University of Connecticut Athletics
Broadway Ben's 25 Lift UConn to BIG EAST semifinals
3/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
NEW YORK, NY (March 13) -- Sophomore guard Ben Gordon (Mt. Vernon, NY) scored 25 points while sophomore center Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) notched his 20th double-double of the season with 11 points and 18 rebounds to lead the University of Connecticut men's basketball team to an 83-70 win in the quarterfinals of the 2003 Big East Men's Basketball Championship at Madison Square Garden.
UConn will now play Syracuse, a 74-69 winner over Georgetown on Thursday, in a semifinal game at 9 p.m. Friday. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN. With the win UConn improves to 20-8 overall while Seton Hall stands at 17-12.
UConn led 36-28 at half, and opened up a lead of 14 points early in the second half, including a 51-37 edge with 13-32 left to play. The closest Seton Hall got in the second half was with 9:53 left as the Pirates cut the Husky lead to 54-49. UConn then went on a 12-2 run to take a 66-51 with 6:45 left in the contest. During that run, senior Mike Hayes scored seven of his career-high 13 points. UConn's lead would not shrink below double-digits again
UConn limited Seton Hall's leading scorer Andre Barrett to 13 points, while John Allen was the leading scorer for the Pirates with 18 points and Kelly Whitney scored 14 points.
UConn senior guard Tony Robertson (Providence, RI) added 14 points off the bench for the Huskies as he shot five-for-nine from the field including two three pointers. UConn held a 50-35 rebounding edge in the game as the Huskies registered a total of 16 offensive boards in the game. UConn never trailed in the contest and opened up a 12 point lead, 36-24, with 2:13 left to play in the first half. Seton Hall then scored the final four points of the half to make it 36-28 Huskies at intermission.
