UConn Rolls into the NCAA Sweet 16 with a 72-55 Win Over DePaul

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BUFFALO, NY (March 20) – Juniors Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon led four players in double-figures as the Connecticut men’s basketball team advanced to the Sweet 16 of the 2004 NCAA Championship with a 72-55 romp over DePaul in the Second Round on Saturday night at the HSBC Arena in Buffalo, NY.

Okafor notched his 22nd double-double of the season and 51st of his career scoring 10 points and grabbing down 12 rebounds. His 12 boards also propelled him to become the all-time leader in NCAA Tournament play with 99 rebounds in nine games. Gordon scored 18 points on 3-of-7 shooting from three-point range and was 7-for-8 from the free throw line.

Second-seeded Connecticut improved its record to 29-6 overall. The seventh-seeded Blue Demons, making their second NCAA Tournament appearance in 12 years, ends their season with a 22-10 record.

The Huskies advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 10th time in UConn head coach Jim Calhoun’s 18-year career at Connecticut and will face Vanderbilt at the Regional in Phoenix, AZ on Thursday, March 25.

Connecticut and DePaul met for the first time in program history, but Calhoun faced off versus a former assistant for the seventh time in his career with an untarnished 7-0 mark. Calhoun and DePaul head coach and former UConn assistant Dave Leitao played each other for third time including tonight’s game and twice while Leitao was the head coach at Northeastern.

Calhoun is now 28-9 in NCAA Tournament play while at Connecticut and 22-2 in First and Second Round action. He is also 31-14 in all-time tournament games moving solely into 12th place all-time in NCAA Tournament wins past former Kentucky head coach Adolph Rupp.

DePaul missed its eight first shots of the game allowing UConn to jump out to an early 11-0 lead sparked by five points from Taliek Brown. Connecticut held a lead as large as 23 points (35-12) in the late goings of the half, but late in the stanza the Blue Demons went on a 8-0 run to bring the score as close as 35-20. Connecticut went on to score the next four points and headed into halftime with a 39-20 advantage.

In the first half, the Blue Demons shot only 27 percent from the field on 9-for-33 shooting, while Connecticut was 43 percent on 15-for-35 shooting. UConn’s Denham Brown had a productive first half of play scoring nine points one 3-for-3 shooting in only 11 minutes played. The 20 points UConn held DePaul to in the first half was the least points scored by an opponent against the Huskies in NCAA Tournament action since March 11, 1967 when Boston College held a 14-13 edge.

Denham Brown scored 12 points and made four of his six attempts from the free throw line. Taliek Brown finished with 13 points and four rebounds for the Huskies.

DePaul's Drake Diener had 15 points and eight rebounds while Delonte Holland added 14 points. The Blue Demons ended the game shooting 39.2 percent from the field but was a solid 10-for-13 from the free throw line.