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NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Taliek Brown finally may have won over Connecticut's basketball faithful. Brown drained a miraculous 3-pointer in double overtime that helped lift 24th-ranked Connecticut to its fifth Big East Conference title with a dramatic 74-65 victory over No. 7 Pittsburgh. The teams battled back and forth before Caron Butler's jumper put Connecticut (24-6) ahead for good, 66-64, with just under two minutes left in the second overtime. After a jump ball, Connecticut was forced to inbound on the sidelines with 36 seconds left and two on the shot clock. The Huskies entered the ball near halfcourt to Brown, an oft-criticized point guard. He took a dribble and launched a 35-footer that rattled home for a five-point cushion with 34 seconds left. "I knew the shot was going in," Brown said. "I just squared up and stood in. I thought that was a big shot, put the game away. It's hard to come back from something like that." "With him, as I've said before, it's a play to make," Huskies coach Jim Calhoun said. "After two years, I can guarantee that he wasn't nervous. He doesn't know nervous." The shot killed any chance of another comeback by Pittsburgh (27-5). The Panthers have lost in the title game each of the last two years and have yet to win the Big East tournament. "That was a heckuva shot," Pitt coach Ben Howland said. "I think there were two or three seconds left. He was 1-for-11 in the conference from three. You gotta have some breaks. That was a good break for them. It showed a lot of guts and character." Butler led the Huskies with 23 points and was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He made 10-of-19 shots as Connecticut extended its winning streak to nine games. "We're on a nine-game winning streak," Butler said. "We're just rolling. Hopefully, we will just keep rolling. We're all on the same page and we all love playing." With the score tied at 52-52, the Huskies had several chances to win in regulation but missed all of them as time expired. Pitt never led in the first overtime but forged a 60-60 tie on Ontario Lett scored with 23 seconds left. The Panthers had a chance to win, but Brandin Knight's shot from beyond halfcourt hit the front of the rim. The Panthers' wasted an heroic effort by Knight, the Big East co-Player of the Year with Butler. He finished with 15 points and eight assists despite being affected by a knee injury. "Brandin is going to be fine," Howland said. "Anytime you lose your best player, Michael Jordan or Magic Johnson, that's what he is to our team." Brown scored 13 points and freshman guard Ben Gordon had 11 off the bench for the Huskies. Freshman center Emeka Okafor added 10 and 10 rebounds as Connecticut held a 43-33 edge on the glass. Lett led Pitt with 17 points and 10 rebounds while Donatas Zavackas added 15 points. "I think the most difficult thing is four or five of their kids had played in this game last year," Calhoun said. "I thought on tape they were magnificent defensively. In person, they're probably better." The Huskies survived a six-minute stretch without a basket late in regulation. Gordon's 3-pointer ended the drought and put UConn in front, 50-48, with just over two minutes to go. The Panthers suffered their second double-overtime loss of the season. They fell, 102-96, at Miami on January 15. |
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