University of Connecticut Athletics
Selvie Leads UConn Past Seton Hall On Senior Night
3/2/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
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STORRS, CT – Johnnie Selvie, (Sr., Flint, MI) playing in his final home game of his career, scored 21 points to lead five teammates in double figures as 23rd-ranked Connecticut outscored Seton Hall, 90-78 before a raucous sellout crowd of 10,027 at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
The victory, UConn's sixth in a row, improves the Huskies record to 21-6, 13-3 in the BIG EAST. The Pirates slip to 12-17, 5-11 in the conference.
Seton Hall made 14 three-pointers to stay close, leading as late as 74-72 with 5:27 remaining before UConn tied the game on a Selvie lay-up with 5:11 to play and a Selvie free throw 24 seconds later gave UConn a lead it would not relinquish. Connecticut, which made just three of its first 16 shots, shot a sizzling 56.1% (32 of 57) for the game. The Huskies made 29 of its final 41 field goal attempts (70.7%). UConn outrebounded Seton Hall, 40-23 and enjoyed a whopping 48-16 advantage in points in the paint.
Joining Selvie in double digits were sophomore All-America candidate Caron Butler, (Racine, WI) Tony Robertson (Jr., E. Providence, RI) and Ben Gordon (Fr., Mt. Vernon, NY), who each had 15 points. Also in double figures were sophomore Taliek Brown (Queens, NY) and freshman standout center Emeka Okafor (Houston, TX) who had 11 and 10 respectively.
Okafor blocked three shots, increasing his school-record single-season record to 119, just one short of the conference record held by Alonzo Mourning. He also shared game-high rebounding honors with teammate Butler, with nine apiece.
Starting guards Andre Barrett and Darius Lane led Seton Hall with 23 and 20 points respectively.
Connecticut enters the ConAgra BIG EAST tournament as the top-seed in the conference's East Division and will play it's quarterfinal round game Thursday, March 7 at 7:00 p.m. against an opponent to be determined. The game will be televised nationally by espn2.
