University of Connecticut Athletics
Okafor's Triple-Double Leads Huskies Over Army
12/6/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
STORRS, CT (December 6, 2003) – Junior center Emeka Okafor notched the first triple-double of his career, including a career-high 10 blocks, in a game that marked the highly anticipated debut of heralded UConn freshman Charlie Villanueva as the third-ranked Huskies easily out-pointed Army, 74-46, Saturday evening at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion.
The win improves the UConn record to 6-1, while the Black Knights drop to 3-4.
Okafor had his way in the paint throughout the contest, finishing with 18 points and 15 rebounds and his 10 blocked shots tied him with Donyell Marshall for the UConn school-record. Marshall also blocked 10 shots against Hartford on January 17, 1994. Okafor's rebound and block totals were a season-high. Even with Okafor’s heroics, the highlight of the game was the first action of Villanueva’s Husky career. He entered the game with 14:30 to play in the opening half with UConn holding a 14-0 lead to a thunderous ovation led by the mostly student-filled crowd. All tickets to the game were sold but the actual attendance was held down due to a snowstorm. It took Villanueva very little time to make an impact, registering his first basket within 1:22 and recording his first block just 30 seconds later. He finished the half with six points on two of four shooting. He finished the game with 16 points, five rebounds and three assists in a very impressive debut.
UConn was in control from the outset, harassing the Black Knights into missing their first 10 shots before a Joey Payton lay-up with 11:58 to play in the first half cut the Husky lead to 16-2. UConn shot 50% (17 of 34) from the field in the opening 20 minutes and pounded the Black Knights for 22 points in the paint.
Freshman point guard Marcus Williams set a career-high with nine points off of the bench, while freshman power forward Josh Boone scored seven and yanked down five boards in just 17 minutes of action.
UConn out shot Army 44%-28% for the game and enjoyed a 14-0 advantage in fast break points. The Huskies out-rebounded their shorter opponents, 53-31.
Kenny Doleac and Adeniyi Amadou each scored nine points for Army.
The Huskies will take the next week off for semester exams, and return to action next Saturday, December 13, when they play host to in-state rival Quinnipiac at Gampel Pavilion. Tip-off is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game will be televised locally by Fox-61.
POST GAME QUOTES
UConn Head Coach Jim Calhoun Quotes
It was a tough game to play. They obviously conceded the offensive glass and put five guys back. It screwed some of our guys up, guys who are used to making penetrating moves on the fastbreak, which became non-existent when we had five guys facing us every single time.
I asked them to come out and not put on a defensive performance like they did against Lehigh. And until there were five or six minutes to go they put on a great defensive performance. We could have squeezed even harder, and pick them up full court and make them dribble the ball much more, forced the pass because they are a good passing team, and not give them open shots because we gave them open shots the first 30 minutes…but that doesn’t do us any good. I asked them to play defense, I asked them to come out sharp with good body language – and they did that. Obviously we had superior personnel, quickness, size, etc. But we had some of those same things against Lehigh, but at 19-2, I knew we weren’t going to repeat the same kind of game.
Offensively I give him a B, defensively somewhere a D and an F. He lost contact with his man, he kept leaving his feet. He does get into passing lanes, he will intercept the ball, he will bother people, but he goes for steals. He went and double teamed the ball one time for no reason that I can even fathom. Because he’s used to playing that style of ball, he’s still a little uncoached by us, he’s going to have to practice hard this week.
The one thing Charlie can do, when he touches the ball, I don’t care who he’s playing with, at 6’10” when he gets the turnaround jump shot, he can find ways to score. I think that’s something that we’ve been looking for. He’s going to have rebound offensively better, he’s going to have to vastly improve his defense, but he also is a good passer and I think he’s going to give us another weapon.
He would have been better off being broken into a game where the game is up and down, because that’s when really shines.
On Emeka
The triple double by Emeka was a long time coming. The first half I didn’t like the way he was playing. The second half, regardless of points, he looked much more like him. He was very, very good, and there’s a lot of relief knowing that fact. But his timing is still off. He’s still missing shots that he doesn’t miss.
Charlie Villanueva Quotes
How did it feel to finally play in a game? It felt good. The fans have supported me a long way, it just felt good being out there and helping my team out. Finally, it’s about time we get this thing rolling. I was excited to be out there. I’m just pretty much trying to play my game and try to win the game.
Strange to jump in at this point?: It is hard…I’m pretty much the new guy on the team. It is going to take a while for me to adjust, but I think I’ll be fine.
Defensive rating of D-F by Coach Calhoun: There is definitely a lot of room for improvement. I just need to work on everything, defense, offense.
Was it good to get the first basket out of the way quickly? Definitely it felt good. Try to play hard, try to get this win. That’s what I’m here for, is to win games.
Reaction to NCAA decision?: I tried to play it cool, keep my emotions in…but inside I was excited. I’m glad it is over with. I got my sleep. It was a long day today
On how he handled the wait for the NCAA’s decision: I just didn’t let it get to my head. I tried not to get frustrated. At one point they had me like ‘Wow, when is this going to end’ but I just left it in the hands of God, and he answered my prayers. I showed no type of frustration, I just kept my feelings to myself.
Was it hard to be separated from the team on the NY trip?: It was difficult not being a round the team…because I’m a team player. I didn’t let it get to my head, I stayed focused and looked forward.
The whole NCAA thing…I’m just going to try to put it behind me, just forget about it and just worry about what is coming up the next couple of games. Just try to look forward. I am past that.
It was exciting to be out there, with my teammates, having fun with them, and running up and down the court.
I just have to play hard. Coach Calhoun emphasizes speed a lot, that’s one thing I need to do, keep running that floor, stay aggressive and play as best that I can.
On not being in game shape: I’ve got to get into game shape, that’s not something you can’t teach. The more games that come, the better for me..,.after 3 minutes, I was winded, but I’m going to be fine. I’m going to work hard in practice, run up and down. Now that I know I’m playing I feel a lot better.
On some of the plays, the guys had to help me out and I thank them very much, because they did look out real good for me. I felt good out there, I’m just going to get into a flow and I should be fine.
Emeka Okafor Quotes
You moved like your back felt better. Did it?
I fooled you all good, huh? It kind of felt a little bit tighter. I worked through it, got the adrenaline going, and just tried to do as much as possible. It didn’t bother me when I was running, it was more when I stopped and sat down it would tighten up a little bit.
What did Charlie Villenueva add tonight?
He was another force out there, another problem for Army to worry about. He was happy to be back. We were happy to have him back. And the crowd was happy to see him.
Was it an unusual game even after they gave up the opening tip?
It was a real awkward game. But there’s a first time for everything. I think we responded well to it. We tried to play within ourselves.
Better job playing defense today than past games?
I think we did a good job. We were talking, and we were getting off of screens trying to find our man or the open guy.
Army Head Coach Jim Crews Quotes
UConn’s pretty good – better than us. I thought they applied good defensive pressure, came out and set the tempo. I thought they just overmatched us with things, but our kids kept battling and hung in there. We got a little bit better in segments. They’re a good team – a really good team – and a fun team to watch.
I thought our guys did a good job of having good energy. We got in late last night after playing last night.
On UConn’s poor outside shooting
We wanted them to take outside shots and we tried to pressure as much as we could, but it’s tough. Gordon is such a good player, and Brown, too, from the outside. We dropped off their point guards a little bit to try to jam it up, because they’re so good inside too. Everything’s relative, but relatively speaking we did a decent job with that. But that’s why they’re good. They can shoot from outside, they can drive by you, they score off their defense, they score off offensive boards, they score in a variety of ways. That’s why they’re good.
