Huskies Pull Past Villanova

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HARTFORD, CT (January 25, 2003) -- Freshman Rashad Anderson (Lakeland, FL) scored a career-high 18 points to pace eighth-ranked Connecticut to a 74-65 win over Villanova, Saturday, before a sellout crowd of 16,294 at the Hartford Civic Center.

The win improves the Huskies’ record to 12-3, 3-1 in the BIG EAST Conference. The Wildcats slip to 12-6, 5-1 in the league.

Connecticut reversed a recent trend by starting quickly in the contest, bolting out to a 24-12 lead with 9:19 to play in the first half. Center Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) scored 10 points in the opening rally, and Anderson scored seven straight UConn points over a span of 2:15. Villanova stayed closed throughout the half, inching to within four, at 38-34, on a buzzer-beating three-pointer by Derrick Snowden. Anderson completed the first half with 10 points in just six minutes of action.

After Villanova tied the game at 44 on a three-pointer by Gary Buchanan with 14:53 to play, UConn seized control of the game with a 14-2 run over 3:42, keyed by seven points by senior super-sub Tony Robertson (E. Providence, RI) and four by Ben Gordon (Mt. Vernon, NY). The Wildcats got no closer than six points the rest of the way.

Anderson finished the game hitting seven of nine field goal attempts, including four of five from beyond the arc. Gordon added 17, including 11 of 12 free throws, and a game high eight assists. Okafor and freshman Denham Brown (Toronto, ON) chipped in with 14 points apiece. Okafor snared a game-high 10 rebounds, his 12th double-double of the season. Freshman Hilton Armstrong (Peekskill, NY) played well in his fourth straight start, scoring five, pulling down four rebounds and dishing off a career-high five assists.

Villanova was led by Buchanan, who scored 14 points.

The Huskies return to action on Monday, January 27, when they travel to Madison Square Garden in New York to play league foe St. John’s. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be televised by ESPN as part of their Big Monday package.

UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun

Coming into the game we’ve been set back on our heels with the two difficult games last weekend where we, at times, played brilliant basketball, but in one case we didn’t give ourselves an opportunity to win and in another had a bizarre situation happen to us.  We gave the kids two days off – Tuesday, then Wednesday we shot foul shots – and then we just came out with a credo that we have to defend because, right now, we’re not real big, we are young, we’re going to make mistakes.  But if we can defend for 40 minutes, we have a chance.  As silly as it may sound, we were going from time out to time out, like you would with a young team.

Villanova is for real.  Villanova is certainly an NCAA candidate.  Certainly, with a 5 and 1 record, they’re more than a candidate to win this side of the league.  They’re a terrific basketball team, getting better….Which kind of speaks to how I felt about out team.  I thought we were really good.  Aesthetically we didn’t do incredible things, but we held them to 30 percent in the second half, I thought we maintain a lot of composure almost through the entire game, I thought we handled the double teams, for dunks.

I was really proud of just the way how many were guys were on the floor to get every loose ball, how hard we played, and just, generally speaking, some of the gutty performances.

Generally speaking, I’m just proud as heck of the kids….We really, really played great defense.  I’m really happy with that.

On play of freshmen

Conversely, I think that Jay brought in another young team, and it was a battle of freshmen at times….Their young kids are awfully good, and our young kids – Rashad, Denham and Hilton – were just terrific today.  Denham played so great, and basketball has a funny way of working its way out, I told him he has to rebound more and he goes in and gets 5 offensive rebounds, plays terrific, and then we put Rashad in the game.  So Denham winds up sitting more than he probably thought he was going to….

On Rashad Anderson

He was just on fire and he felt it.

On Ben Gordon

I think Ben might have played his finest game in a uniform.  He wasn’t putting the ball in the basket, but all he did was get 8 assists and just lead us….And they did a great job defensively on him.

On Taliek Brown

Most kids wouldn’t have gone.  Taliek begged and pleaded every time I walked by him.  “I can help, Coach,” and all that kind of stuff.  It’s hard to resist that.  When he does that, he inspires other kids.

On Hilton Armstrong

He’s so ball-skilled.  With his ball skills and passing skills, we’ve got to be able to utilize that more.   He’s an awfully good passer.  I thought he rebounded well today.

Player Quotes

Ben Gordon

On shooting 3-11 from the floor 

Every shot felt good….they just weren’t going in.  Some days they are going to go in, some days they are not.  I just keep playing.  Maybe if my 3pt shot is not going, the  only conscious decision I make is to try to make some easier baskets like lay-ups and get to the free throw line.

On the play of the younger players

Tonight we had Hilton, Denham and Rashad and they just played like they’ve been capable of the whole season.  A lot of it has to do with starting off strong.  That builds our team’s confidence.  The younger players were able to hit shots, and once they got into a rhythm everything just flowed perfectly.

Rashad Anderson

When the team needs you you’ve got to be ready to deliver and to help your teammates out.

On defensive game

We just weren’t guarding people the last 2 games…it seemed like one player would always go off on us. Tonight we just decided that we had to stop everybody on their team.

On not having to come from a huge deficit

I think it was real good.  In the last few games we’ve been down 10 points and had to fight our way back.  I think it was a good job that we came out ready to play today. 

I think every game in the league is a good win.

On balanced scoring 

On any given night anyone can go off.  I can go off, Ben, Tony, Emeka…they can’t single out on one guy on defense.

On his career-high 18 points

I just got into a rhythm…I just felt like I couldn’t miss.  The basket looked like it was really big, so I kept shooting.  I just like to have fun out there.

Tony Robertson

After coming off a losing streak to play great defense against the number one scoring team in our conference, and beat them, that was a pretty good win for us.

On the improved start

We didn’t have to fight back from a 20 point deficit.  We actually got up early.  We gave ourselves a little cushion to play with.  But we didn’t play with it, we took care of business and pulled away.

On hustling for loose balls from the beginning

It gets everybody going.  When you see guys diving for loose balls it gets the whole team pumped up and everyone wants to dive and get a loose ball.

On Denham and Rashad

Thy both stepped up, especially Rashad.  He hit some threes with guys all over him.  I don’t know how he even got the shot off – and they were still going in.  When you’re feeling it like that you just have to keep shooting.

Hilton Armstrong

We just went out there and tried to play our game and everything worked out for us.

On getting off to a better start this game

The last few games we weren’t playing tough until the end.  Coach has just trying to make us play tougher and tougher, for a whole 40 minutes, from beginning to end.  So, we tried to play a little more physical in that respect.

On being one of the best passers on the team

I just hit the open man if I see him.  It’s just something that comes.  I don’t practice on anything in particular, it just happens.  It doesn’t seem that hard to me.

Emeka Okafor

On playing at home and working out some of the kinks

It just feels good to get a win.  When you’re on a two game losing streak, this is a really good positive.

On today’s start

It’s a change.  It felt good.  The whole team was energized.  We went out there and said, “we can finally do it, let’s go ahead and get it done.” 

On Denham and Rashad

They both played great, but Rashad was like 7 for 9 with 18 points.  Denham came out on fire and you guys saw the results.  The whole team had energy. 

What did you think when they tied the game?

I wasn’t really worried.  I knew that we were together.  I felt we still had momentum...We then went up 49-45 at that point, so that shows you where are minds were at.

Worried to get into foul trouble?

Whatever the refs call they call.  I don’t really care.  I just have to go out there and just respond as I see fit.  That’s how I have to be.  I can’t really get worked up about all the calls.  I have to keep calm and say “whatever.”  I can’t keep jumping up and down and making faces.  I have to roll with the punches.

Denham Brown

On crashing boards:  I told myself that I  have to start rebounding more.  The 3 spot is a lot like the 4 spot where you just have to rebound.  I just need to be aggressive on the boards.

We knew we were going to win this game because of the way we here playing and the way we had practiced.  We had a mindset that we were going to outscore and outwork these guys no matter what we were going to win this game.

We knew they were 5-0 in the BIG EAST, just coming out with a mindset to win I think overpowers any other obstacle that they brought onto the floor.

On Ben struggling:   Ben is going to find his points no matter what happens in the game.  I just thought that I had to come out be more aggressive, take more shots, and find my offense.  Ben not scoring…I didn’t look at that as if I had to score more..  Even if he was scoring I would have come out and felt like I had to take my shots. 

On playing next game at Madison Square Garden:  I am looking forward to that for sure.  I’ve never played in it before but I’ve read about it.  I’ve heard that a lot of big things happen in Madison Square Garden and I hope we can contribute to the history. 

Villanova Head Coach Jay Wright

We’re obviously disappointed.  We didn’t play our best game, but I think Connecticut deserves some credit for that.  They just really played physical and good tough defense like they always do, and beat us up on the boards a little bit.  I’m in no way pleased, but I look forward to going back to practice and working with this team.  I just like our team.  I like our heart, I like our attitude.  We just played a good team who shot the ball well today.  I think we didn’t play defense as well as we should, but we have been concerned about that, we know it, we’re working on it, and I think that’s just where we are right now six games into the Big East.

Did you take a step back today defensively?

I don’t think so, but I don’t think we took a step forward.  We’ve known it’s a concern, we’re working on it.  We said we’re going to run into a game where we don’t shoot the ball well or someone’s going to play good defense and you’re only going to win by your defensive rebounding on those nights.  And tonight was one of those nights where we didn’t shoot the ball well…probably because of their defense, but we didn’t make up the difference on the boards and we didn’t make up the difference with our defense either. 

On quality of shots:

Overall I just thought we got good shots for us, but we didn’t knock them down.  Pressured shots, because they do a great job defensively.

On his Villanova team:

I think it is a team that is learning to be a very good team. 

Ricky Wright
I was trying to play my normal game.  I was trying to be aggressive, take it to the basket.  I missed a lot of shots that I normally take and that I normally make but they just weren’t falling for me today.

Coming into this game I thought it was an opportunity for us to prove ourselves and to get the guys to keep believing in ourselves  and we fell short but I think that we are not going to bow our heads because we lost.  I know Connecticut is a good team so we know that we have to work harder in practice tomorrow and learn from our mistakes.

Gary Buchanan

Today I think I got the same good looks at the basket.  There are going to be some nights where I don’t shoot the ball well and I have to do other things besides shoot.