University of Connecticut Athletics
Gordon Leads Connecticut in Win Over Quinnipiac
12/13/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STORRS, CT (December 13, 2003) -- Junior guard Ben Gordon exploded for 23 first half points on his way to a game-high total of 28 and sophomore forward Hilton Armstrong notched the first double-double of his career as second-ranked Connecticut drubbed in-state rival Quinnipiac, 88-55, before the usual sellout crowd of 10,167 at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion on Saturday evening.
The win improves the Huskies’ record to 7-1 while the Bobcats slip to 2-5 with the loss.
Quinnipiac actually stayed close to UConn in the early going, trailing just 19-14 with 9:35 to play in the first half. However, Gordon took over, hitting three consecutive three-pointers to ignite a 16-1 run and closed the half with three more consecutive baskets from beyond the arc as the Huskies ripped out to 46-20 halftime advantage. Gordon made seven three-pointers in the opening twenty minutes and finished the contest with eight, one shy of the school-record of nine set by Ray Allen against Rutgers on February 28, 1996. Gordon’s 28 points give him 1,227 in his career, moving into 23rd place on the all-time UConn scoring list, passing both Albert Mouring and Bill Corley.
Gordon’s offensive fireworks almost overshadowed the best game of Armstrong’s career. Armstrong, who started for injured center Emeka Okafor, out with back spasms, set a career-high with his game-high 12 rebounds and came within one of his career-best with 11 points. He also blocked a game-high four shots. Okafor had previously started and played in all 74 games in his UConn career. Also setting a career mark for rebounds was sophomore forward Denham Brown, who snared 11.
Senior point guard Taliek Brown had his most effective game of the young season. He scored six points, dished out a game-high eight assists and committed just one turnover. He now has 514 assists at UConn, moving past Ricky Moore into 5th place on the school career assist list. Freshman forward Charlie Villanueva, playing in just his second game, came off the bench to score 15 points on six of eight shooting, and grabbed six rebounds. Starting power forward Josh Boone had six points and eight rebounds.
UConn finished with 23 assists and just 11 turnovers, while limiting the Bobcats to just 30% shooting. The victory was the 54th straight for the Huskies against in-state rivals.
Rob Monroe led Quinnipiac with 21 points.
The Huskies return to the hardwood next Saturday, December 20, when they entertain Iona at the Hartford Civic Center. Tip-off is scheduled for noon, and the game will be televised locally by WTXX-20.
POST GAME QUOTES
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun
Takliek Brown deserves more than enough credit…Mims is a good player, Monroe is a terrific player.
My gut is that the team had just enough nervousness without Emeka, to really come out and play defense.
The only thing I’m disappointed about was that we shot 850 foul shots this week….and we shot 84%. (Tonight) we couldn’t make a foul shot.
Offensively, without Emeka, we were looking for somebody and #4 appeared. Our defense got rewarded by the terrific offense by Ben.
On Hilton Armstrong
He had been unable in his career to do what he did tonight. I said to him this afternoon that he was getting a terrific opportunity tonight. He has played in a lot of the games early in the season where we have won by big scores and he had never shown the kind of performance that he did tonight…which I thought was great for him. I said to him this afternoon that he was getting an terrific opportunity tonight.
On Quinnipiac
The defense eventually wore them down, our numbers wore them down. We had not stopped them. We had beaten them, but not stopped them. Tonight we stopped them. We set a goal out of (allowing) 45 points, they got 55. At the end of the game, that’s not what you are trying to do, we were not trying to embarrass anybody or rub it in, or keep guys in. What we were trying to do was set a good defensive tone for a long period of time.
On Emeka Okafor’s status
Without Emeka, we didn’t seem to lose much of a beat. That doesn’t mean I don’t want him back.
Emeka said that he feels something in his back…Sometimes when you are really bright and you really think about things a great deal. He is not as injured as the guy who played against Georgia Tech or Utah. But I think he looks at it, as only Emeka would in the big picture, that his theory…not the doctors, not mine, not the Trainer, not Joe Sharpe…is that he needs constant rest without playing basketball and he’ll come back much stronger come January. Is he going to play against Iona, I have no idea. One thing a coach, doctor or trainer can’t do is tell a kid that they have to play. He says he feels better, but he wants to clean it up (Emeka’s words). So that by the time we hit the bulk of the schedule that his back is not going to keep going in and out…because he hates what he is going through.
I’m not sure Emeka has truly really been hurt before. He sees what kind of season we have coming up. He is trying to make a rational judgment on the big picture.
I did want to have him dressed tonight. I thought it would be a good security blanket. I had no intention of using him, even it we got down. I wanted him dressed for the team as much as anything else.
Ben Gordon
It just felt like everything I put up was going to go in. So I have to try and stay in a rhythm so I can have more games like this.
On Kason Mims physical defensive play
He was playing pretty aggressive so I just tried to stay patient and use the screens my teammates were setting. And I got open on a lot of them…I tried to stay calm and didn’t fight back because he was looking to initiate contact and try and get into my head. So I just tried to run him off as many screens as I could and it worked.
On Hilton Armstrong’s play
Hilton was great tonight. I think that was a good confidence booster for him. Coaches have been getting on him a little bit in practice the last couple of days just because he expects a lot from him. And Hilton came in and did a great job tonight.
Did you think you had to be a little more forceful tonight, carry more of the burden with Emeka out?
Not really. We have a pretty good team and any time one of us is injured or can’t play we have more than enough guys who can back us up and make a positive contribution.
Did tonight feel because you had come off a bad game?
Anytime you come off a bad game, you want to come back out and continue to play hard and everything else will fall into place. You can’t expect to play bad the whole season, so you just have to continue to give a good effort and everything will go back to regular.
Did you know the shot at the end of the half was going in?
I knew it was going in. I didn’t really get pushed. I just thought I’d fall on the floor and make it a little more dramatic.
Taliek Brown
Our defense got our offense going. We had the crowd behind us. We just played great today.
On Hilton Armstrong’s play
Hilton was great today. He played awesome. He played with a lot of enthusiasm. He rebounded, tipped dunks, scored. He did what we needed him to do in place of Emeka.
On Ben Gordon’s shooting
He hit one. Then he hit another one. So I knew I could just keep going to him and let him do what he had to do because he was on fire today.
On Ben’s shot at the end of the half
I called face for him – that’s a little isolation play – because I knew he was on fire. So, we got him the ball and he just did what he had to do.
How’s your health?
I felt good tonight. I’ve been alright for the past couple of days…My hips are a little sore now, but I just have to stretch out and work on this machine.
Was it weird not having Emeka out there?
Not really because we played real good tonight. Maybe if we would have struggled then it would have been strange not having him. But Hilton stepped up and took his job and he did a great job.
Hilton Armstrong
When did you find out you were going to start?
Earlier in the day, like early afternoon.
What did Emeka say to you just before the game started?
He was just trying to tell me to stay on my feet on defense, don’t rush anything, and let the game come to me – just play as hard as I can.
You were a lot more active out there tonight, no?
Definitely. Sometimes when Emeka’s out there I just relax a little bit. But I knew he wasn’t out there so I just tried to go as hard as I can and try and fill his shoes.
Did Coach Calhoun say anything to you after the game?
Coach told me I did a good job and that he wants me to play like that all the time.
Charlie Villanueva
I felt pretty good out there. I came off to a slow start in the first half, but I got into it in the 2nd half and played hard. I just tried to do what Emeka couldn’t do for us because his back was hurting. So Hilton stepped up, myself, and Josh, we all stepped up and took good care of what we had to do.
On Ben Gordon’s play
He just makes things easier, just give him the ball. He’s a great scorer. He’s a great shooter as well. He just kept hitting those shots and it was working for us.
Emeka Okafor
What did you think of Hilton Armstrong’s play?
Hilton stepped up like I knew he would. He came out there confident. He blocked some shots, grabbed some boards, and made some points.
How concerned are you with the back?
I’m just taking things carefully and trying to get things right…It (the injury) happened right at tip-off against Sacred Heart.
Quinnipiac Coach Joe DeSantis
All I can say is that I feel fortunate that it wasn’t a 55 or 60 point game. They came out with a passion. Ben Gordon was on his way to the single-best performance I’ve ever seen. Thank God Calhoun likes me, he was nice to me. Gordon had more points than we had at one point. I told my guys if he is in there and he gets it make sure you triple team him. They were great, they made shots, they are a great team.
My kids tried hard, they just don’t have it together. We’re missing shots, we have a couple of guys that are limping. So I can’t fault them, as hard as I am on them, they’re a great bunch of guys and we’re going to get better. Believe it or not I think we’re going to compete for our league.
It’s funny, we’re used to coming up here and playing better than that. I think we kind of spoiled ourselves. They are great inside, they have depth and they make plays on the perimeter. They switch things on the weak side, we couldn’t get open, they were really good tonight.
On if he was relieved that Okafor did not play
No, they still had enough to beat us.
On taking something positive away from game
At the end of the game I though we played with a little passion. I told my guys in the huddle that it was the earliest that UConn had ever played a walk-on against us since I’ve been in here, so I was just trying to pump them up.
On the technical foul
I was voicing my displeasure, honestly and sincerely, but also that I’m not going to sit there and play dumb. I thought a foul should have been called, it had no bearing on the game…I voiced my displeasure and he hit me with a technical. I don’t think it was anything pre-planned.
