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Conn artists Huskies, Okafor block BYU's bracket-busting bidPosted: Thursday March 20, 2003 5:03 PMUpdated: Thursday March 20, 2003 6:18 PM
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) -- BYU was rallying when Emeka Okafor swatted Rafael Araujo's shot away. Okafor made sure the Cougars won't bust up anyone's brackets -- they're going home early instead. Okafor controlled both ends of the court, scoring 20 points and blocking seven shots to lead fifth-seeded Connecticut to a 58-53 victory Thursday over No. 12 BYU in the first round of the South Regional. "He was magnificent," Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said. "He's the best defensive player in the country. He alters games. He alters everything." The loss by BYU (23-9) avoids a potentially embarrassing situation for the NCAA, which mistakenly put the Cougars in the South, where the Mormon-owned school would have had to play the fourth round on a Sunday. Because BYU does not play on Sundays, the NCAA would have reshuffled the brackets if the Cougars won their first two games, sending them to the Midwest. UConn (22-9) made it moot and now will play the winner of the San Diego-Stanford game in Saturday's second round. Ben Gordon added 14 points for the Huskies, who are 11-0 in first-round games under Calhoun. Travis Hansen scored 21 points and Mark Bigelow added 12 for BYU. But they didn't get much help -- no other Cougar made a basket for nearly 20 minutes spanning the first and second half. "Emeka is a great player -- quick on his feet," Hansen said. "He did interrupt us a little bit. He got our big guys confused." After being bottled up most of the first half, the Huskies went on a 12-2 run to open the second, using their speed advantage to score on the break. Gordon hit a 3-pointer to make it 46-32 with 11:33 left, and UConn appeared to be on its way to an easy win. But BYU scored nine straight points. Kevin Woodberry then made a 3-pointer to cut it to 50-48, but Taliek Brown made two free throws for the Huskies. Okafor then blocked Araujo's shot with 1:43 left and Brown saved the ball from going out of bounds. "The majority of my blocks stay in bounds," Okafor said. "I'm not one to block it into the crowd for show. Taliek made a great hustle play to save it." Gordon hit a jumper on the other end -- the Huskies' first basket in more than 10 minutes -- and UConn won it from the foul line. Okafor, the Big East Defensive Player of the Year, leads the nation with 4.8 blocks per game. He also altered many other shots, helping hold the Cougars to 31 percent shooting. "It allows us to get into our transition game and intimidates the other team," Gordon said. "They hesitate the next time they get inside." BYU forced the Huskies into a halfcourt game early. Okafor was up to the challenge, showing he has a diversified offensive game to go with his dominating defensive presence. He had 13 points in the first half, scoring on turnaround jumpers, dunks and inside moves to keep the Huskies in the game. "Our guards weren't producing like they normally do so his offense was critical for us," Calhoun said. "We really needed him." Okafor also blocked four shots in a span of two minutes and forced the Cougars to change many others. "In the first half they pretty much had the tempo they wanted," Okafor said. "I figured if they're going to make it tough for us to score, I'll make it tough on them." Araujo, a 57 percent shooter coming into the game, shot 2-for-11 and had four turnovers against Okafor's tough defense. "He looked nervous and unsettled," BYU coach Steve Cleveland said. "He turned the ball over and missed some shots he normally makes." |
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