2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game

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2004 NCAA Tournament Championship Game
National championship game
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Connecticut Huskies
ACC Big East
(28–9)(32–6)
7382
Head coach:
Paul Hewitt 		Head coach:
Jim Calhoun
1st half2nd halfTotal
Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 264773
Connecticut Huskies 414182
DateApril 5, 2004
Venue Alamodome, San Antonio, Texas
MVP Emeka Okafor, Connecticut
Favorite Connecticut by 6.5
Referees Dick Cartmell, Randy McCall, Verne Harris
Attendance44,468
United States TV coverage
Network CBS
Announcers Jim Nantz (play-by-play)
Billy Packer (color)
Bonnie Bernstein and Armen Keteyian (sideline)
Nielsen Ratings 11.0
←  2003
2005  →

The 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 2004 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2003-04 NCAA Division I men's basketball season The game was played on April 5, 2004 at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas and featured the Phoenix Regional Champion, #2-seeded Connecticut versus the St. Louis Regional Champion, #3-seeded Georgia Tech.

Contents

UConn and Georgia Tech met in the semifinals of the 2003 NIT Season Tip-Off and Georgia Tech upset #1-ranked UConn with a 77–61 win on their way to winning the 2003 NIT Season Tip-Off. [2] However, the Huskies would prevail handily in their rematch in the title game to win their second national championship.

Participants

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Georgia Tech entered the tournament as the #3 seed in the St. Louis regional. In the 1st round, Georgia Tech survived a scare against Northern Iowa when Ben Jacobson missed a game-tying 3-pointer as Georgia Tech was able to pull away with a 65–60 win. [3] In the 2nd round, Jarrett Jack made a breakaway dunk with less than six seconds left to hold off Boston College 57–54. [4] In the Sweet 16, Marvin Lewis scored 23 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 72–67 victory over Nevada to advance to the Elite Eight. [5] In the Elite Eight, Jarrett Jack scored 29 points to lead Georgia Tech to a 79–71 overtime win over Kansas to advance to the Final Four. [6] In the Final Four, Will Bynum made a last second shot to defeat Oklahoma State 67-65 and earn the Yellow Jackets their first-ever trip to the national championship game. [7]

Connecticut Huskies

Connecticut entered the tournament as the #2 seed in the Phoenix Regional. In the 1st round, Emeka Okafor had a double double with 15 points and 14 rebounds and he was able to limit the nations third-leading scorer Taylor Coppenrath to 12 points as Connecticut beat Vermont 70–53. [8] In the 2nd round, Connecticut was able to beat DePaul 72-55 despite their coach Jim Calhoun having an upset stomach. [9] In the Sweet 16, Ben Gordon scored 20 points to lead Connecticut to a 73–53 victory over Vanderbilt. [10] In the Elite Eight, Emeka Okafor only scored two points due to a tweaked shoulder but Ben Gordon's 36 points and Rashad Anderson's 28 points led Connecticut to an 87–71 victory over Alabama for a trip to the Final Four. [11] In the Final Four, Emeka Okafor scored all 18 of his points in the 2nd half as he led Connecticut to a 12–0 run, down 75–67 with less than three minutes remaining, to beat Duke 79-78 and advance to the national championship game for the first time since 1999. [12]

Starting lineups

Georgia TechPositionConnecticut
Marvin LewisG Taliek Brown
Jarrett Jack 1G Ben Gordon 1
B. J. Elder F Rashad Anderson
Anthony McHenry F Josh Boone 1
Luke Schenscher C† Emeka Okafor 1
† 2004 Consensus First Team All-American
 Players selected in an NBA draft  (number indicates round)

Source [13]

Game summary

CBS
April 5, 2004
9:21 pm
#PH2 Connecticut Huskies82, #SL3 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 73
Pts: Emeka Okafor 24
Rebs: Emeka Okafor 15
Asts: Taliek Brown 4		Pts: Will Bynum 17
Rebs: Luke Schenscher 11
Asts: Will Bynum 5
Halftime Score: UConn, 41-26
Alamodome - San Antonio, Texas
Attendance: 44,468
Referees: Dick Cartmell, Randy McCall, Verne Harris

Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon got hot in the first half. Ben Gordon hit three three-pointers in the 1st ten minutes while Emeka Okafor dominated Georgia Tech center Luke Schenscher in the lane. Okafor and Gordon nearly outscored Georgia Tech in the first half, scoring 24 points combined while Georgia Tech scored 26 points as UConn was ahead 41–26 at halftime. The Yellow Jackets could not take advantage of Gordon being on the bench after his second foul. The Huskies was able to extend their lead even with Gordon on the bench. UConn was able to build a 25-point lead at one point. When the Huskies backed off and slowed the game down, the Yellow Jackets were able to make a furious rally to cut UConn’s lead down to seven. However, UConn was able to hold off the Yellow Jackets with 24 points and 15 rebounds from Okafor and 21 points from Gordon, as they won 82–73. [14] [15]

Aftermath

Thousands of people in Connecticut celebrated after UConn's victory in the men's national championship game. 35 people were arrested by the police for starting fires and overturning cars in celebration of UConn's second men's and fifth women's national championships. The university police reported that a dozen of fires were set outside and two cars were overturned at the Celeron Square apartment complex about a mile month of campus following UConn's victory over Georgia Tech. [16]

UConn became the first school ever in Division I to win NCAA titles in men's and women's basketball in the same season. [17] The Huskies would repeat this feat in 2014. [17]

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References

  1. ↑ "2003-04 Men's College Basketball Rankings". ESPN. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
  2. ↑ "Sub-par Okafor struggles for UConn". ESPN.com. November 26, 2003. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  3. ↑ "Panthers miss game-tying 3 in final seconds". ESPN.com. March 19, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  4. ↑ "Yellow Jackets fend off Boston College". ESPN.com. March 21, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  5. ↑ "Lewis leads Tech into Elite Eight". ESPN.com. March 26, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  6. ↑ "Jack's 29 pace Jackets past Jayhawks". ESPN.com. March 28, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  7. ↑ "Bynum's drive sends Jackets to finals". ESPN.com. April 3, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  8. ↑ "Okafor has 15 and 14, stymies Coppenrath". ESPN.com. March 18, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Calhoun, DePaul can't stomach UConn's rout". ESPN.com. March 20, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  10. ↑ "Gordon paces Huskies' rout". ESPN.com. March 25, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Okafor tweaks shoulder, plays sparingly". ESPN.com. March 27, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Okafor: All 18 points after halftime". ESPN.com. April 3, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Georgia Tech vs. Connecticut Box Score (Men), April 5, 2004". Sports Reference. Retrieved March 29, 2023.
  14. ↑ "Huskies dominant inside and out". ESPN.com. April 5, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Gordon, Okafor too much for Georgia Tech". Dick Vitale. April 5, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Thousand celebrate, 35 arrested in Storrs". ESPN.com. April 6, 2004. Retrieved July 27, 2014.
  17. 1 2 Feinberg, Doug (April 8, 2014). "UConn Women's Basketball Team Routs Notre Dame To Finish 40-0 Season, Win Historic 9th Title". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 11, 2014.
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