University of Connecticut Athletics
Gordon, Okafor Pace UConn Past Globetrotters
11/16/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Gordon, Okafor Pace UConn Past Globetrotters
HARTFORD, CT (November 16) – Sophomore guard Ben Gordon (Mount Vernon, NY) scored 18 points and sophomore Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) came within one block of a triple-double as Connecticut overcame a cold-shooting first half to race past the Harlem Globetrotters, 80-65, in their final game exhibition of the 2002-2003 season at the Hartford Civic Center on Saturday night.
The Globetrotters controlled play in the first half, leading by as many as 12 points, 27-15, with 6:59 to play, however Gordon and junior point guard Taliek Brown (Queens, NY) scored 11 points to key a 21-10 run to end the half with UConn down just one, 37-36. The Huskies shot just 32-percent, 12-of-37, in the first half, but hit 11 free throws to stay close.
UConn took the lead for good on a jumper by sophomore forward Scott Hazelton (Somerville, MA) with 14:39 to play, which keyed a 14-2 Husky run. Connecticut improved its shooting in the second half, connecting on 56-percent, 18-of-32, after intermission.
Okafor finished the game with 10 points and game-high totals of 13 rebounds and nine blocks. Also in double figures off the bench for the Huskies were senior guard Tony Robertson (E. Providence, RI), who had 13 and Hazelton who had 10. Brown dished out a game-high six assists for the Huskies.
Former NBA standout Cedric Ceballos led the Globetrotters with 14 points.
The Huskies will open up its regular season schedule on Saturday, November 23 when they host in-state rival Quinnipiac at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. Tip off is slated for 7:00 pm and will be televised locally by WTXX Channel 20.
QUOTES
Justin Brown
On playing against the Harlem Globetrotters: It was a great experience…it was great to be able to play against them.
Once we started our running game, we started taking over. Give credit to Scott (Hazelton), he was running all night, and Shamon (Tooles) and Emeka (Okafor) were rebounding really well and starting our break and getting us going.
On if the Globetrotters were tired: They have played a lot of games in the past couple of weeks, so they were getting a little tired towards the end of the week.
Scott Hazelton
I’m used to running, that’s what I’ve been doing ever since I started playing basketball. It is something that makes me pretty successful, so I know if I get out there and start running, good things will happen.
They had some big bodies out there and they were setting some hard screens…
On mindset of playing the Globetrotters: We knew that they had great players….we just wanted to go out there and play hard.
On sluggish start and halftime talk: Coach rallied us together and told us to pick it up, and that’s what we did. Coach told us we just have to get out there, rebound, run and play defense. That’s what coach stresses and that’s what we did.
On his progress: I’m feeling good. I’m just trying to do what I can for the team, get out there and run, play hard and make some plays.
We are deep, we run every day in practice and coach pushes us hard. Eventually we are going to wear them down.
That’s the way Connecticut basketball is…we get up in your face, play defense and run.
They had some big bodies out there, some strong guys…Coach just said that we’ve got to block out, it doesn’t matter how tall you are….look at Shamon Tooles, he’s only 6-4…it’s all about desire and boxing out and playing hard.
We just had to pick it up and execute better…pick it up and run.
Emeka Okafor
We had a slow start but it is all about how you finish…we finished strong, we stayed with it, everybody played well, the freshmen and the bench contributed.
At the halftime break Coach told us that we had to pick it up, we can’t let them hang the whole game.
On defense in 2nd half: I was trying to do what I could to do help my team…my team needed me to block shots and rebound, so that’s what I did.
On playing the Globetrotters: It was fun, we got some experience and learned some new tricks.
On getting blocked: It was different…I got a little taste of my own medicine.
Tony Robertson
On their improved 2nd half play
We definitely played better in the 2nd half. That’s the most important half, so I’m glad we came out and got it back on track and got it together.
We were able to build a lead and just capitalized on their mistakes. We made them turn the ball over a couple of times, and we took advantage of that and got ourselves a couple of buckets.
What did Calhoun say at halftime?
You can imagine what he said. He wasn’t really happy about what was going on. But at the same time, he knew we could make it right. And that’s what we did.
What did you learn from the exhibition games?
I learned that we have a lot of players that can do a lot of different things. I think we can play a little better defensively. I think that’s what we have to work on. Once we get our defense to where we are comfortable and happy with the way we play defense, then I think we can be a really, really good team.
The fastest UConn
Everyone can run. Everyone gets up the floor no matter what position. And we have more than one guy at certain positions and they can all get up the floor.
Shamon Tooles
How would you grade yourself?
I don’t really think it’s for me to grade. I think I did a lot of little things. I was more happy about how we broke the press.
Ben Gordon
We knew they had a lot of big guys, a lot of older players, so they had that ‘old man strength.’
I think we started off a little slow. We didn’t run as much as we wanted to. I guess a lot of guys had a little jitters because we missed a lot of easy lay-ups and rebounds. I think it was just a matter of us getting going and then we turned it up at the end.
Do you think you can wear-down any teams?
After the game, their coach said he thought we were the best fast-break team they’ve played. And we don’t even think we ran our fastbreak as well as we can. I think we can definitely can run and tire-down other teams once we get our fastbreak down.
Although we didn’t shoot that well tonight, we have a very good shooting and everybody can run. We have very athletic players that can get out on the break.
We have a lot of athletic, fast guys and we want to use it to wear teams down…The less offense we run, the better shape we’re in.
On playing the Harlem Globetrotters
It’s definitely fun. You get to see a team you’ve watched for years on TV. It just a great experience, and we’re just happy to come in here and win tonight. I have a lot of respect for those guys.
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
Overall, we got some physical things out of it. I don't know if we got much mentally out of it....We got an opportunity to go up against a real big team and we certainly didn't get devastated on the boards.
I thought Scott Hazelton played terrific. I could see some of the young kids' faces down after the game...but don't you think I'm going to want a guy who kills himself in practice and then he goes out in the game and plays a hundred miles an hour. A couple of those young guys don't understand that yet. And if they don't, they're going to have a tough time playing.
We're a fast break team. We should have accelerated earlier. But we turned the defense up in the second half and I thought we did a good job there.
It was a good physical experience for us. We got better at it. Our fast break got going.
I don't think it was a great X and O experience where we really found ourselves. Running offense became difficult because they came out and just pressured the ball, so we went by them and created plays.
On Hazelton
Scott has an identity right now. Play hard as heck and he'll play you. And that's what he's doing. Good things happen to those who play hard at UConn. He's playing hard and he has talent, and he was a factor in the game, regardless of what the stats say....I give him a real high grade tonight.
On guard play
The three guards are good. They're terrific. I wouldn't trade them for any three guards in the country. They're awfully good.
Globetrotters Head Coach Milton Barnes
All I can tell you that Connecticut is a fast team. They can run. I tell you what, they made us look old tonight. They're an outstanding team, and outstanding ballclub with a lot of experience back, obviously, from last year. Among all the teams we've played, they may be the fastest team we've played. We've played some pretty good teams in Maryland and Mississippi State and they may be the fastest. When they've got a certain lineup out there, it's hard to keep up with them when they're running the track meet.
They played great basketball, I thought, in the second half. At one point we tried to put our quickest lineup out there -- maybe not always our best basketball players, but our quickest guys -- just to try to keep up, to keep them from getting the easy layups, and we still couldn't stop that.
On Taliek
He does a great job, I think, of getting the ball down they other end and making sure that they don't have someone open for the layup or a wide open shot, and he finds his people. That's what a point guard is supposed to do. He ranks right up there with all the point guards we've seen all year, and there are some good point guards out there. Brown ranks right up there with the best of them.
On Okafor
He lived up to his reputation.
