Elite Eight Recap – Phoenix Region
(2) Connecticut 87, (8) Alabama 71
The Connecticut Huskies may have won the game, but whether they win the war might depend on the health of center Emeka Okafor. The All-American scored just two points in only 19 minutes of action after getting a stinger midway through the first half, but his Huskie teammates provided more than enough support in UConn’s 87-71 win over Alabama.
Ben Gordon poured in 36 points and Rashad Anderson added 28 of his own as the Huskies finally begin to show the world why they were named the top team in the country at the beginning of the season. Gordon and Anderson were simply dominating for Jim Calhoun on the evening, and they single-handedly outscored the entire Crimson Tide team in the first half by 11 points, 40-29.
UConn as a team dominated the first half and never allowed Alabama to get back into the game after a 20-3 run closed out the first half, giving the Huskies an insurmountable 53-29 lead at the break. Anderson was on fire in the opening 20 minutes, going for 22 points – including 6-of-6 shooting from three-point range. UConn as a team hit 9-of-11 threes in the first half, while Alabama went just 2-for-12 from beyond the arc as the team’s shooting – combined with the athleticism and talent of the Connecticut squad – was simply too much for the Crimson Tide to handle.
After Gordon and Anderson, Charlie Villanueva was next on the scoring list with only eight points but also added eight rebounds, while Taliek Brown scored only three points but also dished out 10 assists on the evening. ‘Bama was led by Chuck Davis, who scored a career-high 24 points, and Kennedy Wilson, who scored 21 points. But Earnest Shelton, who came into the game averaging 16 points per game, only managed 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting – 16 percentage points below his season average, as he and his teammates were unable to keep up with the high-powered Connecticut offense.
The victory was tempered somewhat, however, by the injury to Okafor. To go along with his bothersome back, which didn’t seem to bother him while he was dominating Alabama inside, Okafor was injured with 9:19 left in the first half on a hard foul by Jermareo Davidson. The All-American center came out to start the second half, but went to the bench 3:28 into the second half and didn’t return for the remainder of the contest. In his limited action, he still managed to corral nine rebounds and swat away five blocks, but Connecticut fans will be holding their breath to see if their star senior will be affected at all by this latest injury.
Of course, with the way Anderson and Gordon are shooting the ball, UConn still looks pretty good heading into the Final Four, regardless of Okafor’s condition.
