PHOENIX – On Wednesday, a day before his team would face the Connecticut men’s basketball team, Vanderbilt guard Russell Lakey lauded the Huskies’ offense, explaining how difficult it would be to guard, ‘four or five All-Americans.’

Of course, UConn only has a pair of All-Americans, Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon. The other Huskies just played like they were last night.

In a 73-53 dismantling of the Commodores, UConn showed why, as a No. 2 seed, it became the team to beat in the NCAA Tournament. With the most dominant performance of the tourney yet, the Huskies pounded No. 6 seed Vanderbilt in a Sweet 16 game and advanced to the Elite Eight, where they’ll play Alabama on Saturday night at American Airlines Arena.

‘They ran into a team playing great defense,’ UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. ‘We did a great job of just handling the game. We were really good. It wouldn’t have mattered who played tonight.’

UConn’s masterpiece was marred only by a 16-3 Vanderbilt run in the second half that made the score 52-45. But UConn reeled an 8-0 run of its own and never looked back.

For all UConn’s stars, forward Rashad Anderson played a leading role. Anderson continued his smoldering tournament shooting with 15 points on 5-for-11 shooting. If Anderson’s name doesn’t ring a bell, it should. He’s one of the nation’s purest 3-point shooters and hit 6 of 6 3s in UConn’s first-round win over Vermont.

He broke the Commodores’ back early with eight straight points – a pair of free throws and back-to-back 3s – with 10 minutes left in the first half. Off a scramble for the ball, Anderson nailed his second trey to give UConn a 23-8 lead. UConn would take a 45-27 lead into halftime and led by as many as 20 points in the second half.

It wasn’t just Anderson. Gordon finished with a game-high 20 points and Taliek Brown chipped in 12. Corey Smith and Mario Moore led Vanderbilt with 12 points a piece.

For UConn, that’s without mentioning Okafor, who always makes his presence felt. In a matchup of the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and the Big East Player of the Year, Okafor outplayed Matt Freije. Freije finished with eight points – 10 below his average – on 3-for-18 shooting. While guarding Freije, an elite inside-outside threat, Okafor reduced the SEC’s best player into a non-factor, as he scored just three points in the first half on 1-for-9 shooting. Just eight minutes in, having just bricked his third straight shot, Freije yelled in disgust and covered his face with his jersey.

Too bad. With his eyes concealed, he missed what was at times a classic performance.

‘Coach Calhoun does a great job getting us ready to play in the tournament,’ Gordon said. ‘That’s why he has us playing our best in basketball in March.’

Published on March 25, 2004 at 12:00 pm