University of Connecticut Athletics
Huskies Trounce Eagles to Claim Share of East Division Title
3/8/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
CHESTNUT HILL, MA (March 8) -- Sophomore center Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) tied his career-high with 25 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and rejected six shots and junior point guard Taliek Brown (Queens, NY) poured in a season-high 17 points on eight-of-nine shooting as the University of Connecticut men's basketball team defeated Boston College, 91-54, in front of a sellout crowd of 8,606 at the Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.
With the triumph, UConn improves to 19-8 overall and 10-6 in BIG EAST play. The victory also gives UConn a share of the BIG EAST East Division crown and guarantees the Huskies a first round bye in next week's BIG EAST Tournament. UConn will be the No. 2 seed from the East division in the tournament and will play in the quarter finals at 9:00 p.m. in Madison Square Garden against the winner of the West #3 Seton Hall vs. East #6 Miami game.
The East Division crown is UConn's eighth BIG EAST Regular Season Championship in the past 14 seasons.
The win over the Eagles tied a UConn record for largest margin of victory in a BIG EAST Conference game. UConn also beat Boston College by an 86-49 count on February 2, 1989.
Boston College slips to 17-10 on the campaign and 10-6 in conference play. The Eagles will be the No. 1 seed in the East Division in the BIG EAST tournament and face the winner of the West #4 Notre Dame vs. East #5 St. John's contest in the quarterfinals on Thursday. Boston College wins the tiebreaker with Connecticut based on a better record against East Division opponents.
UConn set the tone early, darting out to a 14-0 lead, on seven-of-ten shooting, in the first four minutes of the first half. The Eagles had no answer, missing their first five shots. For the half, BC would make only six of its 29 field goal attempts (21%), and UConn's defense never let up as BC made only two shots over the final 10 minutes of the stanza. Taliek Brown and Okafor combined to go 12-for-12 from the field in the first half and the Huskies shot a scorching 65.7% (23-of-36) as a unit. Denham Brown's (Toronto, Ontario) jumper in the final seconds of the half sent UConn to the locker room with its largest lead to that point, 49-25.
Connecticut continued its dominant play in the second half as the Eagles could get no closer than 19 points at the 15:35 mark. UConn would mount a 25-8 run over the next 8:40 to put the game out of reach.
Also leading the way for the Huskies were sophomore Ben Gordon (Mt. Vernon, NY) who had 11 points while dishing out nine assists, and turning the ball over just once, and senior Tony Robertson (Providence, RI) who chipped in with 10 points. UConn had the pedal to the metal all afternoon, out-scoring BC 22-2 on the fast break, but was in control, turning the ball over only 11 times; its lowest total in over a month.
UConn's defensive prowess limited BC senior guard Troy Bell to 15 points on just 4-of-20 shooting. Bell was averaging 30.8 points per game over the previous 12 contests and came into the game needing 34 points to become the all-time leading scorer in BIG EAST history. Craig Smith added 16 points and ten rebounds for the Eagles.
