University of Connecticut Athletics
Men's Basketball Hoping to Stay Hot at Virginia Tech
2/16/2001 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
ABOUT UCONN: Connecticut will carry a 16-8 overall record and a 5-6 BIG EAST mark into the game at Virginia Tech. UConn is coming off an 82-71 league win over No. 9 nationally-ranked Boston College on February 13.
ABOUT VIRGINIA TECH: Virginia Tech will carry an 8-15 overall record and a 2-10 league mark into the contest with UConn. The Hokies are coming off a 72-69 league loss to West Virginia on February 14.
SERIES HISTORY: This is only the second meeting in the sport of men’s basketball between UConn and Virginia Tech.
FIRST MEETING THIS SEASON: Senior Albert Mouring scored a career-high 31 points to lead UConn to an 85-72 win in the first ever meeting between the schools in the sport of men’s basketball. UConn coach Jim Calhoun missed most of the second half with flu-like symptoms. The win snapped a five-game UConn losing streak.
EAST DIVISION GAME: The matchup between Connecticut and Virginia Tech will be the 11th BIG EAST Conference “East Division” game of the season for the Huskies. UConn and Virginia Tech are two of seven BIG EAST squads competing in the East Division of the league. The 16-game BIG EAST regular season schedule will see UConn play two games each against all six East Division opponents (Boston College, Miami, Providence, St. John’s, Villanova, Virginia Tech) and single games against four (Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Seton Hall, Syracuse) of the seven teams in the West Division. UConn will not play Georgetown, Rutgers and West Virginia during the 2000-2001 regular season. Connecticut is 5-6 in BIG EAST play and 4-6 vs. East Division teams. Virginia Tech is 2-10 in the league, 2-8 in the East Division.
EVERYTHING IN THE BIG EAST: Connecticut has five regular season games remaining on its 2000-2001 schedule and all six are BIG EAST Conference games, two at home and three on the road. UConn is 5-6 in its first 11 BIG EAST games this season. In its 13 non-conference regular season games, the Huskies posted an 11-2 record.
FOUR HUSKIES HAVE “DOUBLE DOUBLE” EFFORTS: When UConn senior center Souleymane Wane recorded an 11-point, 14- rebound effort vs. Villanova on January 24, he became the fourth member of the 2000-2001 Husky squad to record a “double-double” this season. Senior forward Edmund Saunders has had five “double-doubles” this season, including netting 14 points and 11 rebounds vs. Miami (Jan. 20). UConn freshman Caron Butler has registered four “double-doubles” (21 points, 12 rebounds vs. Brown, 16 points, 10 assists vs. Fairfield, 29 points, 13 rebounds vs. Boston College (1/3) and 17 points, 11 rebounds vs. Boston College (2/13)). Butler also notched a rare “triple-double” with 14 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists vs. Rhode Island. Freshman point guard Taliek Brown had a “double-double” with 10 points and 10 assists vs. Pittsburgh (Jan. 10).
CARON SETS STANDARD AMONG HUSKY ROOKIES: UConn freshman Caron Butler has set a new standard among freshmen playing at Connecticut during coach Jim Calhoun’s 15 years as Husky head coach. The 6-7 Butler scored in double figures in each of his first 13 collegiate games in which he played before being held below double figures against Texas (Jan. 15). Butler, who sat out the first three UConn games of the 2000-2001 season, started his Husky career with 20 points vs. Louisville (Nov. 22) and followed that with scoring efforts of 21, 15, 18, 16, 14, 16, 14, 10, 29, 15, 11, and 12 points. Butler has scored in double figures in 20 of his first 21 college games and his current scoring average of 15.6/game ranks No. 1 under Jim Calhoun among freshmen in their first 21 college contests. Following are the scoring statistics in their first 21 collegiate games for other heralded UConn freshman players under Jim Calhoun.
Caron Butler 328 points=15.6/game Khalid El-Amin 313 points=14.9/game Ray Allen 277 points=13.2/game Richard Hamilton 272 points=13.0/game Doron Sheffer 249 points=11.9/game Nadav Henefeld 224 points=10.7/game Donyell Marshall 216 points=10.3/game Tate George 196 points=9.3/game Scott Burrell 185 points=8.8/game Chris Smith 182 points=8.7/gameCAREER-HIGH FOR TALIEK: Freshman point guard Taliek Brown registered a career-best 21 points in the win over nationally-ranked Boston College. Brown’s previous best had been 12 points. He hit 7-of-13 shots from the field, including a pair of three-pointers and made five-of-seven from the free throw line. It was the first time this season that Taliek led the Huskies in scoring. For the season, he is fifth on the squad in scoring at 8.2 points per game.
ROBERTSON IN DOUBLES: Sophomore guard Tony Robertson has put together a productive stretch over the past four games, hitting for double figures in all four contests. Robertson scored 11 vs. Virginia Tech, 13 vs. Providence, 10 vs. Villanova and 14 vs. Boston College. Robertson has scored in double figures nine times in 2000-2001 and turned the trick nine times as a freshman in 1999-2000 as well.
ALBERT MOURING JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB: Connecticut senior guard Albert Mouring became the 32nd member of the Connecticut men’s basketball 1,000-point scoring club during the Texas game (Jan. 15). Mouring will enter the Virginia Tech game ranked No. 29 in career scoring with 1,112 points in 105 college contests (10.5/game). He is the 14th UConn player to perform under head coach Jim Calhoun who has reached the 1,000-point scoring plateau.
TALIEK IMPROVES FROM THE LINE: Freshman point guard Taliek Brown has made a stunning improvement from the free throw line during the course of his first season. Brown made only 13-of-43 free throw attempts in his first 11 games, a 30.2% clip. In the 13 games since, Brown has made 25-of-34 from the charity stripe, or 73.5% of his attempts. Brown is 38-of-77 overall (49.4%). More impressively, Brown is shooting 68.0% from the line in the final five minutes of games, hitting on 17-of-25 chances.
EDMUND NO. 3 IN CAREER FIELD GOAL SHOOTING: UConn senior Edmund Saunders stands in the No. 2 spot on Connecticut’s career field goal percentage shooting list. In 92 games during his Connecticut career, Saunders has converted 282 of 518 field goal attempts for a 54.4% field goal shooting performance. Chuck Aleksinas (1980-82) is No. 1 in career field goal shooting at 56.6% and Rod Sellers is No. 2 at 54.8%.
FOUR IN DOUBLE FIGURES: Connecticut will enter the game against Virginia Tech with four players scoring in double figures. Senior guard Albert Mouring leads the way for the Huskies with a 15.8/game average. Freshman forward Caron Butler is No. 2 with a 15.6/game scoring average. Junior forward Johnnie Selvie is third at 11.6/game and senior forward Edmund Saunders is fourth at 10.5/game.
ALL-CENTURY GUARDS NAMED; 25-MEMBER TEAM COMPLETE: Ten players, led by Honorary Captain Ray Allen, have been named as the guards on the University of Connecticut Men’s Basketball All-Century Team.
The 10 guards named to the 25-member UConn Basketball All-Century Team include: Ray Allen (1993-96), Wes Bialosuknia (1964-67), Khalid El-Amin (1997-00), Tate George (1986-90), Richard Hamilton (1996-99), Earl Kelley (1982-86), Ricky Moore (1995-99), Kevin Ollie (1991-95), Doron Sheffer (1993-96), Chris Smith (1988-92).
The UConn Basketball All-Century Team centers include: Walt Dropo (1942-47), Art Quimby (1951-55), Toby Kimball (1962-65), Bill Corley (1965-68), Travis Knight (1992-96), Jake Voskuhl (1996-00).
The nine forwards named to the UConn Basketball All- Century Team include: Vin Yokabaskas (1949-52), Tony Hanson (1973-77), Corny Thompson (1978-82), Clifford Robinson (1985- 89), Nadav Henefeld (1989-90), Scott Burrell (1989-93), Donyell Marshall (1991-94), Donny Marshall (1991-95), Kevin Freeman (1996-00).
A Connecticut Basketball All-Century Team Celebration and Awards Dinner will be held during the summer at a date and place to be announced.
The UConn men’s basketball program is celebrating a century of varsity competition during the current 2000-2001 college basketball season. The first varsity year for men’s basketball at Connecticut was the 1901-1902 season.
RECORD-SETTING SPAN: During the past 12 seasons (beginning with the 1989-90 season), head coach Jim Calhoun has directed the Connecticut basketball program to an overall record of 299-92 (76.5% winning effort), the sixth best overall record (total wins) among the 318 NCAA Division I teams in the nation. Prior to Jim Calhoun’s tenure as head coach, Connecticut had only won as many as 23 games in a single season twice in the first 86 years of the program’s history (1900-1986). Since the 1989-90 season, UConn has “averaged” 25.6 wins per season.
CONNECTICUT HAS 212 WINS IN LAST EIGHT SEASONS: During the past eight basketball seasons (beginning with the 1993- 94 season), Connecticut has won 212 games (212-52), ranking the Huskies No. 3 in the nation among 318 NCAA Division I schools for total victories during that span. UConn has averaged 28 wins per year during the past seven full seasons. The only Division I schools with more wins than UConn during the past eight years are Kentucky and Kansas.
13 STRAIGHT NATIONAL POST-SEASON BIDS: The Connecticut basketball program is one of only EIGHT schools (among 318 NCAA Division I institutions) to advance to national post- season tournament competition (NCAA or NIT) in each of the past 13 seasons (dating back to the 1987-88 season). Under the guidance of head coach Jim Calhoun, UConn has earned nine NCAA bids (1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999, 2000) and four NIT bids (1988, 1989, 1993, 1997). The eight institutions which have advanced to national tournament play for the past 13 consecutive seasons include: Arizona, Arkansas, CONNECTICUT, Georgetown, Indiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Temple.
NATIONAL RANKING IN AP POLL SNAPPED: The University of Connecticut men’s basketball program had its school record run of 67 consecutive polling periods ranked in the Associated Press National Top 25 poll halted when the Huskies dropped out of the AP poll (Jan. 29, 2001). UConn began its run in the National Top 25 at the start of the 1997- 98 season (18 polls in 1997-98, 18 polls in 1998-99, 19 polls in 1999-00, 12 polls in 2000-01). Included in those national rankings were 10 consecutive weeks ranked No. 1 in the nation during UConn’s national championship season in 1998- 99, and the No. 1 ranking in the 1999-2000 preseason poll.
UCONN—BIG EAST TEAM OF THE 1990’S: During the decade of the 1990’s, the Connecticut men’s basketball program was the winningest program among all BIG EAST Conference schools. From 1989-90 through the 1998-99 season, UConn sported a 10-year overall record of 257-74 (77.6%). In that same span, UConn’s conference-best regular season record in BIG EAST games was 127-49.
UCONN HAS DOMINATED THE BIG EAST: Connecticut has won outright possession of five BIG EAST Conference regular season titles in the past seven years. UConn has also won three of the past five BIG EAST Tournament championships. In 1997-98 & 1998-99, UConn became the first program in BIG EAST history to win the BIG EAST regular season and tournament titles in back-to-back seasons.
HUSKIES WIN ON THE ROAD IN THE BIG EAST: The Connecticut basketball program is the leader in BIG EAST Conference regular season road wins during the past 12 years. Since the start of the 1989-90 season, Connecticut has posted a BIG EAST “best” 63-38 road record in league regular season games. Syracuse (59-42) is the only other BIG EAST school sporting a winning percentage in BIG EAST road games during the past 12-year span.
ALSO WINNING AT HOME IN THE BIG EAST: In addition to its highly-successful road record in the BIG EAST, the Connecticut basketball program has paced the entire BIG EAST Conference in regular season wins at home during the past 12-year span (beginning with the 1989-90 season). UConn has posted a 79-23 record at home in BIG EAST games during the past 12 years. Syracuse is No. 2 in victories at home during the past 12 years (73-29).
UCONN 175-106 AGAINST BIG EAST TEAMS UNDER JIM CALHOUN: The Connecticut men’s basketball program has posted an overall record of 175-106 (62.3%) against BIG EAST Conference teams during Jim Calhoun’s first 15 years in charge of the UConn program (155-96 in regular season play, 19-10 in BIG EAST Tournament games, 1-0 in NIT play).
UCONN 170-32 AGAINST NON-CONFERENCE FOES UNDER JIM CALHOUN: The Connecticut men’s basketball program has posted an overall record of 170-32 (84.2%) against non- conference teams in Jim Calhoun’s 15 years in charge of the UConn program.
MOST WINS IN A THREE-YEAR STRETCH: The last three seasons of Connecticut Basketball have produced an overall record of 91-17 (32-5 in 1997-98, 34-2 in 1998-99, 25-10 in 1999- 00), the most wins in any three-season stretch in UConn’s 100-year basketball history and an average of 30.3 wins per season.
100 YEARS OF UCONN BASKETBALL: Connecticut Basketball is celebrating a “Century of Husky Hoops” during the 2000-2001 college basketball season. The first varsity season for Connecticut Basketball was the 1901-1902 season and the 2000-2001 season completes 100 Years of UConn Basketball.
GORDON SIGNS WITH UCONN: Ben Gordon, a 6-2 combination guard at Mount Vernon (NY) HS, signed a National Letter of Intent with the Connecticut Basketball program during the November signing period and plans to enroll at UConn for the 2001-2002 academic year. Gordon, rated among the Top 20 scholastic recruits in the nation and the USA Today New York Player of the Year as a junior, averaged 24.6 points, 4.1 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 3.7 steals during his junior season at Mount Vernon in 1999-2000. “Ben is obviously an important recruit for us,” said UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. “We believe he is one of the top 20 high school players in the country. He’s a terrific shooter who can put it down, score, and do a lot of things on the court.”
SWAIN JOINS UCONN: Robert Swain, a 6-4 freshman from College Park, Georgia, joined the UConn men’s basketball program beginning with the Rhode Island game (Dec. 26)—wearing uniform No. 2. Swain began classes at UConn on January 23 (spring semester). Swain averaged 29 points, eight rebounds and five assists a game during the 1999-2000 scholastic season in leading Tri-Cities High School (East Point, Georgia) to a 25-4 record and a regional championship.
UP NEXT-ON TO THE DOME: Following the game against Virginia Tech, UConn remains on the road, heading to Syracuse for an ESPN Big Monday contest on February 19 against the Orangemen at the Carrier Dome. The game can also be heard on the UConn Radio Network, with WTIC-AM 1080 as the flagship station.
TICKETS AVAILABLE FOR UCONN HOME GAMES IN HARTFORD: Reserved tickets, priced at $25 each, are on sale for the final remaining Connecticut home game in the Hartford Civic Center (Notre Dame-Feb. 26). Tickets are available at TicketMaster outlets throughout the state, by calling TicketMaster at (860) 525- 4500 or (203) 624-0033, by ordering on-line at www.ticketmaster.com, at the Hartford Civic Center Box Office, or in person at the UConn Athletic Ticket Office in Storrs (cash or check only). Kyle Muncy University of Connecticut Assistant Director/Athletic Communications 860-486-3531 phone 860-486-5085 fax kyle.muncy@uconn.edu
