There’s not much time until the national championship game for Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, after a career spent trying to get there.
So much to do, so little time to do it. There’s Duke’s Elton Brand to worry about, without forgetting Trajan Langdon, never mind William Avery or Corey Maggette. How will Calhoun prepare for the biggest game of his life?
“Very happily,” he said.
Exactly. Calhoun, whose talented teams have fallen short of expectations so often, is finally in the biggest game of his life, and he’s going to enjoy himself come hell or a Duke shutout.
Connecticut applied sticky defense to shaky-shooting Ohio State on Saturday in the NCAA tournament semifinals, and the result was a 64-58 Huskies’ victory and a date with Duke in the finals Monday night.
Calhoun can enjoy himself knowing he has Ricky Moore and Richard Hamilton on his side. Moore adhered himself to Ohio State star guard Scoonie Penn, and the result was devastating for the Buckeyes. Penn shot 3 for 13 from the floor, and Ohio State shot 24.2 percent from the field in the second half, not to mention 50 percent from the foul line.
Hamilton scored 24 points, hitting from here, there and when the shot clock was going off.
The worst part for the Buckeyes? Despite all that, victory seemed to stay in sight. If it was a mirage, it sure looked real. Connecticut (33-2) couldn’t seem to put Ohio State’s shooting completely out of its misery until the end. The Huskies had leads of nine and 10 at different points of the game, but the Buckeyes hung around like loiterers.
“I think in the first half we really had them on the ropes,” said UConn point guard Khalid El-Amin, who scored 18 points.
When Connecticut relaxed, Ohio State threw a punch to the Huskies’ midsection. Down 32-23, the Buckeyes took advantage of four straight UConn turnovers to take a 33-32 lead. And when the Buckeyes blocked two shots in the last two seconds of the first half, anything seemed possible.
It was. The Huskies rebuilt their lead to 10, at 51-41, and the Buckeyes came back again, cutting the lead to 57-54 with 4:16 left.
But there was something missing. No, there were two things missing. Penn’s jersey was stolen before the game, and someone kidnapped the guy who normally wears it. The kidnapper was Moore, whose defense put sugar in Penn’s gas tank.
“When they made their runs, everybody on this team took it personally to step up,” Hamilton said. “We’ve matured enough to sit back and relax and not panic.”
They’re also lightning-quick. Ohio State (27-9) simply couldn’t contain UConn’s transition game. Buckeyes defenders would turn around and see the Huskies charging at them. Ohio State couldn’t catch its breath or Connecticut’s shooters.
The Huskies might have caught a break when center Jake Voskuhl called a timeout near the sideline even though it appeared he didn’t have possession of the ball. Not long afterward, Hamilton hit a jumper as the shot-clock buzzer sounded to give Connecticut a 61-55 lead with 1:42 left.
From there, when it mattered most, Ohio State couldn’t hit its free throws or three-pointers.
“We’ve just got to get in the gym and shoot some more,” forward George Reese said.
It’s a little late for this year, but there’s always next season. The Buckeyes are done with one of the biggest turnarounds in NCAA history after finishing 8-22 last year.
“You get this far and you’re not able to get the whole thing,” coach Jim O’Brien said, describing his disappointment.
Calhoun knows all about that. His teams had advanced to the Sweet 16 five times during the 1990s but he was without a single trip to the Final Four. Finally, after having been shut out so often, he and the Huskies are here.
The championship game will be here before Calhoun knows it. There’s tape to watch, practice to conduct.
“We’ll put a lot of thought into it,” Calhoun said. “There will be great joy in doing that, I’ll tell you.”
