Calhoun Reaches 700 Win Milestone with Victory Over Georgetown
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 STORRS, Conn. (March
2, 2005) – Head coach Jim Calhoun became just the 19th
coach in NCAA history to record 700 coaching wins as 15th-ranked
University of Connecticut men's basketball team defeated Georgetown,
83-64, Wednesday evening before a sellout crowd of 10,167 at the Harry
A. Gampel Pavilion. The win, the Huskies eighth
straight in the conference, improves their record to 20-6, 12-3 in the BIG
EAST. The Hoyas drop to 16-10, 8-7 vs. conference foes.
 The
Huskies were paced offensively by sophomore Charlie Villanueva (Brooklyn,
N.Y.), who scored 24 points and freshman Rudy Gay (Baltimore, Md.), who
had a career-best 20 points. But the story of the game was Calhoun, who
registered his 20th 20-win season, all within the last 26 years. His
record now stands at 700-308 in 33 years, 452-171 in 19 seasons at Connecticut.
Connecticut was able to wrestle control of the contest
midway through the first half, outscoring Georgetown, 22-5 over the final 10
minutes before intermission, taking a 41-26 lead into the locker room. Gay was
the offensive star early on, tallying 16 points in the first half, including the
Huskies’ final 10 points in the last 3:09. The hot-shooting Huskies shot a
sizzling 70% (16-of-23) from the field in the first half.
Villanueva asserted himself in the second half, scoring 14
of his game-high 24 points after halftime. He made 7-of-12 shots from the field
in registering his sixth 20-plus point scoring effort of the campaign, and his
fifth in his last seven games.
 Also in
double figures for UConn were sophomore point guard Marcus Williams (Los
Angeles, Calif.), who had 11 points and sophomore center Josh Boone (Mt.
Airy, Md.), who chipped in with 10 points. Williams matched his season’s average
with a game-high eight assists. Junior Denham Brown (Toronto, Ont.) had
seven points, six rebounds and six assists.
UConn ended the contest shooting 57% from the field, but
the Husky reserves missed the squad’s last four shots at the end of the
game. The 83 points marked the most points allowed by the Hoyas this season.
Jeff Green led Georgetown with 17 points.
The Huskies will conclude the regular-season portion of the
2004-05 season when they entertain Syracuse on Saturday, March 5 at Gampel
Pavilion in Storrs. The game will be a match-up of two coaches who recently
reached the 700-win plateau, as Orange head coach Jim Boeheim reached the mark
last week. The contest will be televised nationally by CBS, and game time is set
for 4:00 p.m.
POST GAME QUOTES
Connecticut Head Coach Jim Calhoun
"I thought we did what we wanted to do in the sense that we
speeded the game up with the half court trap. I thought that was the key to the
game. We just couldn’t go grind versus grind, let them run off 30 seconds. We
didn’t want to play the game in the 60s. So, we’ve been working on that scramble
trap, and that really started to accelerate the pace of the game, and we got us
our lead early."
"Rudy carried us, and did wonderful things. Charlie filled
up the stat sheet as he sometimes does, but I don’t know if he played a great
game. Denham Brown did a terrific job – he didn’t have shots tonight but he had
five assists, and I really respect that. I don’t think he could have done that
in his first two years. Josh played an OK game. I expect more because he’s a
terrific player. Ed Nelson has to be saluted. The energy he brought off the
bench was terrific. Lastly, the point guard makes us go. Marcus Williams is
something different…."
"Our point guard plays the game. Tonight, I thought it came
too easy for him, and that’s where the turnovers came from. But he’s become much
more careful with the ball. And I thought if we held on to the ball he could
have had 10 or 12 assists. He makes us go. He’s throws passes that most kids
can’t see. He makes Charlie’s job so much easier, he makes everybody’s job so
much easier. He’s developing into a very special point guard."
"It’s a very good win for us. It’s our 20th win, which is
something that the kids may not have as a goal, but I always think .300 hitters,
20-win pitchers, 20-win basketball teams…. Most importantly, the result allows
us to continue our chase for a Big East championship and sets up a great game
with Syracuse on Saturday, and I’m certainly looking forward to that."
On 700th win
"It means a lot of things. It means that the kids who came
out here and the fans who came out here, and stayed, just made me feel very
special. A coach is only a reflection of so many assistants and great
players….From Howie, when he first started with me, to David, to Glenn Miller,
to Hobbsie, to Tom and now George, and just the cast of great players that we’ve
been fortunate enough to have. The two great universities that I’ve been
associated with, Northeastern and certainly my 19 years here at UConn. That’s
what’s made it all possible. You can’t win games without players, and you can’t
win games without players that will listen to you. You may find this shocking,
but I’m not the easiest guy to play for, because I demand a lot."
"This team, and I’ll say this quite honestly, has given me
as much pleasure, given all the near traumatic situations we’ve had and, thank
God, not tragic situations – it’s been a really fun year, discounting those
things. But those things – God has a way, I guess, of making those things more
meaningful to the kids because I think a lot of life’s lessons have applied to
this team, and that’s why they’ve been able to withstand Rashad not being with
us, and so on."
Charlie Villanueva
About the run that gave you the big halftime lead using
the trap
"When we ended up pressing them, they made some turnovers
and that definitely helped us. Guys were playing with a lot of energy. Ed
(Nelson) gave us a huge boost. And we pretty much controlled the game."
Is the team playing its best basketball of the season?
"I wouldn’t say the best – the best is still to come. We’re
playing real well right now, but we can always get better. We have to limit our
turnovers. The best is still to come."
What does it mean to be part of this milestone for Coach
Calhoun?
"It’s an unbelievable feeling. I’m just grateful and
honored just to be a part of it. I’m speaking for my teammates as well because
they feel the same way. I’m just happy that I’m a part of it."
Did the potential for Coach Calhoun’s 700th
win help the team get up for this game?
"We were definitely focused and pumped up for this game. We
wanted to do this for Coach. And we did it for him."
Rudy Gay
"We played really intense. We pushed them to play our tempo
and not too many teams in the country can play our tempo."
About playing in the half-court trap
"Coach always has something new. He put me on top because
I’m longer and can deflect passes and that worked tonight."
On the race for conference rookie of the year with Jeff
Green
"I don’t really worry about that. I just play my game. It
doesn’t really matter to me as long as we win."
Do you think you’ve hit your stride?
"I don’t think I’m there yet. There’s a lot more I can
do. I just want to go out there and make myself effective."
On Marcus Williams’ game
"Marcus, he’s a great passer. If you’re there, he’s going
to pass you the ball. If your open, you’ll see it."
 Marcus
Williams
On Georgetown’s fast start
"They came out on fire. They ran a lot of ball screens, and
we weren’t hedging. They did a lot of hand-offs, and we weren’t hedging. They
had some open threes early on."
About the run that gave you the big halftime lead using
the trap
"Rudy being on top on the half court press gets in the way
of a lot of passes, tips a lot of passes. And he alters a lot of passes too."
On the blind over the head pass to Rudy Gay
"I saw Rudy get ahead of Owens. I didn’t know where I
through it, though."
What was Coach Calhoun like in the locker room after
such a big night for him?
"He said we had too many turnovers. Then he congratulated
us on helping him get his 700th win. He was real honored."
Could you imagine you’d be in this position a month ago?
"A month and a half ago we were really questioning
ourselves. We really didn’t know who we were. And now we’re trying to find
ourselves. We’re getting stops. We’re executing on offense. And I think our fast
break is being effective now."
Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson
"They have a very powerful team. As what has happened the
last couple of years, they have continued to progress and get better as the
season’s gone on. And they’re playing their best game right now. Fatigue,
relative to our personnel might have been a little bit of it. There’s was a
stretch there the latter part of the first half where we needed to take care of
the ball a little better. Once we got into the half court we were getting decent
opportunities, but we just had to take care of the ball better the last four
minutes of the first half."
On the trap
"They did it a little bit the last game. We were prepared
for it. I don’t know if we expected it or not. I was not surprised."
On Jim Calhoun
"He’s built a terrific program here." |
