Huskies quickly dispose of Hoyas

STORRS, Conn. — No.1 Connecticut flexed its mighty muscles last night in defeating Georgetown 94-70.

While some thought the Huskies would have a natural letdown after pounding then-No.6 Oklahoma on Sunday, the Hoyas were just the next course on UConn’s menu.

Senior point guard Taliek Brown scored a season-high 20 points and dished out seven assists, and All-America center Emeka Okafor added 27 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks as the top-ranked Huskies blasted the Hoyas at sold-out Gampel Pavilion.

“I said this when I watched the Oklahoma game and I certainly had a front-row seat today, Connecticut is the best team I’ve seen this year,” Hoyas coach Craig Esherick said. “They can beat you in a awful lot of different ways. Brown killed us. Brown played as well as I’ve seen him play in awhile.”

This trip to Gampel sent the Hoyas (10-3, 1-3 Big East) crashing to their third consecutive defeat — all in conference play. Meanwhile, UConn (14-1, 2-0) solidified its case as the best team in the land before Saturday’s showdown at No.9 North Carolina.

UConn has turned this one-time marquee series into a one-sided affair. With last night’s loss, Georgetown has dropped seven straight, 10 of 11, and 14 of 16 games to the Huskies.

The Huskies toyed with Georgetown in the opening minutes of the game, then blew out the overmatched Hoyas. UConn coach Jim Calhoun went to his bench within the first three minutes of the game.

“Their strength is how well they fast break, they get it, and boom … they’re gone,” Georgetown center Courtland Freeman said.

Calhoun’s “B” team was every bit as talented as Georgetown’s starters. Case in point: Okafor, UConn’s 6-foot-10 center, picked up his first foul 40 seconds into the game on Georgetown center Courtland Freeman and Calhoun quickly pulled him for 6-10 freshman Charlie Villanueva.

Calhoun rolled his collection of talent in and out at will and the Hoyas were helpless to stop the rout. Nine Huskies scored and UConn had more points in the paint (32) than Georgetown had points (30).

The Huskies scored 19 points off their fast break in the first half. On two breaks, UConn scored baskets without the ball even touching the floor.

When the Huskies decided to put away the Hoyas, they did it with relative ease. In a 2:19 span, UConn went on a 15-0 run en route to take a 21-11 lead. The Huskies continued their onslaught and took a commanding 56-30 lead into the locker room.

For three years, New Englanders had not seen much offense from Brown, who has a career average of 8.1 points. Until last night, the 6-1 guard was considered the weakest link of UConn’s starters. Knowing he had a chance for a career high in points, Brown threw up an airball on a short runner in the lane.

“I choked,” Brown said of trying for his career high. “I got in there and choked. I was kind of tired. Today, [scoring] just came to me real easy.”

It sure did. Brown has a reputation as a turnover-plagued floor general, not a big-time scorer. All of Brown’s points came off layups or easy putbacks as he produced his first 20-point game since his sophomore season.

Sophomore guard Ashanti Cook led the Hoyas with 18 points. Forward Brandon Bowman, who had 17 points and 11 rebounds, became the first opponent to grab double-figure rebounds against the Huskies this season.

Riley scored 17 points on five of 11 from the floor.

The defeat tied the worst loss of Esherick’s five-year tenure.