeka blocks the shot and I’m still in there.

Seton Hall Head Coach Louis Orr
There is not a whole lot I can say. Connecticut was awful good tonight. We got out of synch with the fouls…when you have 2 of your best scorers on the bench (Barrett and Whitney) it is tough to get a rhythm. I have to commend our guys….all of the guys who came off of the bench they did a good job. We didn’t play hard enough or compete hard enough in transition and on the boards…as hard as we needed to. We didn’t play hard enough to beat Connecticut tonight. We would have had to play our A game in the second half and we didn’t bring the energy there…that is disappointing. But, I have to give Connecticut credit because they played very well…we play inside out and they got 12 blocks….they lead the country in blocks….their transition offense is the best in the country. We didn’t work hard enough, that is a big part of it. And Okafor, he is a big load, he’s tough. But, you’ve got to bounce back. We haven’t lost like this all year long…and whether it is 22 or 2 it is just one loss. We’ll bounce back.

We kept going at them. I think we missed some shots that we could have made. I’m sure that even when they didn’t block them that they changed some shots or rushed some shots…that’s what shot blockers do. When you have shot blockers…and I learned this in the NBA…it makes a big difference. For us we would have had to shoot it awfully well from the perimeter…and it is tough to score inside when you’ve got Okafor and Boone, and Villanueva. You’ve got to go at them strong and tough…but that didn’t work out for us tonight…we got into transition.

On Okafor…He’s gotten better. He’s more fluid out there on the court offensively. It doesn’t look like uses much energy…he plays hard.

They shot the ball extremely well. I don’t know if it there is a tougher 1-2 punch in Okafor and Gordon in the country. Inside out….that is a tough matchup. They had a very good game.