Expectations, pressure, obstacles and injuries stood in UConn’s way all season long.  The Connecticut Huskies overcame all of them Monday night when they beat Georgia Tech 82-73 for the school’s second national championship.  It looked easy at times for the Huskies as they steamrolled through the competition on their way to the Final Four.  It looked easy during the title game as UConn put on a perfect blend of talent, defense and execution en route to a 25 point second half lead.  From the beginning of the season, it was clear that UConn had the tools necessary to be the last men standing, but the journey to get there was not easy.

When the first AP polls and sports magazines were released in the fall, UConn was nearly everyone’s consensus number one selection.  Sports Illustrated and ESPN the Magazine showcased Preseason Player of the Year, Emeka Okafor, as the next great big man to lead his team to a championship.  UConn was returning five starters from a team that in 2003 made the Sweet Sixteen and nearly beat Texas in San Antonio.  Along with Okafor, the Huskies featured another preseason All-American, sweet shooting Ben Gordon.  UConn also was able to make a late coup in the recruiting wars, convincing High School All-American Charlie Villanueva to attend UConn when he decided not to attend Illinois after Coach Bill Self left their program.   Prognosticators across the country felt that with all of these pieces in place, Jim Calhoun in April would be cutting the nets down. 

Early in November, UConn received an unpleasant Thanksgiving eve beating by Georgia Tech in the Preseason NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.  The Yellow Jackets laid a 77-61 whooping on the Number One team in the country.  Coupled with the loss was the first indication of Emeka Okafor’s lingering back problems that were later diagnosed as a stress fracture.  The early loss signaled that the race to the championship was wide open.  If UConn was to remain a contender, they would have to play with more intensity and vigor.

December was a walk through for UConn as they played the majority of their out of conference schedule against inferior opponents.  During this time, Villanueva was cleared to play after being sidelined for six games due to possible NCAA refractions.  In December the Huskies beat the likes of Lehigh, Army, and Ball State.  They passed their first test against a nationally ranked opponent by drilling Oklahoma 86-59 in Hartford on January 11^th.  At this point in the season UConn had a 13-1 record, but played only two opponents away from Connecticut or Madison Square Garden.  The road would prove to be a difficult place for the Huskies very soon.

UConn locked horns with North Carolina in an epic battle at Chapel Hill less than a week later on January 17th.  A late three pointer by Rashad McCants with five seconds left sealed a Carolina victory.  UConn would outlast Pittsburgh at home two days later on Big Monday, but would fall to Providence at home on the 24^th, for the second consecutive year.  The Providence loss stung Coach Calhoun who publicly called out his team for its lack of effort, which was followed by his famous post-game expletive laced tirade.  UConn would also lose their backup freshman point guard, Marcus Williams during the week due to academic reasons.  After losing another Marcus, (White) due to injury for the season, the Huskies depth would now be tested. 

The Huskies would win their next four Big East contests including a convincing 88-58 victory over the reigning national champions, Syracuse.  Their road woes continued however as UConn lost consecutive games for the first time all season, at Notre Dame and Pittsburgh.  Pittsburgh’s victory placed the Pirates in the eyes of the national media as the new beasts of the Big East conference.  UConn dropped to 19-5 with a 7-3 conference record.  Some critics began to write off UConn and reneged on their early season projections. 

UConn finished the regular season with more ups and downs.  Okafor reaggravated his back during a thrilling overtime win at Villanova on February 28th.  Ben Gordon’s shooting touch at times seemed to be deserting him and sophomore forward Denham Brown found himself on the bench after starting the entire season.   Freshman Charlie Villanueva struggled to find playing time as well, as Calhoun insisted on a stronger defensive effort from him and Charlie’s confidence waned.  The two constants for UConn remained the surprising play of UConn’s other big freshman, Josh Boone and the rock hard senior point guard, Taliek Brown.  Denham Brown continued to struggle, but sharp shooting Rashad Anderson began to find his touch and started his streak of solid play as a starter.  The regular season finale ended with a 67-56 loss at Syracuse.  The Huskies finished regular season play with a 24-6 record, 12-4 in conference.  Okafor’s health and the up and town play of the Huskies led to many questions that needed to be answered in the Big East Tournament.

UConn’s second trip to Madison Square Garden proved to be much better than their first.  Forced to play without the injured Okafor in the first two games of the tournament, Ben Gordon emerged as the star Calhoun had been prodding for three years.  During those two games Gordon and company learned how to play without Okafor.   They beat Notre Dame and Villanova without their star center, setting up a final classic showdown against nemesis Pittsburgh.  Okafor rejoined his troops for this contest.   Along with Gordon and Anderson he led UConn to the Big East Championship with a gritty come from behind victory.  Gordon finished the tournament with a record 81 points and tournament MVP honors.  The win also helped secure the Huskies a number two seed in the “Phoenix” region.  If UConn was to advance to their second Final Four, it would take place at the same venue that the 1999 team traveled through.

UConn’s first opponent, 15^th seeded Vermont got off to a quick 7-0 lead over UConn, but there would be no storybook ending for the Catamounts.  UConn easily dismissed their northern neighbor and just as convincingly beat up on old friend Dave Leitao’s DePaul squad.   Both victories were by 17 points.  The Huskies wasted little time deflating the balloon of their next opponent, Vanderbilt, in the Sweet Sixteen.  A fiery Alabama team awaited UConn in the regional final after upsetting number one seed Stanford and defending champion Syracuse. 

Alabama ran into a UConn team that was running on all cylinders.  The Huskies played their finest half of the season in the Elite Eight and raced out to a 53-29 half time lead.  Ben Gordon had his most dominant game of the tournament and again made up for the absence of Okafor who suffered another injury, this time a shoulder injury.  Gordon scored 36 points against the Tide and Rashad Anderson added a career high 28 to make Alabama crimson red.  The Huskies were heading back to San Antonio, the same place where their season ended a year before.  This time, they had the chance to leave San Antonio as champions.

The Final Four was set with a juicy UConn vs. Duke matchup as the nightcap, after a Georgia Tech victory against Oklahoma State in the semifinal.  Duke was looking to avenge its 1999 title loss to the Huskies, but even as the higher seed was labeled the underdog this time around.  UConn stormed out to an early 15-4 lead and appeared well on their way to yet another blowout victory.  UConn was not playing Alabama or Vermont however and Duke would not get blown out.  The Dukies clawed back and took control of the game for the majority of the forty minutes.  A loose whistle put both teams in foul trouble limiting Okafor to four first half minutes and eventually fouling out both of Duke’s big men.  With a 75-67 cushion and three minutes to play Duke appeared to have the game won.   Rashad Anderson and Okafor had different ideas and spearheaded one of the NCAA tournament’s finest comeback victories.  An Anderson three cut the lead to five, and Okafor’s inside dominance against backup center Nick Horvath proved to be too much for Duke.  An Okafor put back of his own miss propelled UConn to a 76-75 lead with less than 30 seconds to play.  Anderson and Okafor then iced the game with free throws capping off an amazing 12-0 run.  Duke’s Chris Duhon hit a desperation three off glass that trimmed the victory margin to one point.  The one point victory may have foiled bets across America, but did not foil UConn’s celebration and victory.  On Monday night the Huskies would have a chance to avenge their largest defeat of the season and more importantly win a national championship.

The UConn team that lost to Georgia Tech in late November did not resemble the team that came to play in the championship game.  A healthy Okafor combined with a more aggressive Ben Gordon and red hot Rashad Anderson would be far too much for Tech to handle on this night.  After seesawing early in the contest, UConn took control midway through the first half of the game and never looked back.  An Anderson buzzer beating jump shoot put the Huskies ahead at the half 41-26.  UConn built on this momentum and their lead blossomed to an impressive 25 point cushion midway through the second half.  Tech cut at the lead late with a flurry of threes, but the Huskies were never in jeopardy of losing the ball game.  The final score was 82-73, which was not even indicative of UConn’s dominance.  Okafor was not to be denied playing time in this contest and finished with game bests of 24 points and 15 rebounds.  He left San Antonio with a championship and Most Outstanding Player Honors. 

UConn’s second national championship in six years put them in the same class as Duke and Kentucky as the only schools to win multiple championships over the past 15 years.  Although Coach Calhoun barely missed being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, he joined an elite group of coaches by winning his second national championship, and cemented his place in the Hall at a later time.  Calhoun’s team also became the first preseason number one to finish first since Kentucky won in 1996.  Calhoun helped mold a talented group of players into a unified team that gelled in time to win 14 of their last 15 games.  Connecticut fans will always remember the Alamo, and the 2004 National Championship will promise to forever remember the Huskies. 

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