2003–04 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball team

2003–04 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball
2003–04 Connecticut Huskies men's basketball
NCAA tournament National Champions; Big East tournament champions
National Championship Game, ; W 82-73 vs. Georgia Tech
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; 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 (FL)*	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

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.

Roster

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 (C)	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 (C)	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 (C)	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
Clyde Vaughan

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

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

Game officials

Pre season NIT

Game	Round	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
1	First Round	November 17	#1/#1	Yale	NR/NR	Jim Haney, Raymond Perone, Mike Stephens
2	Quarterfinals	November 19	#1/#1	Nevada	NR/NR	Larry Rose, Keith Maxwell, Jamie Luckie

Non-conference Regular season

Game	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
3	November 22	#1/#1	Sacred Heart	NR/NR

Pre season NIT

Game	Round	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
4	Semifinals	November 26	#1/#1	Georgia Tech	NR/NR	Mike Wood, Bryan Kersey, Joe Lindsay
5	Third place game	November 28	#1/#1	Utah	NR/NR	Mike Wood, Bernard Clinton, Ray Natilli

Non-conference Regular season

Game	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
6	December 1	#3/#4	Lehigh	NR/NR	John Cahill, Mike Stephens, Raymond Perone
7	December 6	#3/#4	Army	NR/NR	Bernard Clinton, Frank Scagliotta, John Gaffney
8	December 13	#2/#3	Quinnipiac	NR/NR	John Cahill, Earl Walton, Bill Laubenstein
9	December 20	#1/#2	Iona	NR/NR	Pat Driscoll, Fran Connolly, Paul Faia
10	December 28	#1/#2	Ball State	NR/NR	Tom Lopes, Doug Shows, Brian O'Connell
11	December 30	#1/#1	Massachusetts	NR/NR	Bob Donato, Reggie Greenwood, Pat Driscoll
12	January 2	#1/#1	@ Rice	NR/NR	Ted Hillary, Mike Kitts, Donnee Gray

Big East Conference Regular season

Game	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
13	January 6	#1/#1	@ Rutgers	NR/NR	Tim Higgins, Ed Corbett, William Bush

Non-conference Regular season

Game	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
14	January 11	#1/#1	Oklahoma	#6/#7	Jim Burr, Charlie Shaw, John Clougherty

Big East Conference Regular season

Game	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
15	January 14	#1/#1	Georgetown	NR/NR	Jim Haney, Ed Corbett, Donnee Gray

Non-conference Regular season

Game	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
16	January 17	#1/#1	@ North Carolina	#9/#11	Karl Hess, Les Jones, Bob Donato

Big East Conference Regular season

Game	Date	Rank	Opponent	Opp Rank	Officials
17	January 19	#4/#4	Pittsburgh	#8/#9	John Cahill, Steve Welmer, Joe Lindsay
18	January 24	#4/#4	Providence	NR/NR	Reggie Greenwood, William Bush, Frank Scagliotta
19	January 28	#6/#8	@ Virginia Tech	NR/NR	Tony Greene, Andre Pittillo, Jim Haney
20	January 31	#6/#8	@ Boston College	NR/NR	John Cahill, Pat Driscoll, Raymond Perone
21	February 2	#5/#5	Syracuse	#18/#20	Jim Burr, Tim Higgins, Curtis Shaw
22	February 7	#5/#5	West Virginia	NR/NR	Steve Welmer, John Hughes, Reggie Greenwood
23	February 9	#5/#5	@ Notre Dame	NR/NR	Mike Kitts, John Clougherty, Ted Hillary
24	February 15	#5/#5	@ Pittsburgh	#4/#4	Tim Higgins, Curtis Shaw, Jim Haney
25	February 18	#8/#8	Miami (FL)	NR/NR	Mike Kitts, Joe Lindsay, William Bush
26	February 21	#8/#8	Notre Dame	NR/NR	John Cahill, Ed Corbett, Pat Driscoll
27	February 24	#8/#8	@ St. John's	NR/NR	Jim Burr, Bob Donato, Les Jones
28	February 28	#8/#8	@ Villanova	NR/NR	Mike Kitts, Pat Driscoll, Donnee Gray
29	March 1	#7/#8	Seton Hall	NR/NR	Tom Lopes, John Clougherty, Steve Welmer
30	March 7	#7/#8	@ Syracuse	#24/NR	Joe Lindsay, John Cahill, Tim Higgins

Big East men's basketball tournament presented by ConAgra Foods

Game	Round	Date	Seed	Rank	Opponent	Opp Seed	Opp Rank	Officials
31	Quarterfinals	March 11	(BE #2)	#9/#9	Notre Dame	(BE #7)	NR/NR	Mike Kitts, Pat Driscoll, Reggie Greenwood
32	Semifinals	March 12	(BE #2)	#9/#9	Villanova	(BE #11)	NR/NR	Tim Higgins, Ed Corbett, Jim Haney
33	Championship Game	March 13	(BE #2)	#9/#9	vs. Pittsburgh	(BE #1)	#6/#6	Jim Burr, Bob Donato, Michael Kitts

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

Game	Round	Date	Seed	Rank	Opponent	Opp Seed	Opp Rank	Officials
34	First Round	March 18	(PH #2)	#7/#7	Vermont	(PH #15)	NR/NR	Larry Rose, Bert Smith, Carlos Villaneuva-Reyes
35	Second Round	March 20	(PH #2)	#7/#7	DePaul	(PH #7)	NR/NR	Steve Welmer, Larry Rose, Mike Scyphers
36	Sweet Sixteen	March 25	(PH #2)	#7/#7	Vanderbilt	(PH #6)	NR/NR	Ted Hillary, Mike Sanzere, Reggie Cofer
37	Elite Eight	March 27	(PH #2)	#7/#7	Alabama	(PH #8)	NR/NR	David Hall, Randy McCall, Mike Wood
38	Final Four	April 3	(PH #2)	#7/#7	vs. Duke	(AT #1)	#6/#6	David Hall, Olandis Poole, Ted Hillary
39	National Championship	April 5	(PH #2)	#7/#7	Georgia Tech	(SL #3)	#14/#15	Dick Cartmell, Randy McCall, Verne Harris

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

^ " sports-reference.com. Retrieved 11-16-2013.
^ "2003–04 Men's Basketball Roster". UConnHuskies.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
^ "2003–04 Men's Basketball Schedule". UConnHuskies.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2009.
^ "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.
^ "2004 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2009.

[standings-1] " sports-reference.com. Retrieved 11-16-2013.

[2] "2003–04 Men's Basketball Roster". UConnHuskies.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved July 8, 2009.

[3] "2003–04 Men's Basketball Schedule". UConnHuskies.com. Archived from the original on January 2, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2009.

[Tourney_History-4] "Final Four Most Outstanding Players". cbs.sportsline.com. Archived from the original on September 7, 2008. Retrieved March 31, 2008.

[5] "2004 NBA Draft on Basketballreference.com". Archived from the original on January 17, 2010. Retrieved April 24, 2009.

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v t e UConn Huskies men's basketball
Venues	Willis Nichols Hawley Armory (1914–1954) Hugh S. Greer Field House (1954–1989) XL Center (1975–present) New Haven Coliseum (1978–1987) Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (1990–present) Webster Bank Arena (2013–2014)
Rivalries	Georgetown Syracuse UMass
Culture & lore	Blue blood status Gambling scandal Jonathan the Husky "UConn Husky" 6-overtime game 2011 Miracle Run
People	Head coaches NBA players Huskies of Honor Statistical leaders
Seasons	List of seasons 1900–01 1901–02 1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics