Huskies Prepare for Georgetown

The top-ranked Connecticut men’s basketball team will play host to the Georgetown Hoyas in a BIG EAST match-up on Wednesday night at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. Game time is set for 7:30 pm and will be televised locally on WTXX-TV. Since the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion opened in 1990, UConn has sold out 99 men’s basketball games and with an advance sellout this year, the contest will mark 100 sellout crowd in Gampel Pavilion history.

Wednesday night’s game marks the 33rd meeting between Connecticut and Georgetown dating back to the 1958-59 season. UConn has won six straight against Georgetown and 13 of the last 15 meetings. Prior to the current streak, the Huskies had only won six games versus the Hoyas in BIG EAST play. Georgetown holds a 29-22 advantage in the series over Connecticut.

"They are the best team we will play athletically; I don’t think its even close. I don’t think they are shooting the ball particularly well in the three BIG EAST games. They are shooting 33 percent and 43 percent overall, even though they haven’t played as strong a schedule as they are going to play now," said UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. "I like Riley (Gerald), Bowman (Brandon), I like their athletes and they are good sized athletes. They don’t have a true post man which is somewhat to our benefit, but they are trapping and running their people… I just hope we are prepared, I think we are prepared practice wise. Georgetown is the most athletic team we will play physically, they can really come at you in traps and they rebound fairly well."

The Huskies have a record of 13-1 overall and have won 10 straight games. UConn is a perfect 1-0 early into the BIG EAST Conference schedule. The 2003-04 Huskies lead the nation in assists per game and are on pace to top the school record books in assists-to-basket ration. UConn is currently assisting on 63.8 percent of its baskets (292-of-458), which tops the school mark 62.1 percent set in 1995-96.

Junior Emeka Okafor is averaging 18.4 points, 11.7 rebounds and 5.0 blocked shots per game in 2003-04. Okafor has eight 20-point games this season after only having eight in 67 games in his first two seasons. He has nine double-doubles on the season, including one triple-double and has double figure rebounds in 11 contests. Okafor is the top shot blocker in the BIG EAST and among the top six in NCAA history. Junior Ben Gordon leads the Huskies in scoring at 19.4 points per game and also averages 4.5 assists and 4.1 rebounds. He has scored 25 or more points five times this season and is 51-for-63 from the free throw line, a team-best .810 percent.

A former Georgetown men’s basketball player and now the head coach, Craig Esherick is in his fifth season at the helm of the Hoyas. Georgetown holds a record of 10-2 overall and are 1-2 in the BIG EAST Conference. The Hoyas have lost their last two games, a 72-64 loss to Boston College on January 6 and a 62-58 defeat at West Virginia on January 10. Georgetown’s lone conference win was a 63-57 victory over Rutgers on January 3

Senior Gerald Riley leads the team in scoring averaging 17.2 points per game. He is 55-for-56 from the free throw line for a .846 percentage and a near perfect seven-for-eight in BIG EAST play. Sophomore Brandon Bowman has grabbed 6.9 rebounds per game and 8.7 in conference action, while blocking a team-second 16 blocks. As a team, Georgetown leads the BIG EAST in steals per game with 12.67 and turnover margins at plus-7.25.

“There can be (a letdown) if you dwell on the game and think that it is all said and done when you play one good game. I think you have to take the win and build off of it,” said Ben Gordon. “You have to take the approach that you are going to take one game at a time, it is pretty simple. We know we have a pretty tough week, so that is the easiest way to do it, take one game at a time. I think at Georgetown the tradition is still there and no one is going to forget that, but they probably not as good as they were back in the 90’s. But the tradition and name is still there.”

Okafor narrowly missed his second career triple-double with 21 points, 10 rebounds and nine blocked shots to lead Connecticut to an easy 86-59 rout over sixth-ranked and previously unbeaten Oklahoma on January 11. Sophomore Denham Brown added 14 points, while junior Ben Gordon and freshman Charlie Villanueva both scored 11 points. The Huskies held Oklahoma scoreless for a 7:45 stretch in the first half and built as much as a 40 point advantage in the second half. UConn amassed 27 assists on 34 made field goals and out-rebounding their rugged opponent, 50-37. Taliek Brown and Gordon were the most charitable Huskies with eight and seven assists, respectively. Taliek Brown also had a career-high five steals.

For his efforts, Okafor was named the BIG EAST Player of the Week (Jan. 12) after averaging 21 points, 13 rebounds and 7.5 blocks in two victories last week. Earlier in the week, the junior had 21 points, 16 rebounds and six blocks in a 75-74 win at Rutgers. He shot 63.3 percent from the field in two games and leads the BIG EAST in rebounding (11.7), blocks (5.0) and field goal percentage (60.9) this season.