University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Roll Past Stanford and into Sweet 16
3/22/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SPOKANE, WA (March 22) -- Sophomore guard Ben Gordon (Mt. Vernon, NY) scored 29 points on eight-for-14 shooting from the field including four-of-five from three point range and sophomore center Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) notched his 21st double-double of the year with 18 points and 15 rebounds as the #5 seed University of Connecticut men's basketball team defeated #4 seed Stanford, 85-74, in the second round of the NCAA Division I men's basketball Championship in Spokane, Washington.
With the triumph, UConn advances to the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in eleven NCAA Tournament appearances under Head Coach Jim Calhoun and improves to 23-9 on the season while Stanford finishes its season at 24-9.
Stanford led at halftime by a 44-40 count and the Huskies took the lead for the first time in the second half when Gordon connected on a three pointer with 16:56 left to play, making it, 49-47, Huskies. Stanford then opened up a three point lead on two different occasions, but the Huskies took the lead for good, 58-56, on Okafor's jumper with 13:25 remaining.
The Huskies played particularly well when Okafor went to the bench with his fourth personal foul with 6:05 left in the contest. The Huskies led by six when Okafor was whistled for his fourth, and increased that lead for the rest of the game.
Joining Okafor and Gordon in double-figures for UConn were a pair of guards that came off the bench-Tony Robertson (Providence, RI) with 11 points and Rashad Anderson (Lakeland, Fl) with 10. UConn played outstanding defense in the second half, limiting the Cardinal to 39.3% shooting (11-for-28) after Stanford shot 47.1% in the first half.
Stanford had three players in double-figure scoring led by Julius Barnes with 23 points while Justin Davis recorded a double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Rob little added 12 points for Stanford.
Connecticut will face the winner of the Texas vs. Purdue match-up set to tip-off Sunday at 4:40pm.
