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December 4, 2002
STORRS, Conn. (AP) -- Ben Gordon came out against Sacred Heart with something to prove.
``Any time you come off a bad game, it's nice to have a good performance,'' the Connecticut sophomore guard said.
Gordon, who was 2-of-10 from the field and had five turnovers in a victory over Vanderbilt on Sunday, had career highs of 31 points and 10 assists to lead the 11th-ranked Huskies to a 116-78 win over Sacred Heart on Tuesday night.
``I concentrated on taking easier shots,'' Gordon said. ``It boils down to taking easier shots and being more aggressive.''
He was 8-of-13 from the field, including 4-of-7 from 3-point range, and made all 11 of his free throws.
Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said he told Gordon to make everything simple.
``He was making the game more difficult than it had to be,'' Calhoun said.
Emeka Okafor had 19 points and 14 rebounds and Taliek Brown added three points and 10 assists for UConn (4-0), which started the game with a 13-0 run.
Gordon opened the game with a three-point play, Denham Brown followed with a 3-pointer and a dunk, Okafor scored three points and Mike Hayes added a basket. UConn's lead never fell below double digits after that.
``We pressed and opened up the floor to get the game going,'' Calhoun said. ``It didn't go as well as I would have liked defensively, but it did what we wanted it to because we played the game at our pace.''
By halftime, the Huskies were in front 59-34 after allowing Sacred Heart (0-4) to score successive baskets only once in the first half. The Pioneers had consecutive baskets twice in the second half.
UConn was statistically dominant in every phase of the game, shooting 50 percent from the field with 34 assists on 42 baskets and holding a 61-38 rebounding edge. The Huskies also had 11 blocked shots and 10 steals.
Scott Hazelton had 12 points for UConn and Denham Brown scored 10.
Sacred Heart was hampered by the loss of its three tallest players as 7-foot-2 Mading Mading, 6-10 Kibe Trim and 6-7 Max Yokono all missed the game with injuries.
``Obviously, we had size and we took advantage of it,'' Calhoun said.
The Pioneers did have five players in double figures, led by Chris Assel with 15 points. Maurice Bailey had 13, Donnell King 12 and Mike Queenan and Omar Wellington each had 10.
``Offensively, we got some decent looks and moved the ball well,'' Sacred Heart coach Dave Bike said. ``We had progress.
``It is important for our program to play marquee games and who better than UConn to play in a marquee game. They're talented, they're hungry, they're all the things you try to get across to the kids in your program.''
Taliek Brown said Gordon had something to prove in the game.
``He was explosive tonight,'' he said. ``He had to redeem himself from the last game so he came out all fired up tonight. He came out explosive, ready to score, ready to shoot, ready to penetrate ... just ready to do everything.''
Updated on Wednesday, Dec 4, 2002 5:32 am, EST
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