2003–04 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team

The 2003–2004 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2003–2004 NCAA Division I basketball season. Coached by Jim Calhoun, the Huskies played their home games at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut, and on campus at the Harry A. Gampel Pavilion in Storrs, Connecticut, and were a member of the Big East Conference. They won their record-tying sixth Big East tournament. On April 6, 2004, they claimed their second national championship by defeating Georgia Tech, 82–73.

2003–04 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions Big East tournament champions
Conference	Big East Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 7
Record	33–6 (12–4 Big East)
Head coach	Jim Calhoun (18th season)
Assistant coaches	Tom Moore George Blaney Andre LaFleur Clyde Vaughan
Home arena	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion Hartford Civic Center
Seasons ← 2002–03 2004–05 →

2003–04 Big East men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 9 Pittsburgh	13	–	3		.813			31	–	5		.861
No. 7 Connecticut †	12	–	4		.750			33	–	6		.846
No. 21 Providence	11	–	5		.688			20	–	9		.690
No. 20 Syracuse	11	–	5		.688			23	–	8		.742
No. 25 Boston College	10	–	6		.625			24	–	10		.706
Seton Hall	10	–	6		.625			21	–	12		.636
Notre Dame	9	–	7		.563			19	–	13		.594
Virginia Tech	7	–	9		.438			15	–	14		.517
Rutgers	7	–	9		.438			20	–	13		.606
West Virginia	7	–	9		.438			17	–	14		.548
Villanova	6	–	10		.375			18	–	17		.514
Georgetown	4	–	12		.250			13	–	15		.464
Miami*	4	–	12		.250			14	–	16		.467
St. John's*	1	–	15		.063			6	–	21		.222
† 2004 Big East tournament winner As of April 5, 2004^[1] Rankings from AP Poll *Did not qualify for 2004 Big East tournament

Roster

2003–04 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Hometown SG 31 Rashad Anderson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 190 lb (86 kg) So Lakeland, Florida PF 11 Hilton Armstrong 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Peekskill, New York SG 24 Jason Baisch 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Jr Southbury, Connecticut C 21 Josh Boone 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Mt. Airy, Maryland SG 33 Denham Brown 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Toronto, Ontario, Canada PG 12 Taliek Brown 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Sr Queens, New York PG 40 Justin Evanovich 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Sr Ann Arbor, Michigan SG 4 Ben Gordon (C) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Mt. Vernon, New York PF 32 Ed Nelson (I)   6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 265 lb (120 kg) Jr Ft. Lauderdale, Florida C 50 Emeka Okafor 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 252 lb (114 kg) Jr Bellaire, Texas SG 2 Ryan Swaller 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 208 lb (94 kg) Sr Milford, Connecticut SF 13 Ryan Thompson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) Jr Gold Coast, Australia SG 30 Shamon Tooles 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 225 lb (102 kg) Sr Coatesville, Pennsylvania PF 3 Charlie Villanueva 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr Brooklyn, New York SF 23 Marcus White 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Chicago, Illinois PG 5 Marcus Williams (S) 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Los Angeles, California	Head coach Jim Calhoun Assistant coach(es) George Blaney Tom Moore Andre LaFleur Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster Last update: January 23, 2011^[2]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition games
November 3*		Team Nike	W 96–78	0–0	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion  Storrs, Connecticut
November 13*		Beltway Ballers	W 102–44	0–0	Hartford Civic Center  Hartford, Connecticut
Regular Season
November 17* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	Yale Preseason NIT First round	W 70–60	1–0	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
November 19* 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 1	Nevada Preseason NIT Second round	W 93–79	2–0	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
November 22* 12:00 pm, Fox 61	No. 1	Sacred Heart	W 111–64	3–0	Hartford Civic Center (16,085) Hartford, Connecticut
November 26* 9:30 pm, ESPN	No. 1	vs. Georgia Tech Preseason NIT Semifinals	L 61–77	3–1	Madison Square Garden (7,607) New York City
November 28* 4:30 pm, ESPN	No. 1	vs. Utah Preseason NIT Consolation Game	W 76–44	4–1	Madison Square Garden (8,910) New York
December 1* 7:00 pm, WTXX	No. 4	Lehigh	W 75–55	5–1	Hartford Civic Center (16,103) Hartford, Connecticut
December 6* 7:00 pm, WTXX	No. 4	Army	W 74–46	6–1	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
December 13* 7:00 pm, Fox 61	No. 3	Quinnipiac	W 88–55	7–1	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
December 20* 12:00 pm, WTXX	No. 2	Iona	W 104–54	8–1	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
December 28* 2:00 pm, WTXX	No. 2	Ball State	W 101–62	9–1	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
December 30* 7:00 pm	No. 1	Massachusetts	W 91–67	10–1	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
January 2* 8:05 pm, NESN	No. 1	at Rice	W 92–83	11–1	Autry Court (4,653) Houston
January 6 7:30 pm, Fox 61	No. 1	at Rutgers	W 75–74	12–1 (1–0)	Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,044) Piscataway, New Jersey
January 11* 4:30 pm, CBS	No. 1	No. 7 Oklahoma	W 86–59	13–1	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
January 14 7:30 pm, WTXX	No. 1	Georgetown Rivalry	W 94–70	14–1 (2–0)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
January 17* 3:30 pm, CBS	No. 1	at No. 11 North Carolina	L 83–86	14–2	Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, North Carolina
January 19 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	No. 9 Pittsburgh	W 68–65	15–2 (3–0)	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
January 24 12:00 pm, Fox 61	No. 4	Providence	L 56–66	15–3 (3–1)	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
January 28 7:00 pm, WTXX	No. 8	at Virginia Tech	W 96–60	16–3 (4–1)	Cassell Coliseum (7,908) Blacksburg, Virginia
January 31 4:00 pm, Fox 61	No. 8	at Boston College	W 63–58	17–3 (5–1)	Conte Forum (8,606) Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts
February 2 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 6	No. 20 Syracuse Rivalry	W 84–56	18–3 (6–1)	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
February 7 2:00 pm, WTXX	No. 5	West Virginia	W 88–58	19–3 (7–1)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
February 9 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 5	at Notre Dame	L 74–80	19–4 (7–2)	Edmund P. Joyce Center (11,418) South Bend, Indiana
February 15 1:30 pm, ABC	No. 5	at No. 4 Pittsburgh	L 68–75	19–5 (7–3)	Petersen Events Center (12,817) Pittsburgh
February 18 7:00 pm, WTXX	No. 8	Miami	W 76–63	20–5 (8–3)	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
February 21 2:00 pm, CBS	No. 8	Notre Dame	W 61–50	21–5 (9–3)	Hartford Civic Center (16,294) Hartford, Connecticut
February 24 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 8	at St. John's	W 71–53	22–5 (10–3)	Madison Square Garden (11,736) New York
February 28 2:30 pm, ESPN	No. 8	at Villanova	W 75–74	23–5 (11–3)	Wachovia Center (16,392) Philadelphia
March 1 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 8	Seton Hall	W 89–67	24–5 (12–3)	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut
March 7 2:00 pm, CBS	No. 7	at No. 24 Syracuse Rivalry	L 56–67	24–6 (12–4)	Carrier Dome (32,944) Syracuse, New York
Big East tournament
March 11 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 9	vs. Notre Dame Quarterfinals	W 66–58	25–6	Madison Square Garden (19,528) New York
March 12 9:30 pm, ESPN	No. 9	vs. Villanova Semifinals	W 84–67	26–6	Madison Square Garden (19,528) New York
March 13 8:00 pm, ESPN	No. 9	vs. No. 6 Pittsburgh Championship game	W 61–58	27–6	Madison Square Garden (19,528) New York
NCAA tournament
March 18* 7:10 pm, CBS	(2 P) No. 7	vs. (15 P) Vermont First Round	W 70–53	28–6	HSBC Arena (18,686) Buffalo, New York
March 20* 7:58 pm, CBS	(2 P) No. 7	vs. (7 P) DePaul Second Round	W 72–55	29–6	HSBC Arena (18,686) Buffalo, New York
March 25* 7:10 pm, CBS	(2 P) No. 7	vs. (6 P) Vanderbilt Sweet Sixteen	W 73–53	30–6	America West Arena (17,889) Phoenix, Arizona
March 27* 4:40 pm, CBS	(2 P) No. 7	vs. (8 P) Alabama Elite Eight	W 87–71	31–6	America West Arena (17,889) Phoenix, Arizona
April 3* 8:58 pm, CBS	(2 P) No. 7	vs. (1 A) No. 6 Duke Final Four	W 79–78	32–6	Alamodome (44,417) San Antonio
April 5* 9:21 pm, CBS	(2 P) No. 7	vs. (3 S) No. 14 Georgia Tech Championship game	W 82–73	33–6	Alamodome (44,468) San Antonio, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from Coaches' Poll. P denotes Phoenix Region, A denotes Atlanta Region, S denotes St. Louis Region. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time^[3].

Rankings

Main article: 2003–04 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	Final
AP	1 69	1 69	3 1	2 9	1 21	1 21	1 37	1 50	1 52	4	6	5	5	8	8	7	9	7	Not released
Coaches	1 25	1 27	4 1	3 4	2 4	2 4	1 18	1 24	1 24	4	8	5	5	8	8	8	9	7	1 31

*AP did not release a Week 1 poll nor post-NCAA Tournament rankings

Awards and honors

• Emeka Okafor, NCAA Men's MOP Award^[4]

Team players drafted into the NBA

Year	Round	Pick	Player	NBA Club
2004	1	2	Emeka Okafor	Charlotte Bobcats
2004	1	3	Ben Gordon	Chicago Bulls
2005	1	7	Charlie Villanueva	Toronto Raptors
2006	1	12	Hilton Armstrong	New Orleans Hornets
2006	1	22	Marcus Williams	New Jersey Nets
2006	1	23	Josh Boone	New Jersey Nets
2006	2	40	Denham Brown	Seattle SuperSonics

^[5]

References

1. " sports-reference.com. Retrieved 11-16-2013.
2. . UConnHuskies.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
3. . UConnHuskies.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
4. . cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
5. . Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2009.