UConn clubs Alabama, 87-71

Gordon pours in 36 points as Huskies roll

? The NCAA Tournament is bringing out the best in Connecticut, and the Huskies at their best are breathtaking.

Ben Gordon scored 36 points — one shy of his career high — and Rashad Anderson added a career-best 28 in the Huskies’ 87-71 romp over Alabama on Saturday in the Phoenix Regional final.

A flurry of blocked shots, a dazzling display of long shots, and the upstart Crimson Tide had no shot against an assemblage of UConn talent coming together when it matters most.

Anderson made six of nine three-pointers and Gordon was 4-for-7. Gordon, the regional MVP, also was 10-for-11 at the foul line.

“Both of us have never shot that well in any one game this year,” Gordon said. “I think the man upstairs just gave us the talent to do that today.”

Connecticut, the preseason pick for No. 1, plays the winner of today’s Duke-Xavier game in the Final Four on Saturday in San Antonio.

“It’s going to take a great game to beat them,” Alabama coach Mark Gottfried said. “They’ve just got so many weapons.”

Second-seeded UConn (31-6) used a 17-4 outburst during the final five minutes of the first half to go up 53-29, and ‘Bama never got closer than 14 after that.

Coach Jim Calhoun called the first 20 minutes “probably as good a basketball as we could possibly play.”

Connecticut's Emeka Okafor waves to the crowd after cutting down a piece of the net. The Huskies won the Phoenix Regional championship, 87-71, Saturday over Alabama.

Connecticut’s All-America center Emeka Okafor played only 19 minutes and scored just two points, but had nine rebounds and blocked five shots, all in the first half. A hard foul by Alabama’s Jermareo Davidson gave Okafor an elbow stinger with 9:19 left in the first half.

Okafor left briefly, returned to finish the half and started the second half. But he sat down for good with 16:32 to play and UConn leading 59-36.

“Just a little tingle. Nothing too serious,” Okafor said when asked how his arm was feeling after the game.

UConn playmaker Taliek Brown scored just three points but had 10 assists.

“We’ve had some times where the mantle of expectations weighed heavily upon us,” Calhoun said. “As the season started to close down and we saw our window of opportunity become more limited, we kicked the window out and became a terrific, terrific basketball team.”

The eighth-seeded Crimson Tide (20-13) had stunned top-seeded Stanford and beat defending national champion Syracuse to reach a regional final for the first time.