Gordon Sparks Second-Half Run to Overcome Virginia Tech, 83-65
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(Hartford, CT) January 14, 2003—Sophomore Ben Gordon (Mt.
Vernon, NY) scored 24 points and the sixth-ranked Connecticut Huskies used a
26-4 run midway through the second half to overcome pesky Virginia Tech, 83-65,
Tuesday, before a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center.
The win improves the UConn record to 11-1, 2-0 in the
league. The Hokies slip to 6-8, 0-2 in the loop.
Virginia Tech led 43-39 at the half and maintained the four
point advantage at 53-49 with 13:29 to play before freshman Rashad Anderson
(Lakeland, FL) hit three free throws among seven straight points by Anderson to
instigate the key run that left UConn ahead 75-57 exactly 10 minutes later.
Sophomore center Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) scored eight points in the decisive
spurt.
 Gordon was solid throughout the contest, hitting on nine of
13 field goals, including three of five from beyond the arc, and also dished out
five assists. Okafor overcame a sluggish beginning to score 19 and yank down 12
rebounds, his 10th double-double effort of the season. Freshman
Hilton Armstrong (Peekskill, NY), making his first career start, set
career-highs with 12 points and seven rebounds. Anderson finished with 10.
Starting point guard Taliek Brown (Queens, NY) had eight points, six assists and
just one turnover.
Bryant Matthews and Terry Taylor each scored 16 points to
lead Virginia Tech.
The Huskies stumbled out of the gate for the third
consecutive game, falling behind 20-10 just 7:28 into the contest, but regrouped
to retake the lead at 24-23 on a jumper by senior Tony Robertson (E. Providence,
RI), but Virginia Tech rallied to take a 43-39 lead at intermission.
The Huskies finished the game shooting a crisp 54% (35 of
65), and pounded the ball inside in the second half, scoring 30 points in the
paint after halftime.
 The Huskies return to action on Saturday, January 18 when
they visit North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m.
and the game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
Player and Coaches Quotes
Tony Robertson
What was the difference in the 2nd
half?
We
played defense in the second half. We took away what they wanted to do. And we
were able to get out on the break and assisted well on most of our baskets…We
played defense in the second half which we weren’t really doing in the first
half. We let them shoot 50%. You’re going to be in a dogfight whenever you let
any team shoot 50%. So, we cut down on their percentage
On Taylor
It’s kind of hard to out-power a guy
who has a lot of power like he does. But the big guys did a good job of helping
each other out.
On the fact that Va Tech knew the
press was coming in the 2nd half
Knowing something is going to happen
and beating it are two different things. We were able totake advantage of
situations on the press. We were able to get good traps and a couple of steals
off their passes and that was also so a turning point in the second half.
What took the team so long to get
going?
I don’t know. I wish I had an
answer. We can’t come out like that. We have to put two halves together of
good basketball. We beat them on just 20 good minutes. We have to put 40 good
minutes together like that and we shouldn’t have any problems with any team.
Concerned about being down 10 three
straight games?
It
definitely is a concern because one time we might not be able to come back. We
don’t want to dig ourselves a hole because it’s not always guaranteed you’re
going to come back…We have to come out aggressive every time. We have to act
like we’re down 20 when we’re up 10.
The way
we come out in the second half of games sometimes is with the mindset that we’re
going to play defense, we’re going to stop them every time. And we do. I don’t
think we come out with that same mindset early in the game. I think we kind of
wait until something happens and then we really start playing.
On Hilton’s play
Hilton played really well tonight, and
he’s just getting started. He’s going to get better and better every game, as
our whole team is. Hilton’s definitely making a lot of progress.
What did coach say at halftime?
He said enough to get us motivated and
pumped up to play the second half the way we did.
Ben Gordon
Once we put the press on them, they
had a hard time getting over half court and getting into their offense.
Did the defense lead to the
difference in shooting percentage in the 2nd half?
We got a lot of easy baskets off our
defense. I think us wearing them down when the were on offense kind of helped
us when we were on offense.
At what point in the 2nd
half did you think you had them on the ropes?
As soon as we tied it up…Everything
just flowed after we got our defense set up.
How has coach addressed that the
team has had to come back so much?
The main thing coach has talked about
is playing an entire game well. I think that’s been our problem for the entire
season. We haven’t played a full 40 minutes. We’re always behind and have to
play catch-up.
On Hilton Armstrong’s play
Hilton was great tonight.
Is the press becoming more of
weapon?
It’s worked a lot this year and we can
definitely rely on it in key situations. Our press is great -- we have a lot of
fast guys and once everyone is willing to work hard, it’s pretty hard to beat
it.
Hilton Armstrong
On if he was nervous starting
I was a little bit when I was sitting
down and they first called my name out. When I got out on the court I felt more
comfortable.
On if starting gave him confidence
It made me feel like coach could trust
me, so I wanted to make him trust me. So I tried to do my best.
On feedback from Coach
He told me I did a good job.
On going against Taylor
He is big and real strong, so I just
had to try my best.
We knew we were down 4 at halftime in
our house and we didn’t like that. We tried to change the tempo of the game,
tried changing the pressure and came out hard.
On turnaround
We knew that we had to come out after
halftime and play hard defense. We just had to play even harder than we were
playing.
On looking for open man
I’m just looking for the open man, not
just Emeka…but if he is open he is right by the rim, and I think that is the
easiest shot.
Emeka Okafor
We just played that ‘in your face D’
Coach gave us a little pep talk and told us to get with it and stop being lazy.
We were down in our own gym at halftime, we just had to get up and get with it.
On why such a slow start for the
team
I don’t know why, but we need to stop
it. It is going to come and get us one day…already got us at Oklahoma. We
can’t afford to keep having slow starts and waiting until the last minute to
come back…we have to start jumping on teams early, coming with energy and play
the first half like we play the second half. We just need to get out of that
habit. It is a little frustrating, but I know they will pull us together and
get us through.
On foul trouble last game affecting
how he played this game
I guess I came out a little
conservative in the first half because of what happened last time. I didn’t
like spending that much time on the bench. I think that even hurt my team. I
have to go back to the drawing board and find out what exactly I’m going to do
with myself. I just can’t come out slow and try to save myself. I might run
into the situation where it is too little too late. But the important thing is
that the team came together and pulled it out in the end.
On groin injury
It hinders me a little bit now and
then. But it is just something I have to deal with. My team needs me and I’m
going to be on the court as long as they do.
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
The first thing I want to do is
congratulate Ricky Stokes. We started in 1986 and it took us 2, 3, 4 years to
get going. They’re a good basketball team….We had that same step about year
three when we tried to make the NCAA Tournament after winning the NIT. It’s a
tough one – that’s winning. Learning how to win games in which you have a
chance to win. Now, our explosion came early so it kind of took it out of
that. Nevertheless, I think he’s done a really good job. That’s a good
basketball team….In the first half they put up 43 and, quite frankly, did a
terrific job of getting our press.
We made a couple of adjustments at
halftime. It was probably the stormiest halftime we’ve had in the sense that I
just couldn’t believe that we had given up 43 points to a team that averages 62
points a game. There was no need for that. That’s a compliment to Ricky. They
knew exactly what we were going to play, they came out and defended us well and
I thought they ran their stuff exceptionally well.
In the second half, I thought we
really played great. I really did. I don’t care who we are playing, if we play
like that for 40 minutes we’re going to be a tough out. We defended, we held
them to 19 points until that banker went in at the end, we shot 69 percent
because we turned up really easy shots, we executed our offense, got the ball to
Emeka, fast broke, and I thought we did a terrific job.
We won the game because we kept good
solid pressure and then started to retreat better…
Once we get our fast break ignited
it seems to do an awfully lot for our whole psyche. It really changes the way
we approach the game.
On Hilton Armstrong
I thought that Hilton did a terrific
job….He gave us a passer, he gave a shot-blocker, he gave us some legitimate
size. The play he makes on the fast break, most 6-10 kids can’t make. I just
hope and believe he’s only going to get better.
On Ben Gordon
Ben can
transport himself from spots on the court about as well as any kid I’ve ever
had.
On Terry Taylor
Taylor’s
tough to stop – Emeka’s not playing quite like himself, but regardless, he’s
tough.
Virginia Tech Head Coach
Ricky Stokes
We wanted to come out tonight and be very aggressive. I
thought the first half we probably played as good as we have all season. We
wanted to go inside and go at Okafor. I thought Terry Taylor was pretty
effective inside, but he wasn’t able to get to the line. In the first half I
thought we played well, played with some composure. IN the second half we knew,
from the UMass tape, that they were going to come out and play very aggressive.
Against their press I thought we were a little bit more tentative than in the
first half. We didn’t attack as much.
Give UConn a lot of credit.
They pressured more and it was more effective. We also got into foul trouble
and I think that hurt us. We had a key stretch in the last 10 minutes and I
think possible fatigue…naturally a team that presses the entire game…maybe wore
the team down.
We have to continue to force
through and get better. I think we have learned a lot from our first 2 road
games in the BIG EAST, and we are looking forward to going home for our next 3
BIG EAST games.
On knowing pressure was
coming: Yeah, absolutely right. No question, we knew it was coming and we
didn’t attack it as well as we would have liked. We were almost tentative in
exploring the trap and hurting them and making them play against the trap. We
were able to execute getting the ball into the appropriate people, especially
Terry Taylor, but he was not able to get to the line. It is awfully nice to
break a run up by getting to the line, and getting your defenses set.
On Ben Gordon
He knew we had to make it a
tough night for him but he came in very steady and continued to make the big
shots.
On Okafor
I thought he got the ball in
position, we were not able to get him away and I think he had some big baskets
down low.
On Armstrong
We knew he was very rangey
and long, and he probably scored more than we would have wanted. But I thought
he was effective. One of my assistants said that in warm-ups he had a nice
shot. |
